Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads leaves for Auburn
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Paul Rhoads, the defensive coordinator at Pitt for eight seasons and a finalist for the head coaching job in 2004, is leaving to take the same job at Auburn.
Rhoads informed Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt of his decision Wednesday night. The Panthers will immediately begin seeking his replacement, with defensive line coach Greg Gattuso a possible candidate. Gattuso is the former Duquesne coach.
Rhoads replaces Will Muschamp, who was hired as the defensive coordinator at Texas.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville first offered the 40-year-old Rhoads the defensive coordinator's job in 2002, but Pitt kept him by giving him a large raise and a longer contract. Rhoads was retained in 2004 by coach Dave Wannstedt after former coach Walt Harris, who knew he wouldn't get a new contract at Pitt, left for Stanford.
In addition to being the defensive coordinator, Rhoads coached Pitt's defensive backs for seven years, coaching players such as cornerback Darrelle Revis, a New York Jets first-round draft pick last year.
Last season, Rhoads switched to coaching the linebackers, where Scott McKillop was the nation's leading tackler and a third-team All-America pick.
Rhoads is leaving Pitt after one of the best games ever played by a Panthers defense, the 13-9 upset of then-No. 2 West Virginia on Dec. 1. The Panthers held West Virginia to 183 yards, or nearly 292 yards below their average.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Nose tackle Kuntz not enrolled at Notre Dame for spring semester
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Notre Dame starting nose tackle Pat Kuntz is not enrolled in school for the spring semester for what he termed "personal reasons."
The 6-foot-3, 285-pound junior, speaking from his home in Indianapolis, would not elaborate further on why he was not at school. Because of privacy laws, the university could not comment on Kuntz's status other than to say he is not enrolled, said Brian Hardin, director of football media relations.
Kuntz said he plans to return to Notre Dame, possibly as early as this summer, and hopes to play for the Irish this fall.
"No matter what I'm going to be back there. I'm going to have one more year to play and I'm going to graduate from Notre Dame," said Kuntz, who is majoring in sociology. "The time is the only thing that's not 100 percent."
Kuntz hopes to know in the next month whether he will be back in school in time to play next fall.
Kuntz started 10 games as the Irish went 3-9 last season, but missed the final two games with injuries. He tore ligaments in his left knee against Air Force and found out a back injury from the previous game against Navy was a cracked bone in his spine.
Kuntz said his knee is mending and he hopes to be able to resume running full speed in the next week or so. He said his back is fully healed.
One of the more colorful players on the Irish squad, Kuntz was seventh on the team in tackles last season with 42 and led the team with nine pass breakups. Kuntz's backup, Ian Williams, played well at the end of the season and finished with 45 tackles.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Booster offered $200,000 in scholarships if Washington fired football coach, athletic director
SEATTLE (AP) -- A University of Washington booster offered $200,000 for law school scholarships if coach Ty Willingham and athletic director Todd Turner were fired, The Seattle Times reported Thursday.
The offer made by Ed Hansen, a multimillionaire lawyer and former three-term mayor of Everett, to university president Mark A. Emmert was included in approximately 1,000 e-mails obtained by The Times in a public records request. The e-mails were written to Emmert, Willingham and Turner over the past four months.
Turner was credited with restoring integrity to the Huskies' athletic programs before he resigned Dec. 11, six days after Emmert retained Willingham, who has an 11-25 record in three seasons with Washington. Turner, whose resignation takes effect Jan. 31, was an ardent backer of Willingham.
When Emmert was hired in 2004, the athletic department was reeling from the firing of football coach Rick Neuheisel for lying and participating in college basketball betting pools, his lawsuit against the school, a scandal in which the softball team's doctor pleaded guilty to improperly giving prescription narcotics to players and other problems.
Emmert hired Turner to replace Barbara Hedges after she resigned as AD, and Turner hired Willingham after the coach had been dropped by Notre Dame.
Nearly three-quarters of the e-mails were critical of Willingham, and at least 100 included threats to withdraw or withhold support ranging from season ticket purchases to donations unless the coach, Turner or both were fired.
The 68-year-old Hansen, a Frontier Bank founder whose stock in the bank is worth nearly $7 million, wrote Emmert and, according to The Times, the e-mail read: "By this letter I hereby pledge to contribute a minimum of $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Ty Willingham as football coach.
"In addition, I hereby pledge a second $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Todd Turner as athletic director.
"Also, I do not intend to contribute any further funds to the athletic department as long as these two gentlemen are employed by the university."
By contrast, Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander praised Willingham for "holding character above other things," according to an e-mail quoted by The Times. "Let him finish what he started and you'll be pleased with all your decisions."
Former Seahawks quarterback Jeff Kemp praised Willingham's "commitment to excellence" and dedication to ideals, The Times reported.
Emmert told The Times he didn't recall Hansen's e-mail and routinely disregards financial threats or offers based on personnel decisions as "grossly inappropriate" and "the kind of commentary I don't take seriously at all."
Hansen said he never thought Willingham would stay and Turner would leave.
When asked whether he would make the donation he offered for Turner's ouster, he told The Times, "Your call is making me evaluate that," then added later, "I think, as you and I are talking, I will go ahead with the $100,000 I mentioned."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
WVU sues Rodriguez, seeks $4 million contract buyout
CHARLESTON , W.Va. -- West Virginia University's Board of Governors has sued former football coach Rich Rodriguez Thursday to collect a $4 million buyout of his contract with the school.
The lawsuit, filed in Monongalia County Circuit Court, says the university believes Rodriguez doesn't intend to abide by the contract.
The buyout clause requires Rodriguez to pay $4 million to WVU over a two-year period, with one-third of the total due 30 days after his employment's termination. His resignation was effective Dec. 19.
Rodriguez's agent, Mike Brown, declined to comment Thursday night on the lawsuit.
Rodriguez went to Michigan after seven seasons in Morgantown, where he led West Virginia to four Big East championships and a 60-26 record.
West Virginia officials decided to ask a court to enforce the contract after supporters of Rodriguez questioned its validity and the coach did not disavow those statements, said Alex Macia, vice president of legal affairs and legal counsel for the university.
"There are very clear statements and factually incorrect statements by people who purportedly speak for the coach," Macia said.
"There comes a time when you have to have a court pronounce as a matter of law what happened," he said.
Rodriguez and the university agreed to a seven-year contract on Dec. 21, 2002, and it has been extended twice since then. The latest revision was agreed to on Dec. 8, 2006, when Rodriguez was considering an offer from Alabama. The revised contract was to run through the 2013 season.
In addition to increasing Rodriguez's salary, the 2006 contract extension included a $100,000 supplemental payment to the assistant coaches' salary pool and $6.2 million in improvements to the team's athletic building, the Milan Puskar Center.
According to the lawsuit, the university fulfilled the contract's terms and Rodriguez never gave it written notice, as required by the contract, that it had not followed the agreement, the lawsuit said.
"The university performed and upheld its end of the bargain," Macia said.
University officials were not aware of and did not consent to Rodriguez's discussions with Michigan officials about the Wolverines' coaching job, the lawsuit said.
A summons issued to Rodriguez gave him 20 days to respond to the lawsuit.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Schnellenberger back in a bowl as FAU meets Memphis
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Howard Schnellenberger's career in football has spanned generations, touching the lives of numerous successful coaches and players.
There were his days as an assistant coach at Alabama, winning championships under Paul "Bear" Bryant in the 1960s; his stint with the Miami Dolphins in the early 1970s, winning Super Bowls under Don Shula; his resurrection of college programs at Miami, where he won a national championship in 1983, and at Louisville; then his one-year stint at Oklahoma in 1995.
Apparently, the 73-year-old coach, the epitome of an old wise man with his distinctive white mustache and white head of hair, hasn't let the game pass him by yet.
He'll be on the sideline Friday night when his Florida Atlantic Owls (7-5) play their first bowl game against Memphis (7-5) in the New Orleans Bowl.
"It's nice to be with a football team that's growing, winning games and qualifying" for the postseason, Schnellenberger said while a Florida Atlantic practice wound down this week. "The bowl game is a result of that. So I guess I'm a happy camper that we've done the right things to get us here. I'll be a doubly happy camper if we can win this game."
For a while, it appeared that Schnellenberger's one season at Oklahoma, when the Sooners went 5-5-1, might be his last as a Division I coach.
He spent a couple years in virtual retirement before Florida Atlantic, a state university in Boca Raton, called with an intriguing offer. They wanted him to build a new football program, starting in what was then known as Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision) and eventually moving up to the I-A, now the Bowl Subdivision, in 2005.
Hired in 1998, he was given a couple years to recruit, with his first team beginning practices in 2000 and playing its first NCAA game in 2001. By 2003, FAU was in the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.
