COLLEGE FOOTBALL : DiNardo and Cordelli Named Coaches at Vanderbilt and Kent

Gerry DiNardo, offensive coordinator at Colorado, was named Vanderbilt University’s new football coach today, and Pete Cordelli Jr., offensive coordinator for Notre Dame, was named head coach at Kent State University.

DiNardo, who developed Colorado’s I-bone offensive scheme, replaces Watson Brown, who was reassigned to a fund-raising post with the school’s Alumni and Development Office. DiNardo said he signed a five-year contract Sunday night. Terms were not disclosed.

As a collegiate player, DiNardo earned All-America honors in 1974 as an offensive guard at Notre Dame.

Commodore players signed a letter Sunday denouncing Brown’s dismissal and urging that offensive coordinator Steve Sloan be promoted to the head spot.

Vanderbilt ended its 1-10 season Saturday by losing 49-20 to Sugar Bowl-bound Tennessee.

Brown had a 10-45 overall record in his five years at Vandy, where he was a quarterback from 1968 to ’72.

Cordelli replaced the fired Dick Crum at Kent State.

A Notre Dame assistant coach since 1986, Cordelli, 37, has coached in seven bowl games, including Notre Dame’s national championship title in 1988.

Crum was fired Nov. 14 after compiling a three-year record of 7-27 with the Golden Flashes.

In another coaching move, Larry Blakeney, an assistant football coach at Auburn for 14 years, today was named head coach at Troy State University at Troy, Ala., which is moving up to Division I-AA.