News & Notes

After a 14-month battle with cancer, San Francisco 49ers' OL coach Bobb McKittrick died on March 15. He was 64.

McKittrick, who worked with five Super Bowl winning teams in 21 years, courageously continued working on the 49ers' staff while fighting bile duct cancer. A former Marine Corps officer, McKittrick was known for his toughness, hard work and dedication to the game and to his players.

His on-field coaching duties were assumed by Pat Morris last season, but McKittrick stayed involved with the team despite surgeries and chemotherapy.

"Bobb McKittrick has been universally acclaimed as one of the great coaches of our time," 49ers general manager Bill Walsh said. "He was the most successful offensive line coach the game has ever seen. His spirit and standard of excellence will always be a part of the 49ers' tradition He was a great man and will truly be missed by all of us."

McKittrick is survived by his wife of 42 years, Teckla, his sons Mike and Ladd, and two grandchildren.

Pitt Extends Harris through 2006

At a time when its football team will play home games in three different stadiums in three seasons, the University of Pittsburgh moved to reinforce stability at the head coach position, giving Walt Harris a contract extension through 2006.

Harris, who is 13-21 in his first three seasons at Pitt, took the Panthers to the Liberty Bowl in his first season in 1997. Last year the Panthers were 5-6 following a 2-9 mark in 1998. Overall, Pitt had just one winning season in the 1990s.

"What you really have to evaluate is the progress you're making," athletic director Steve Pederson said. "Progress doesn't always show itself in wins and losses. That first year, when we had a winning season and went to a bowl game, didn't mean that everything was fine. And the following year when we went 2-9, that didn't mean that everything was terrible."

The future looks good at Pitt, with the program beginning to land more and more of Pennsylvania's top high school recruits, and its upcoming move to the new Steelers stadium in 2001 following one year at Three Rivers Stadium. The stadium move means the Panthers will get to share a new, upgraded practice facility with the Steelers.

"The recruits, as well as the coaches, need to know that there's going to be a solid foundation here for a long time," Harris said. "I think we're also doing the things off the field that I believe need to be done to build a successful program, like the new training center and the downtown stadium."

For 74 years, the Panthers played on-campus at Pitt Stadium, but it was torn down following last season to make room for a new basketball arena. Pitt will play one season in Three Rivers before it also is torn down, then will move with the Steelers into a 65,000-seat stadium adjacent to Three Rivers that is currently under construction.

NCAA Drops Tennessee Inquiry

The NCAA has discontinued an inquiry into alleged academic fraud within the Tennessee football program after finding no wrongdoing.

NCAA Director of Enforcement Thomas C. Hosty said in a letter to Tennessee AD Doug Dickey: "Based upon available information, the enforcement staff has determined that there appears to be no need to conduct any further inquiry at this time into alleged violations involving academic issues and the Tennessee football program."

The 1998 national champions came under fire last year after an ESPN.com report in which a former academic coordinator for the football team alleged that university officials knew of widespread academic fraud and did nothing about it.

The report said administrators in the athletic department knew of scenarios in which four tutors may have written papers and completed course work for at least five football players.

Neuheisel Names Gilbertson OC

Keith Gilbertson, Washington's offensive coordinator during the Huskies' 1991 national championship season, has been elevated back to the post by head coach Rick Neuheisel.

Gilbertson was UW's offensive line coach last season after serving three years on the Seattle Seahawks staff and was head coach at California from 1992-95. He will replace outgoing OC Karl Dorrell, who was hired as the Denver Broncos wide receivers coach.

Gilbertson, a native of the Seattle area, coached under Don James from 1989-91 before going to Cal, first as offensive coordinator and then as head coach.

Irish Lure New AD from Arizona State

Rocked by its first major NCAA violation last year, Notre Dame hired Arizona State athletics director Kevin White in March to help clean up its once unspoiled image.

White will be the first Notre Dame athletics director to report directly to the university president - part of a shakeup in the department prompted by the school's first NCAA probation. That resulted from the relationship between a booster and more than a dozen players.

"Notre Dame has set the bar very high for a long time," White said. "I think we need to keep the bar set where it's at and perhaps take it up a notch."

White, who is expected to begin at UND in mid-April, replaces former AD Mike Wadsworth, who resigned in February after five years on the job. He is known for his past rebuilding jobs at Tulane and ASU, which each had to deal with point-shaving scandals.

Cowboys, Dawgs to Replace Turf

One has an old rug; the other has a mysterious liquid seeping up from the ground, but both Oklahoma State and Georgia are looking at installing new playing surfaces for this fall to remedy the situations.

