updated 10:05 p.m. ET March 7, 2005

KENT, Wash. - Fired Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel left a courtroom Monday with a $4.5 million settlement in his lawsuit against the NCAA and university, claiming victory in his 21-month legal battle.

“I feel fully vindicated,” Neuheisel said. “Obviously, they’re going to have their stories, too, but I feel like this is the best scenario. Nobody’s nose gets bloodied.”

The settlement was announced by Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman after five weeks of testimony, just as jurors were set to hear closing statements.

It capped a lengthy and bitter fight that started with Neuheisel’s firing in June 2003 and publicly exposed the NCAA and university to embarrassing administrative gaffes. Washington’s once-proud football program has fallen apart since the scandal. The Huskies went 1-10 last year.

“I’m elated that it’s over. It’s been 21 months and it’s been hard,” said Neuheisel, who signed autographs for jurors after the trial.

Neuheisel will receive cash payments of $2.5 million from the NCAA and $500,000 from the university. Additionally, the university agreed not to seek repayment of a $1.5 million loan.

Neuheisel’s attorneys also included $200,000 in interest on the loan in announcing their settlement figure of $4.7 million. University officials disputed that figure, saying no loan interest was included in the settlement.

“The legal system works,” he added. “The players got together and found an amicable resolution. I’m thrilled to be moving on.”

Neuheisel, now the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens, had accused the university of wrongfully terminating his contract and the NCAA of encouraging Washington administrators to fire him.

The university had argued that he had signed a contract that allowed for his firing for acts of dishonesty. School officials have said Neuheisel was fired for gambling on an NCAA basketball pool and failing to be forthright about it with NCAA investigators.

Last week, Spearman left open the possibility of declaring a mistrial because the NCAA had failed to provide Neuheisel’s legal team with an updated version of its bylaws during discovery. In a statement Monday, the university said it agreed to settle because a mistrial could be declared.

The updated bylaws seem to bolster Neuheisel’s argument that NCAA investigators acted improperly when they failed to tell him in advance that they planned to question him regarding his gambling.

NCAA president Myles Brand said he believed the association acted properly.

“The settlement in this case is the result of restrictions placed on the NCAA by the court about how the association could explain the bylaw and defend its rightful interpretation,” he said in a statement .

Still, Brand said, “an independent examination of procedures and processes employed by the national office staff to implement NCAA bylaws will be expanded to review this specific instance.”

Last fall, the NCAA infractions committee found Neuheisel violated NCAA rules against gambling but didn’t sanction him, citing a memo by Washington’s former compliance officer that mistakenly authorized gambling in off-campus NCAA basketball pools.

University lawyer Lou Peterson said Washington administrators agreed to the settlement because the school “could settle for less than 10 percent of the amount sought against us.”

“I feel we came out a winner,” Peterson said.

In four seasons with the Huskies, Neuheisel compiled a 33-16 record, including a Rose Bowl victory in 2001 and a No. 3 national ranking. Former athletic director Barbara Hedges fired him in 2003 after she said Neuheisel lied to her about interviewing for a job with the San Francisco 49ers and about his participation in NCAA men’s basketball gambling pools in 2002 and ’03.

Neuheisel, who starts his new job next week, insisted he bears no resentment toward Washington or the NCAA. He even hopes to coach college football again.

“I have great respect and admiration for the University of Washington and the NCAA,” Neuheisel said. “It was the toughest decision I’ve ever made in my life, going to court against them.

“I didn’t feel the story was fair or right. I had to stand up,” he said.

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