Who ratted out Rick Neuheisel? Whoever it was that helped bring down the University of Washington football coach and send the Huskies into an unprecedented spiral has long since disappeared into cyberspace, the tipster's identity a mystery to the ousted coach, NCAA enforcers and all other interested parties.

The tipster's story kept changing with each e-mail exchange. The leaker had four friends in the basketball betting pool, two friends, one friend. For that matter, there was never any confirmation whether the author was a he or a she. No one ever saw a face. Heard a voice. Got a street address or a telephone number. Received anything except sketchy information and a sense of indignation.

Neuheisel case documents recently unsealed at the request of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer paint the picture of an elaborate ruse, with a persistent whistle-blower claiming to be a former pool participant and exposing the Huskies coach for gambling with friends on NCAA Tournament games while revealing precious little else about himself or herself.

This insider information led to Neuheisel's firing, the resignation of UW athletic director Barbara Hedges and a highly publicized trial that ended with a settlement in favor of Neuheisel. The fired coach received $4.7 million from the UW and the NCAA.

The NCAA fought release of the documents. Among the reasons cited was the need to protect the confidentiality of its Neuheisel source, when in reality all the collegiate governing body was trying to do was shield an apparent alias.

'Peter Wright' -- or wrong
The person behind the pointed e-mails referred to himself as Peter Wright.

There are two-dozen Peter Wrights living within the Greater Seattle area.

There was no Peter Wright involved at any time in a Bellevue-based betting pool that was in operation for 15 years and disbanded after Neuheisel was fired, according to knowledgeable participants.

David Wright, a descendant of the Northwest's skyscraper-building Wrights, was known to put down an annual wager with this crowd. People falsely accused him of being Peter Wright because of the similarity in names before backing off. David Wright declined to be quoted for this story.

Once Neuheisel was pilloried publicly, Peter Wright's Yahoo! e-mail account -- peterwright70@ yahoo.com -- was quickly shut down.

"In this country, you have the right to confront your accuser," said Bob Sulkin, Neuheisel's attorney. "The University of Washington and the NCAA reacted before (they) had all the facts, and it took a trial to prove that fact."

Investigators might have suspected something was amiss with the messenger, if only by measuring the timing of the correspondence. After NCAA gambling investigator Bill Saum ignored an original e-mail from "Peter Wright" in 2002, dismissing the gambling claims as too implausible to investigate, "Wright" e-mailed Saum again April 1, 2003.

April Fool's Day.

As messages were traded over the next three months, Peter Wright presented a scolding tone, a righteous tone, a taunting tone.

College football Two-man race with Tebow, McFadden

"The guy is dirty and I personally feel that gambling on NCAA-sanctioned events when you are a coach in the NCAA is a travesty," the tipster wrote about Neuheisel in an e-mail. "He has shown his colors in his recruiting style and who knows whatever else goes on. Rick must not know how good he has it to risk losing his job over such a silly thing."

No one disputes the accuracy of the basic information provided. Neuheisel later admitted to betting in a friendly pool with well-heeled UW alumni and businessmen. He said he had every right to, later providing an internal Athletic Department memo that seemed to indicate as much. The NCAA saw it differently, and went after Neuheisel. The trial resulted.

The intrigue now lies in the motivation behind someone creating an apparent fictitious persona to turn in Neuheisel.

Was it something personal and specific, or simply a random dislike for the self-assured -- some would say cocky -- Huskies football coach?

COLLEGE FOOTBALL Breakdown of all 23 sideline changes

Was rival Washington State University behind this? Former Cougars quarterback Clete Casper, another pool participant, was quizzed by his peers and denied covert involvement. He declined to be quoted for this story.

Was there a conspiracy on upper campus to rid the UW of what was perceived as a growing public-relations problem?

Or was it the friend of a friend, someone who heard something secondhand and felt the need to have Neuheisel forfeit his job?

"It was probably somebody from Oregon," a pool participant wisecracked.

MORE FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL

College football Section Front

Holtz main attraction among Hall's new class Players, coaches to be enshrined in Hall of Fame CFT: Tebow not unanimous pick for SEC preseason team Harrell headed to CFL with Roughriders Southern Miss coach lifts RB Fletcher's suspension Opinion: Meyer now college football's top coach A look at the college football coaching carousel Rivals.com notebook: Great BYU class gets even better CollegeFootballTalk on NBCSports.com Who is team of the decade? College football Section Front   Add College football headlines to your news reader: