COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NATION : Report: Oklahoma Hires Dallas Assistant

The University of Oklahoma has hired Dallas Cowboy assistant John Blake as its new coach, according to a broadcast report Friday night in Oklahoma City.

Radio station KATT-FM, citing unidentified sources, reported that Blake will be announced as the replacement for Howard Schnellenberger, who unexpectedly resigned Dec. 18.

Dean Blevins, a former sports anchor at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City who now works for ABC Television and is close to Dallas Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer, reported the story from New Orleans.

The report said Blake, who played football at Oklahoma, would be introduced during a news conference in Norman. It did not say when the announcement would be made.

Neither Oklahoma officials nor Blake could be reached for comment.

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After talking things over with his family and Texas A&M; Coach R.C. Slocum, junior running back Leeland McElroy has decided to enter the 1996 NFL draft. McElroy rushed for 1,122 yards and scored 16 touchdowns this season. . . . Lombardi Award winner Orlando Pace, a 6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive lineman, said he will return to Ohio State for his junior year instead of challenging the NFL’s rule that college sophomores are not eligible for the draft. . . . Fred Alexander, a former dean at North Alabama, has sued the school president, claiming he was fired in part because he exposed possible NCAA rules violations in the football program, which won three consecutive Division II championships.