USC Fires Football Coach Tollner

Ted Tollner was fired this morning as USC’s football coach. Tollner said that USC President James H. Zumberge told him of the school’s decision, saying, in effect, that the football program was not headed in the right direction.

Tollner, who has two years left on his contract, said he does not know whether the university already has selected someone to succeed him. He is finishing his fourth season, and the Trojans still have a Florida Citrus Bowl game with Auburn on Jan. 1. The Trojans have a 7-4 record for the current season, losing their final two games to traditional rivals UCLA and Notre Dame.