FAU was 2-9 in its first season in the top division, followed by a 5-7 mark a season ago.
Despite his own background as a turnaround specialist, Schnellenberger said FAU's location in south Florida gave it a particular advantage in creating a competitive program.
"We're blessed that we sit right in the middle of a hotbed of high school football programs that allow us to have the opportunity to satisfy our goal," Schnellenberger said.
Schnellenberger knew he couldn't recruit head-to-head against Miami, Florida or Florida State, but thought he had a chance to keep out-of-state schools from luring away some of the local talent that remained.
Another question was how well a new generation of players would relate to a coach who's old enough to collect social security.
FAU senior defensive back Taheem Acevedo recalled what attracted him to Schnellenberger right away.
"My initial thoughts were that I saw a guy walking around with a championship ring," Acevedo recalled. "Even though it was a new program, some of the coaches had experience in bowls or even Super Bowls, so I was kind of into that."
Now Schnellenberger's won a Sun Belt Conference title, upsetting Troy 38-32 in the last game of the regular season to do it.
And if Schnellenberger looks and acts old school, that doesn't mean his offense is.
Rusty Smith has thrown for 3,352 and 27 TDs. Hi top target, Cortez Gent, caught 61 passes for 1,030 yards and nine scores. FAU used a two-back tandem of Charles Pierre and Willie Rose to gain most of team's 1,523 yards rushing.
This will be FAU's first meeting with Memphis, which beat North Texas in the 2003 New Orleans Bowl and this season was one of the top teams in Conference USA.
Like FAU, Memphis throws the ball frequently. Martin Hankins, who started his college career at Southeastern Louisiana before transferring to the Tigers, passed for 2,939 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. He spread the ball around to a handful of receivers, his top two being Duke Calhoun (58 catches, 850 yards, five TDs) and Carlos Singleton (47 catches, 704 yards, 10 TDs).
A bowl victory would mean a lot to a Memphis team that lost four of its first six games and was reeling from the early season shooting death of junior defensive lineman Taylor Bradford.
"We had so many things go on, on top of not playing very well to start the season. Then we had the tragic loss of one of our teammates," Memphis coach Tommy West said. "Young people can be pretty resilient and they hung in there and really the last half of the season we played really well and got better as it went along. Our challenge during this time off is to try to get back to where we were, because offensively, we were playing really well when the season ended."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
McFadden settles for second again
NEW YORK (Ticker) - In finishing second to Ohio State's Troy Smith in the 2006 Heisman voting, it appeared as if Arkansas running back Darren McFadden was simply waiting his turn to etch his name onto the list of winners.
But once again, a quarterback squashed McFadden's Heisman hopes as Florida's Tim Tebow took home the hardware on Saturday.
McFadden became the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive years. It was not the kind of history he was looking to make and it leaves Southern California's Reggie Bush (2005) as the only running back this decade to win the award.
"Last year there was a clear-cut winner, but this year it was kind of up for grabs so it was a little nerve-racking," said McFadden on awaiting the announcement.
Last year, McFadden became only the seventh underclassman in the 72-year history of the Heisman to finish as one of the top two vote getters. Entering the season it was assumed that, barring injury or a major decline in output, this year would be Arkansas running back's year to grasp college football's most prized individual accolade.
Health was not an issue and McFadden's junior season yielded his best statistical output yet, but still McFadden had to settle for second best.
"I was here with two quarterbacks last year, and now I'm back with three others," said McFadden, the lone running back to be invited to this year's ceremony. "I'm just glad to have been invited back."
Once again, he was second best to a quarterback that did nearly as much damage with his feet as with his arm. McFadden's junior year numbers were all that one could ask for from a starting tailback.
He ran for 1,725 yards (143.75 per game), many of which came during a grueling SEC schedule. He scored 16 touchdowns (15 rushing, one receiving).
The Razorbacks' all-time leading rusher (4,485 yards) and all-purpose yardage leader (5,743), McFadden is the only player since Georgia's Herschel Walker to run for 1,000 yards as a freshman, sophomore and junior.
However, Walker won a Heisman and unfortunately for McFadden, Tebow was responsible for a staggering 51 touchdowns this season.
Perhaps even more eye-opening is that Tebow scored nearly as many touchdowns on the ground (22) as in the air (29), and he did it within the same conference that McFadden did his damage in.
"Darren is a great player and I'm honored to have met him over the past three days, said Tebow of the runner-up. "He will be one of the first guys picked in the NFL draft."
