PRINCETON, N.J. -- Dartmouth offensive coordinator Roger Hughes was selected Friday as head coach at Princeton University.

Hughes, 40, replaces Steve Tosches, fired Nov. 23, days after the Tigers' first last-place finish in the Ivy League 23 years. Tosches led Princeton to one outright Ivy championship and a share of two others in 13 seasons as coach.

Hughes was offensive coordinator at Dartmouth since 1992, and helped the team to Ivy League championships in 1992 and 1996 under head coach John Lyons.

The Tigers posted a 3-7 record this season, including a 1-6 mark in the league.

Hughes becomes the 21st head coach in Princeton's history.

Liberty coach Rutigliano retires
LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Sam Rutigliano, the former NFL coach of the year with the Cleveland Browns who found spirituality and fulfillment as coach at Liberty, announced his retirement Thursday after 11 seasons.

Rutigliano's retirement is effective immediately, the school said in a release.

"For myself and my family, the spiritual life at Liberty University gave me far more than I could have ever given it," Rutigliano, 66, said in the statement, released late Thursday night.

Rutigliano had a 67-53 record at Liberty, a tenure that started with creditors threatening to shut down the school founded by Jerry Falwell and ended with "Coach Sam" a revered figure at the Christian university and in the community.

"I personally appreciate the spiritual and academic example given us by Coach Sam," Liberty president John M. Borek Jr. said. "His leadership as head football coach certainly will be an example for those who follow him."

Rutigliano was a frequent speaker for civic, athletic and religious functions and groups, and is credited with helping to increase financial support for the school and football program.

"He has been a tremendous leader for not only our football program, but for our entire athletic department," athletic director Kim Graham said. "His integrity and class will be sorely missed."

Liberty was 4-7 this season, matching its worst record under Rutigliano. His best season was 9-2 in 1997.

Rutigliano became the Cleveland Browns coach in 1978 after 11 years as an assistant. Two years later, the Browns won the AFC Central Division title and Rutigliano was named the NFL coach of the year. Four years later, he was fired midway through the season.

Hokies coach Beamer wins another award
PHOENIX -- Frank Beamer, who guided Virginia Tech to an undefeated regular season and an appearance in college football's national championship game, on Thursday received the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.

Beamer, honored earlier in the week by the American Football Coaches Association, was the choice of the Football Writers Association of America, beating out June Jones of Hawaii and Glen Mason of Minnesota. The announcement was made at the Phoenician Resort Hotel.

"This is such an honor," Beamer said. "It was such an amazing season and it shows that Virginia Tech has arrived."

Beamer guided the Hokies to an 11-0 season and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl against top-ranked Florida State. Led by freshman quarterback Michael Vick, Virginia Tech held a 29-28 lead entering the fourth quarter but lost, 46-29.

The annual award has been given out since 1957. In 1996, the FBWAA agreed to name the award after Robinson, the winningest coach in Division I college football. Only Division I-A coaches are eligible.

Davis says he's sticking with Miami
MIAMI -- Miami coach Butch Davis, a former defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys, said Wednesday he has no plans to leave the Hurricanes for a head coaching position in the NFL.

"I am flattered every time my name is mentioned as a candidate for another head-coaching job," Davis said. "It is an honor to be thought of in such high regard. However, I have no interest in any other head coaching position.

I am extremely excited about the future of the Hurricane football program and anxiously look forward to next season. Recruiting is my top priority at this time, and right now is the only thing I'm interested in."

Davis has been mentioned as a possible candidate with the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.

Illinois' Turner to get contract extension
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- University of Illinois trustees Thursday approved a pay raise and contract extension for football coach Ron Turner, who led the Illini to an 8-4 record and their first bowl in five years.

The three-year contract extension through 2004 increases his salary from $430,000 to $575,000 a year. Turner's original contract was set to expire Dec. 20, 2001.

"I am very pleased to have my contract extended," said Turner, a former Chicago Bears assistant whose brother, Norv, is coach of the Washington Redskins. "My family and I are very happy here. We look forward to many great years ahead."

After going 0-11 and 3-8 the two previous seasons, the Illini earned a berth in the 1999 Micronpc.com bowl where they beat Virginia 63-21.

