Extension for Missouri’s Smith

Larry Smith, who guided the dramatic turnaround of the Missouri program, was rewarded with a five-year contract. Smith, 59, is 25-31-1 in five seasons at Missouri. He took a team that had not had a winning season since 1983 to 7-4 regular-season records in 1997 and 1998. “I’m looking forward to continuing to build our program in the next five years,” said Smith, a former USC coach. “We have made some tremendous strides in all areas.”

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Saying only that he made a mistake, Oregon receiver Tony Hartley refused to explain the violation of team rules that led to his suspension for the Ducks’ Aloha Bowl game against Colorado. Asked if he wanted to provide details to stop speculation among fans, Hartley told the Eugene Register-Guard, “If they’re really fans, and if they appreciate this team and what I’ve done, they’ll understand why I don’t feel like putting my business out there.” . . . Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer promoted Randy Sanders to offensive coordinator, replacing David Cutcliffe, who took the head coaching job at Mississippi. Sanders has been the Volunteers’ running backs coach for six seasons. . . . Randy Ball, the nation’s winningest NCAA Division I-AA coach over the last three seasons at Western Illinois, became the head coach at Southwest Missouri State. . . . Eli Manning, son of Archie and brother of Peyton, decided he would play football at Mississippi, the school where his dad became famous.