Connecticut fires Coach Paul Pasqualoni

Connecticut Coach Paul Pasqualoni was fired Monday, with his team 0-4 and coming off a 41-12 loss at Buffalo.

Athletic Director Warde Manuel announced the dismissal two days after the latest defeat. Pasqualoni, in his third season at Connecticut, finishes with a 10-18 record.

The school said it will pay Pasqualoni $750,000 to buy out his contract.

The Huskies have a week off before hosting South Florida on Oct. 12.

The Connecticut-born Pasqualoni took over the football team at its height. The Huskies had appeared in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl, losing 48-20 to Oklahoma. But Connecticut finished 5-7 in consecutive years, and calls for Pasqualoni’s firing started mounting after the team opened the season with a loss to Towson.

Campbell calls for Brown’s ouster

One of the most beloved players in Texas Longhorns football history has called for the ouster of Coach Mack Brown.

Earl Campbell, the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner, told KRIV-TV in Houston that he thought Brown should step down or be forced out.

“Nobody likes to get fired or leave a job, but things happen,” Campbell said, according to the Fox affiliate. “I’d go on record and say yes, I think it’s time.”

Brown is in his 16th year at Texas and led the Longhorns to the 2005 Bowl Championship Series title. He began the year only 22-16 the last three seasons, though, and the Longhorns are 2-2 this season.

Brown said Monday he was disappointed in the comments but also said Campbell was “entitled to his opinion.”

Chris Dufresne

Easley to pursue NFL career

Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week, will make himself available for the NFL draft.

The 6-foot-2, 285-pound senior from Staten Island, N.Y., could apply for a medical redshirt and receive another year of college eligibility. But Coach Will Muschamp said Monday that Easley “is definitely going to the NFL next year.”

One of the most disruptive linemen in the Southeastern Conference, Easley tore the anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus in his right knee during practice on Sept. 24. He tore the ACL in his left knee in November 2011.