Rhode Island hires Stowers as coach
KINGSTON, R.I. -- Tim Stowers, who guided Georgia Southern to a Division I-AA national title in 1990, on Thursday was named football coach at Rhode Island.

Stowers, 41, who served as an assistant at Temple the last two seasons, was the coach at Georgia Southern from 1990-95, winning a national title in his first season. The Eagles made three postseason appearances under Stowers and had a 51-23 record in his tenure.

"He was a winner as a player, a coach and as a person," Rhode Island athletic director Ron Petro said.

Stowers takes over a struggling Division I-AA program that was just 1-10 last season under Floyd Keith, who resigned. The Rams were just 23-53 in seven seasons under Keith.

Coles says he'll take over at Alabama State
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama State has hired L.C. Coles as its new football coach, replacing Ron Dickerson, two newspapers have reported.

While no announcement was made, Coles told the Montgomery Advertiser he was hired after a Wednesday meeting with school officials at the American Football Coaches Association Convention in California.

Coles, who spent the past four seasons at Tennessee State, said he decided to leave the Nashville school because officials there didn't try to stop him.

"There was no commitment from the administration," he told the newspaper Thursday. "They kept giving permission to other programs to talk to me and I felt like they didn't care if I stayed or left."

Donald Watkins, chairman of the athletic committee, refused to say if Coles had been hired, but said a press conference would be held Friday to introduce the new coach.

"The person we recommended is the best in I-AA football and has been recognized by his peers in the profession," Watkins said.

Coles had a 28-16 record at Tennessee State, but the school was placed on two years NCAA probation under him.

His salary was frozen for the current academic year, and he is prohibited from recruiting off campus this season. He also received a letter of reprimand. Those problems shouldn't affect Alabama State though.

"I came to Tennessee State in 1996 making $75,000," Coles told the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville. "And I'm leaving making the same thing. I never got a dime raise and neither did my coaches after winning two (Ohio Valley Conference) titles."

LSU names defensive coordinator
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Phil Elmassian, who helped build top-notch programs at Wisconsin and Virginia Tech, was named defensive coordinator at LSU on Thursday.

Elmassian comes to LSU from Wisconsin where he has served as coach of the defensive secondary since 1997, helping the Badgers to a record of 21-3 over the last two years and a final national ranking of No. 4 in both major polls this season.

Wisconsin became the first Big 10 team ever to win back-to-back Rose Bowl games, defeating the high-powered offenses of UCLA and Stanford.

Elmassian has been a member of coaching staffs which have gone to bowl games in 12 of the last 15 seasons.

At Virginia Tech, Elmassian joined head coach Frank Beamer in 1993 after the Hokies had gone 2-8-1 the previous season. Virginia Tech went 9-3 in 1993 and 8-4 in 1994 with Elmassian as defensive coordinator, beginning a streak of seven straight bowl appearances for the Hokies.

Four Maryland players charged with assault, burglary
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Four University of Maryland players and one ex-player face charges in connection with the entry of a dormitory room and assault of a campus resident.

The players -- freshmen Andrew Smith, Michael Whaley, Jamar Perrin and Scott Smith -- were immediately suspended from the team, Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden said through an athletic department spokesman.

Charging documents accuse the five men of entering the campus apartment on Nov. 15, looking for a bicycle allegedly stolen from former player Ed Simms.

Simms confronted apartment resident Christopher Blunck and struck him, according to the documents. Blunck was then hit and kicked by at least two more people, and Simms later kicked in a door to search for the bicycle.

After the bicycle was found, player Andrew Smith allegedly took it and rode to Simms' residence.

Whaley, 19, Perrin, 18, and Scott Smith, 18, were charged with first-degree burglary, third-degree burglary and second-degree assault. If convicted of all charges, they could receive a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Perrin, of Temple Hills, and Scott Smith, of Philadelphia, also were charged with theft of less than $300, punishable by a maximum of 1½ years in prison and a $500 fine.

Andrew Smith, 18, of Laurel, was charged with first-degree burglary, third-degree burglary and theft of less than $300. If convicted of all charges, he could receive a maximum penalty of 31½ years in prison and a $500 fine.

