Slocum Fired by Aggies

R.C. Slocum was fired by Texas A&M; on Monday, ending his 14-year tenure as coach of the Aggies.

Despite a victory over then-No. 1 Oklahoma, the Aggies finished a disappointing 6-6 in the regular season, capped by a 50-20 loss to Texas on Friday.

Slocum’s 123 career victories were the most in school history, and he never had a losing season.

“It was with great sadness and disappointment that I learned today that I was being fired as the head football coach at Texas A&M;,” Slocum said in a prepared statement.

“We had a season where we lost several close games that could have gone either way and no one was more disappointed than me with our record. However, we have some really outstanding young players and I felt our future was bright.”

Slocum was 123-47-2 with the Aggies, but only 29-23 in the last four seasons. The Aggies have lost three in a row to Texas.

Slocum, 58, won four conference championships, including the Big 12 Conference title in 1998.

In a statement, the school said Slocum was asked to become special advisor to Texas A&M; President Robert M. Gates.

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Tulsa Coach Keith Burns, a former defensive coordinator at USC, resigned after a 7-28 record in three seasons.

Burns had a 2-21 record the last two seasons, including 1-11 this year.

Tulsa lost 17 consecutive games under Burns before beating Texas El Paso, 20-0, on Oct. 26. The Golden Hurricane finished last in the Western Athletic Conference for the second consecutive year.

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Nebraska Coach Frank Solich fired defensive coordinator Craig Bohl, secondary coach George Darlington and rush ends coach Nelson Barnes, and said he no longer will call the team’s offensive plays.... Bill Lynch was fired as Ball State’s coach. He had a 37-53 record in eight years at Ball State, which finished 6-6 this season.... Mississippi State fired offensive coordinator Sparky Woods, defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn and three other assistants. The Bulldogs finished 0-8.

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New Mexico (7-6) accepted a bid to play in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 25 against a Pacific 10 team.... Southern Mississippi (7-5) will play in the Houston Bowl on Dec. 27 against a Big 12 team.... Air Force (8-4) will play in the San Francisco Bowl on Dec. 31 against a team from the Big East.

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Willis McGahee of Miami, Chris Brown of Colorado and Larry Johnson of Penn State are the finalists for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation’s top running back.... Miami center Brett Romberg, Washington State defensive tackle Rien Long and Utah offensive tackle Jordan Gross are the finalists for the Outland Trophy, given annually to the best interior lineman.