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| | Wednesday, November 17 | |||||
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana State University head football coach Gerry DiNardo was fired Monday after eight straight losses and back-to-back losing seasons.
"It had been our intention to make an announcement ... after the last game of the season," Emmert said. "But with the open date this week and only a single game remaining ... I concluded it was in the best interest of all concerned, and particularly in the long-term interests of the university to act now, rather than wait." DiNardo will be paid $600,000 to cover his $150,000-a-year base salary for the four years left on his five-year contract. He will not get the rest of the package, which also included $300,000 a year in radio and television appearances and $135,000 a year in endorsements. DiNardo came to LSU in 1995 from Vanderbilt, replacing Curley Hallman who posted four consecutive losing seasons in a six-season losing streak. DiNardo said he wanted to "bring the magic back to Tiger Stadium."And for a while, it appeared that he had. He posted a 26-9-1 record over his first three years, winning three bowl games and capturing two co-championships in the Southeastern Conference's western division in 1996 and 1997. But the Tigers, rated by many as a preseason favorite to win the SEC West in 1998, slid to a 4-7 record. This season, the wheels came off -- both on the field, where losses mounted, and off the field, where scandal touched several team members. "Basically, he just didn't win enough football games," Dean said. "He is a man of great integrity and great character. It's too bad he didn't have his losing seasons first and his three good years later."With one conference game left, LSU is 0-7 in the SEC and has lost eight straight games for the first time in school history. A combination of near-misses against SEC opponents Mississippi State and Alabama -- where each time LSU came within one play of winning -- and the lifeless performance against Houston apparently were the last gasps for DiNardo. "If he'd won those games, he'd still be the coach here," Dean said. "If he'd won them I'm sure they would have played better against Houston. Winning does that." Off-field problems shadowed the team much of the season. Co-captain Larry Foster was arrested, charged with purse snatching and found to have warrants against him for issuing bad checks. Cornerback Mark Roman and safety Clarence LeBlanc were ruled ineligible, accused of inappropriate contact with a sports agent. This month, two current and two former LSU players were arrested after being investigated for illegal use of a telephone access code. Also, there was the recent arrest of a man accused of bribery and violations of sports agent laws after allegedly offering money to an assistant coach and an academic counselor. Police said Randall Menard, who implied he was representing William "Tank" Black, a prominent sports agent from Columbia, S.C., offered assistant coach Mike Haywood $30,000 or "whatever it takes" to help him sign nose guard Anthony McFarland before last spring's draft. Menard was also accused of offering $10,000 to LSU academic counselor Verge Ausberry to help convince Roman to forego his senior year and turn professional. Recently, Kevin Faulk, LSU's all-time leading rusher, said Menard was a longtime friend who gave him thousands of dollars in gifts and cash while he played at LSU. Now a rookie with the New England Patriots, Faulk said the money was not meant to influence who represented him in contract negotiations. Black represented Faulk in negotiations with the Patriots. Black said he has no relationship with Menard, however. The NFL players union has accused Black of using Menard to offer money to an LSU assistant coach in hopes of securing players. The union has accused Black of several violations and recommended that he be barred from NFL business for three years. Black is appealing. DiNardo is a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who was a three-year starter at offensive right guard at Notre Dame under Ara Parseghian from 1972-74. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Maine, moving on to assistant positions at Eastern Michigan and Colorado before heading to Vanderbilt. There, he earned SEC Coach of the Year honors after taking the Commodores, 1-10 the previous year, to 5-6 during the 1991 season. He compiled a 19-25 record at Vanderbilt before being tapped for the LSU job. | ALSO SEE Avoiding crisis didn't save DiNardo's job at LSU
LSU chancellor to be point man in search for new coach
AUDIO/VIDEO   LSU Chancellor Dr. Mark Emmert says the program will move forward.wav: 105 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 LSU athletic director Joe Dean says this was a difficult decision.wav: 84 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||
