COLLEGE FOOTBALL-COACHING NEWS
CINCINNATI (AP) — A whirlwind week has ended with the University of Cincinnati looking for Butch Jones’ replacement as football coach.
Jones resigned today to take the job at Tennessee. It comes one day before the 9-3 Bearcats were scheduled to begin practice to play Duke in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 27. Cincinnati shared the Big East title for the fourth time in the past five years.
The last three Bearcats coaches used the job as a stepping stone to bigger things, leaving after three seasons. Mark Dantonio went to Michigan State, Brian Kelly led Cincinnati to back-to-back titles before heading to Notre Dame and Jones went 23-14 before heading to Tennessee.
He had a $1.4 million buyout in his contract. Jones interviewed with Purdue and Colorado before going to the Vols.
Also:
— Charlie Strong is staying at Louisville. The football coach says he has turned down an offer from Tennessee and will stay with the Cardinals. Strong is 24-14 in three seasons at Louisville. The Cardinals play Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
— Mike Gundy says he intends remain at Oklahoma State amid a report that he was offered the Tennessee job. The Cowboys finished 7-5 and are playing in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on New Year’s Day.
__ Barry Alvarez is headed back to the Wisconsin sidelines. For one game, at least. He says he’ll coach the Badgers in next month’s Rose Bowl, where they’ll play No. 8 Stanford. Alvarez coached Wisconsin for 16 seasons. The move comes a day after former coach Bret Bielema took the job at Arkansas.
— Arkansas State says defensive coordinator John Thompson will serve as interim coach for the Red Wolves as they prepare to play No. 25 Kent State in the GoDaddy.com bowl next month. Thompson takes over for Gus Malzahn, who’s leaving Arkansas State for Auburn after one season.
Te’o adds to postseason haul
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Manti Te’o rides into Saturday’s Heisman Trophy ceremony on a wave of postseason recognition. Notre Dame’s star linebacker has been named the Walter Camp national player of the year and the winner of the Maxwell Award presented to the nation’s most outstanding player. He also won the Chuck Bednarik Award for outstanding defensive player.
Te’o is one of three finalists for the Heisman, along with Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein.
Manziel, a redshirt freshman, won the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best QB.
Klein won the Johnny Unitas Award, given to the best senior QB.
Heat stumble again
UNDATED (AP) — It hasn’t been the greatest week for the Miami Heat. On Tuesday, they lost to the lowly Washington Wizards. Two nights later the Heat were torched by the New York Knicks — playing without their star, Carmelo Anthony.
Raymond Felton scored a season-high 27 points, and the Knicks hit 18 3-pointers to more than offset the absence of Anthony while topping Miami for the second time this season, 112-92. Anthony sat out, one night after needing five stitches to close a cut on the middle finger of his left hand.
Steve Novak scored 18 points, J.R. Smith and Tyson Chandler each added 13 for the Knicks, who won their fifth straight and moved 1½ games clear of Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James nearly picked up his second straight triple-double — 31 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists — in Miami’s second straight loss.
In the only other NBA game last night, Dallas recovered from a lopsided loss to the L.A. Clippers Wednesday night by holding off Phoenix 97-94. O.J. Mayo led the Mavs with 23. The Suns have lost five in a row.