Riley All but In as Oregon State Coach

Mike Riley, offensive coordinator at USC the past four years, agreed to become head coach at Oregon State, the Associated Press learned Tuesday.

Riley, 43, decided to return to Corvallis, where he was a prep football star, to face the formidable challenge of rebuilding a program that this year set an NCAA Division I-A mark for consecutive losing seasons at 26.

There was no official confirmation of the hiring, but sources close to the situation in Southern California and Oregon, who did not want to be identified, said Riley would get the job. A news conference to introduce Riley as the new coach probably will be held today.

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With his team dogged by scandal and a losing record, 77-year-old Eddie Robinson wants one more season, a 56th year at Grambling, and a chance to go out a winner.

“Then that’s it. Then, I’ll walk away as a coach. If I win, fine. If I don’t, well, then I’ll feel OK that at least my concerns had been considered,” Robinson said in an interview published Tuesday in The Ruston (La.) Daily Leader.

However, Grambling President Raymond Hicks wants Robinson, college football’s winningest coach, to step down and assume a vice president’s post.

Hicks returned Tuesday from an out-of-town meeting and said that, while he had met with Robinson, he denied demanding the coach’s resignation.

“Coach Robinson and I have met and discussed his future role at the university, but I have not issued any ultimatum. To speculate on the outcome at this time would be inappropriate,” Hicks said.

Robinson has a record of 405-157-15 with only seven losing seasons. However, four have come in the last 10 years and, for the first time, he has had consecutive losing records.

Last April, the NCAA began investigating allegations of rules violations in the football program, and last month four players were arrested and charged with the dormitory rape of a 15-year-old girl after Grambling’s homecoming victory against Alabama State.

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Kansas State defensive back Chris Canty, 20, has issued an apology over his arrest Monday on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and withdrawn from consideration for the Jim Thorpe Award as best defensive back in college football, as well as two other awards.

Canty, of Houston, was arrested by campus police the day after the Wildcats learned they’d been picked to play Brigham Young in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1.

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Tulane is expected today to name Tommy Bowden, Auburn’s offensive coordinator, as its coach. . . . Sonoma State dropped its football program a month after students rejected an increase in activities fees needed to help subsidize the struggling sport.