Mississippi's Cutcliffe among three coaches joining unemployed

BYU's Gary Crowton and Indiana's Gerry DiNardo also won't be back in current posts next season.

OXFORD, Miss. -- David Cutcliffe struggled to replace Eli Manning and refused to make major changes after his first losing season in six years as coach of Mississippi.

Those two issues cost him his job.

Cutcliffe was fired Wednesday, following the Rebels' worst season in 10 years.

He joined Brigham Young's Gary Crowton and Indiana's Gerry DiNardo in being unemployed coaches on Wednesday. Notre Dame's Tyrone Willingham was fired on Tuesday in what has become a busy season for coaching changes. Illinois is looking for a replacement for Ron Turner, who was fired a couple weeks ago, and Florida fired Ron Zook during the season but left him in his position.

The usually stoic Cutcliffe fought through tears several times while speaking regretfully about his final season in Oxford.

"Things just haven't been good in 2004," he said.

He declined to discuss specifics of his dismissal, which came after two days of meetings with athletic director Pete Boone and chancellor Robert Khayat.

"We just couldn't come to an agreement," Cutcliffe said. "We couldn't get everything on the same page."

Boone said Cutcliffe refused to submit a written plan to fix problems within the program, including improving a defense that consistently ranked among the Southeastern Conference's worst.

"He preferred the status quo, keeping things how they are," Boone said. "I didn't hear a plan to make that better."

Assistant coaches will remain employed until the new coach decides whether to retain them, Boone said.

Boone and Khayat will lead the search for a new coach.

Cutcliffe was 44-29 in six seasons at Ole Miss, 25-23 in the SEC, and just a season removed from going 10-3 and finishing tied for first in the West with Manning at quarterback.

But without Manning, the first pick in the NFL draft, Ole Miss went just 4-7 this year. The Rebels were 3-5 in the SEC and lost four games by a total of 19 points.

Manning, now the starter for the New York Giants, said he was disappointed by the firing.

"Coach Cutcliffe and I had a great run and great relationship, and I think he's a great coach and a great person," Manning said. "He definitely left Ole Miss a better place than when he came in. I know he'll be fine."

Cutcliffe was the only coach in school history to win at least seven games in his first five years. After last season's success, his contract was extended. He has three years remaining on a deal that pays about $1.2 million annually, including perks and bonuses.

Khayat declined to discuss Cutcliffe's contract situation.

Crowton resigns at BYU

Crowton agreed to resign Wednesday, ending his four-year stint with BYU.

He won his first 12 games at BYU, but that was as good as it would get for the Utah native and former Cougars assistant. BYU finished 5-6 this season and went 14-21 over the last three, the school's worst three-year run since the early 1960s.

"At this time I feel like it's time for me to step down and let the football program move on in a different direction," Crowton said.

Indiana fires DiNardo

DiNardo was fired Wednesday, 11 days after the Hoosiers ended a 3-8 season with a 63-24 loss to in-state rival Purdue. It was his third losing season.

First-year athletic director Rick Greenspan said there was a "sense of urgency" for turning around a football program that has not had a winning season since going 7-4 in 1994 -- the 11th of Bill Mallory's 13 seasons as coach.

"The goal for us is to build a viable program," Greenspan said. "We're going to have some urgency."

DiNardo had an 8-27 record in three seasons.