In Stillwater, OSU AD Terry Don Phillips says the school cannot wait another year - as was originally planned - to install new turf at Lewis Field. He says the new field will be artificial, but may not be AstroTurf.

"We have a strong interest in Nebraska's surface," Phillips has said. OSU players and coaches liked the feel of FieldTurf when the team played there last fall.

FieldTurf is relatively new to the market and has the look and feel of natural grass.

Oklahoma State's current AstroTurf has been in place since 1987 - five years longer than the surface usually lasts - and has developed obvious slick spots, holes and pulled seams.

Meanwhile, in Athens, Ga., a foul-smelling liquid seeping from beneath Sanford Stadium has crews working quickly to have the University of Georgia's field in shape for the season opener.

UGA was forced to cancel its G-Day spring game in April because of the mysterious ooze, but university officials say there are no plans to move or postpone the Bulldogs' Sept. 2 game with Georgia Southern.

The liquid first appeared before the start of last season. Engineers hired by the school to assess the situation concluded that raw sewage was to blame, but a different firm hired by Athens-Clarke County found no evidence that sewage was to blame.

The school hired yet another firm to investigate while workers dug up sod from the 86,000-seat stadium and hauled it away.

The university spent $100,000 on repairs and studies. Replacing the field is expected to cost more than $1 million.

NCAA Reprimands Georgia Southern for Fan Behavior

The NCAA Division I-AA football committee has threatened to deny future home playoff games at Georgia Southern, citing what it calls unruly fan behavior at two home playoff games in December.

The committee said fan behavior at the games violated the NCAA's crowd-control policies. It said in a news release that it has reviewed crowd-control measures Georgia Southern will implement for the 2000 season.

The committee reprimanded the university for the behavior of fans following quarterfinal and semifinal home playoff games. Hundreds of fans stormed the field and tore down both goal posts as the Eagles defeated Illinois State in the semifinals. Complaints were also received of GSU fans using profanities and threatening language during the Eagles' quarterfinal win over UMass, NCAA spokesman Dennie Poppe said.

Georgia Southern fans also tore down a goal post after the Eagles defeated Youngstown State for the Div. I-AA national championship. The game was played at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. A stadium security spokesman said at the time fans hurled bottles, beer cans and other objects at security guards.

"The behavior of some fans detracted from the accomplishments of the Georgia Southern football team," John Johnson, athletic director at Weber State and chair of the Division I-AA football committee, said in a news release.

"We commend the university for the policies and procedures it has developed. We'll review the behavior of fans at future contests before determining if Georgia Southern or any other university is permitted to host future playoff games."

Hall of Famer Blackman Dies

Bob Blackman, one of the greatest coaches ever known to the Ivy League, died in March at the age of 81. Blackman coached teams that won or shared seven Ivy League titles from 1955-70.

Blackman died of an undisclosed illness in California while en route from Singapore back to his home in South Carolina.

In his 16 seasons at Dartmouth, Blackman went 104-37-3; his teams went unbeaten three times and twice won the Lambert Trophy as the top team in the East; and in 1970, Blackman was named national coach of the year by the Walter Camp Foundation while leading the Big Green to a No. 14 national ranking. No Ivy League team has been ranked that high since.

Blackman went on to coach at Illinois from 1971-76, and finished his career coaching six years back in the Ivy League at Cornell.

After retiring, Blackman was affiliated with the East-West Shrine game and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987. He coached several of the postseason all-star games, and was a past president of the American Football Monthlyes Association.

AFM Readers Tab Stoops as
Game's Top Young Coach

American Football Monthly readers who participated in an online poll at www.americanfootballmonthly.com identified Oklahoma's Bob Stoops as college football's top young coach.

Stoops, 39, is entering his second season as the Sooners' head man. In year one, OU ended a string of six consecutive .500 or lower seasons by finishing 7-5 and earning a trip to the Independence Bowl.

Other young coaches liked by AFM readers included Arkansas' Houston Nutt, 42, Clemson's Tommy Bowden, 45, and Rick Neuheisel, 39, of Washington.

Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) 36%
Houston Nutt (Arkansas) 16%
Tommy Bowden (Clemson) 15%
Rick Neuheisel (Washington) 14%

Others receiving votes: Frank Beamer (Va. Tech), Mike Bellotti (Oregon), Bob Benson (Georgetown), Bob Davie (Notre Dame), Dennis Franchione (TCU), June Jones (Hawaii), Hal Mumme (Kentucky), Frank Solich (Nebraska), Ron Turner (Illinois), Mark Whipple (UMass), Bobby Williams (Mich. State), Tyrone Willingham (Stanford).