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News Nuggets, 09.03.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Auburn AD job still open after Baird, Dooley confer

After an overture from an Auburn administrator with East Carolina roots, former Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley said Thursday he's not a candidate to lead his alma mater's athletic department, according to Associated Press and other accounts.

Dooley says he got a call this week from Hal Baird, Auburn's athletic assistant to the president. He says they agreed that at this time, he and Auburn would not be a good fit.

Dooley was a multi-sport athlete at Auburn in his undergraduate days.

Baird is an East Carolina graduate and former head coach of both the Tigers and Pirates baseball teams. Baird, himself, was proposed at one point as a candidate for ECU's vacant AD position early in the school's ongoing search process.

Dooley's 25-year tenure as Georgia's athletic director ended in acrimony on June 30th. He wanted a contract extension but was denied by university president Michael Adams.

Auburn is seeking a replacement for retiring AD David Housel, who will step down in January.

Dooley's age — he turns 72 on Saturday — made him a long shot to replace Housel, who agreed to retire after embarrassing revelations that he took part in a secret trip to interview a potential replacement for football coach Tommy Tuberville.

Dooley played football and basketball for the Tigers, and was an assistant football coach at the school before being named Georgia's head coach in 1964.

Pirate Radio launches ECU game-day lineup

Greenville radio station WGHB-AM 1250 plans a marathon broadcast of East Carolina football coverage Saturday as the Pirates open their season at No. 10 West Virginia.

The station, known to its listeners as Pirate Radio 1250, said in a press release it will launch its game-day broadcast at 3 p.m. and will sandwich original programming around the ECU network feed which begins at 5 p.m., an hour before the kickoff in Morgantown.

On-air reporters and personalities who will be involved in the station's programming surrounding the game include Voice of the Pirates Jeff Charles, Kevin Monroe, Kevin Wiggins, Brian Bailey, Dan Eberhard, Jim Gentry, Nate Summers, Allen Thomas, Josh Spence, Troy Dreyfus and Jonathan Ellerbe.

The entire day and evening of shows as well as the live call of the game itself can also be heard via Bonesville.net' live Internet stream of the station's audio feed at the following address: http://www.bonesville.net/PirateRadio1250.htm.

Pirate Radio 1250's Saturday football programming schedule:

 --- 3 p.m. — Budweiser Pre-Game Tailgate
 --- 5 p.m. — Pirate Sports Radio Network Pre-Game
 --- 6 p.m. — Pirate Sports Radio Network Play-by-Play
 --- Post-game — Bill Clark Homes 5th Quarter Call In Show

Mountaineers prepared to lead pared-down Big East

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez couldn't help but notice the buzz on campus as his team prepared to kick off its 2004 football campaign.

The Mountaineers open the season in The Associated Press top 10 for the first time in school history. There are great expectations in Morgantown these days.

"I think West Virginia fans are annually optimistic, regardless," Rodriguez said. "We just know there are a lot of eyes on us. We'll just see if we're mature enough to handle it."

The 10th-ranked Mountaineers are the only ranked team in the new-look Big East. Connecticut is the newcomer in the seven-team conference since perennial powers Miami and Virginia Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"All the hype and all the rankings go out the window once you play one game," Rodriguez said. "You never know until you play one game."

WVU, last year's conference co-champ with Miami, opens at home Saturday against East Carolina, a team that has taken the brunt of the Mountaineers' ground game the last few meetings. The Pirates were ranked 105th among Division I-A schools a year ago in defending the run. The Mountaineers rushed for 361 yards last year in 48-7 win over the Pirates.

O'Leary to miss UCF opener after mother's passing

ORLANDO — Coach George O'Leary will miss Central Florida's opener against Wisconsin this weekend to attend the funeral of his 83-year-old mother, who died Wednesday in New York.

Margaret O'Leary died after a brief illness, according to a school release.

"I've always preached family, religion, and football," O'Leary said. "Not going to my mother's funeral would be hypocritical."

The service is scheduled for Saturday morning in Central Islip, NY.

Special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Dave Huxtable, a former assistant coach at East Carolina, will assume head coaching responsibilities against 21st-ranked Wisconsin.

Huxtable, in his first year at UCF, spent four years as an assistant to O'Leary at Georgia Tech, from 1994-97.

O'Leary, hired in December to replace the fired Mike Kruczek, is expected to be back for UCF's home opener against West Virginia on Sept. 11, the team against which East Carolina will open in Morgantown, WV, on Saturday.

The Knights, currently members of the Mid-American Conference, have accepted an invitation to join Conference USA as an all-sports member in 2005-06.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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