Simms, 18, of Woodbridge who quit the team in September, was charged with first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, theft of less than $300 and malicious destruction of property.

At a preliminary hearing last month, the assault charge was reduced to second degree and the burglary charge to fourth degree. Simms faces a maximum 13 years, 8 months in prison and $3,500 in fines.

All five are free on bond.

Westbrook transferring to Montana
MISSOULA, Mont. -- Former BYU receiver Michael Westbrook has confirmed that he will enroll in classes at the University of Montana this semester and has made a verbal commitment to join the football team.

Classes start Jan. 24. National signing day is Feb. 2.

The a 6-foot, 180-pound Westbrook -- a cousin of Washington Redskins receiver Michael Westbrook -- will have two years of eligibility remaining.

He played 12 games as a freshman at BYU and caught just one pass for 12 yards. He left five games into the 1999 campaign.

"It was a combination of a lot of things," Westbrook told the Missoulian on Tuesday. "I wasn't really comfortable. I didn't see myself down there for three or four more years. I couldn't grow mentally, or physically, so I thought it was best if I leave."

Westbrook played with UM quarterback Drew Miller -- another BYU transfer to Montana -- at Lakes High School in Lakewood, Wash. Miller and his father played a role in convincing Westbrook to give the Grizzlies a try.

Marshall player charged in attack on detective's son
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Marshall football player Carlos Smith has been charged in an attack on a city police detective's son.

Smith, 22, a senior defensive end, was charged with unlawful wounding, a felony, on Tuesday. Five other players also taunted the boy but have not been charged, police said.

The attack occurred Dec. 19, eight days before Marshall played in the Motor City Bowl.

Brandon Maynard was walking to his car about 1:30 a.m. when six men accosted him. The men made several comments, then Smith punched him in the face and knocked him down, police said.

"The kid is 5-foot-10 and weighs 140 soaking wet. The guy that hit him is 6-5 and weighs 260," Detective Chris Sperry said.

"He didn't know any of the players. He just happened to be walking to his car and run across the fellows -- wrong place at the wrong time."

The players left Maynard lying on the street. A man came out of a nearby nightclub and took him to Cabell Huntington Hospital, where he received more than 40 stitches to his face, Sperry said.

Maynard's father, Detective Don Maynard, said, "We had to call a plastic surgeon because his mouth was completely ripped open. I don't want to see anybody get in trouble, but he had never met these guys before in his life."

Smith was released on $10,000 bond.

Smith saw little playing time this past season. He had 32 tackles in 1998.

Top rusher switches from Oklahoma St. to Oklahoma
ADA, Okla. -- The state of Oklahoma's leading high school rusher this year is planning to attend Oklahoma on a football scholarship.

Brian Odom had verbally committed to Oklahoma State after a weekend visit to Stillwater. But when he got home on Sunday, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and his brother, Mike, had called with scholarship offers for the Sooners.

Odom changed his mind and accepted the Oklahoma offer on Tuesday.

Odom ran for 2,490 yards and 40 touchdowns in 1999.

Odom said Oklahoma State didn't do anything wrong. "I just couldn't go through life knowing I had a chance to do this. I couldn't turn my back on it," he said.

Stoops recovers his stolen funds
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Someone stole the bank account information, birth date and Social Security number of Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops and used it to create a counterfeit check worth $35,000, authorities said.

The thief, who has not been identified, forged Stoops' signature and opened a stock trading account with the online trading service E-Trade.

Stoops was unaware the $35,000 was missing from his account until he received a statement Monday from E-Trade, saying he had opened an account, Norman Police Lt. Paul Swenson said Tuesday.

Stoops called his Norman bank to ask if money had been taken from his account and was told about the $35,000 check. The bank returned the money to Stoops' account, but officials still do not know who wrote the check or how the person got the information.

Stoops, who is on the road recruiting, did not want to talk about the crime, which apparently occurred while he was at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., with his team in late December.

Swenson said Norman police have never worked a case like this and rarely see counterfeit check schemes in the area. Check scams usually involve stolen checks, not counterfeit ones, he said.