Copyright 2007 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
Repeat at Arkansas as football search drags on the way basketball search did
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- First basketball, now football.
Another coach has spurned Arkansas.
Wake Forest's Jim Grobe was the latest to turn down the Razorbacks after he appeared to be headed to Fayetteville. The Razorback Foundation, a private fundraising arm for the University of Arkansas, had actually approved a salary supplement for the Wake Forest coach, but Grobe was still with the Demon Deacons on Thursday.
Before starting practice, some Wake Forest players cheered "Sooie!" -- a reference to Arkansas' famous "Pig Sooie" cheer.
"I think Arkansas's a great place," said Grobe, who would've replaced Houston Nutt at Arkansas. "I wish them a lot of luck, I think it's a great opportunity for somebody, but I just felt like this was the best opportunity for me right here."
Grobe's decision brought to mind an even more unusual near-miss for Arkansas. When basketball coach Stan Heath was fired in late March, the Razorbacks hired Dana Altman a week later. After his introductory news conference, Altman changed his mind and went back to Creighton.
Arkansas hired John Pelphrey a week later.
"I'm just kind of embarrassed, personally," said Anthony Lucas, a former Arkansas receiver who lives in Little Rock, after the Razorbacks again failed to get their man. "I just hate what's going on with this up there. I don't understand why we can't find a coach.
"I don't understand why a coach wouldn't want to take this job. As a (Southeastern Conference) school, of course, I know our fans are a little tough. But it's one of the greatest schools in America."
Nutt resigned Nov. 26 and was hired almost immediately by Mississippi. Grobe would have been an intriguing hire. He took perennially downtrodden Wake Forest to the Orange Bowl last season. The Demon Deacons face Connecticut in the Meineke Bowl this season.
Jeff Long, Arkansas' incoming athletic director, is handling the coach search. He takes over as AD on Jan. 1 after Frank Broyles retires. Long released a statement Thursday.
"The search for a head football coach at the University of Arkansas is ongoing," Long said. "While I have been involved in detailed discussions with candidates, no formal offer has been extended and no agreement has been reached."
Grobe was vague when talking about his contact with Arkansas.
"I think that we had some good discussions, but in the end, I'm still at Wake Forest," Grobe said. "I kind of don't think you come real close until you sign something."
Those have become words to live by in Arkansas. Television stations in the state linked Auburn's Tommy Tuberville to the Razorbacks last week. Tuberville agreed to a contract extension with Auburn.
This week it was another Tommy who was linked to the job, but Tommy Bowden agreed to an extension at Clemson on Tuesday.
Finally, on Wednesday night, multiple media outlets reported that Grobe would take over the Razorbacks. Not so fast.
"The thing that happens at Wake Forest, I've got a really good job and the rest of my staff is happy," Grobe said. "We've got really good players, and we've got a chance to be really good next year, and so even though you look at other places, you've got to remember, Wake Forest is a pretty good place itself."
Butch Davis, a former Arkansas player, said Thursday he won't talk with other schools about jobs and will return for his second season at North Carolina.
"I hope they hire a good coach. I really do," Davis said of Arkansas. "I hope as an alum they hire and find somebody that does as good or better than Houston Nutt. I think Houston Nutt did an excellent job there. They were very competitive."
Arkansas, ranked No. 25 in the nation, will face No. 7 Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring is the Razorbacks' interim coach.
Nutt left following a turbulent year in which fans used the Freedom of Information Act to investigate his cell phone records. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn left in January, and quarterback Mitch Mustain transferred to Southern California. Planes flew at games towing anti-Nutt banners.
Lucas, who played for the Razorbacks during the late 1990s, defended the fans.
"They can be a little bit aggressive at times, but that's the love for it," he said. "They want to know what's going on with their Razorbacks."
Arkansas is not alone with its protracted search. Michigan, for example, hasn't hired anyone to replace Lloyd Carr. Also, as difficult as it was, the Razorbacks' lengthy basketball search eventually yielded Pelphrey, who is off to a 7-1 start with the Hogs.
Lucas played for the Razorbacks in 1997, when Nutt replaced Danny Ford. That search took about as long as this one has, but once in place, Nutt led Arkansas to an 8-0 start his first season there.
Even so, Lucas is concerned. With each day that passes without a coach, the uncertainty surrounding Arkansas football lingers.
"We've got to find the right guy," Lucas said. "We've got to find a guy who wants to be here -- that's most important."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
|
