Hoeppner Is Hired by Indiana as Coach

Miami of Ohio’s Terry Hoeppner was hired as Indiana’s football coach Friday and he vowed to take the Hoosiers to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1968.

Hoeppner, 48-23 in six seasons at Miami, takes over a team with 10 straight losing seasons.

“Can we win here? There is no doubt about it,” Hoeppner said. “We’re going to build a championship football team here.”

Indiana fired Gerry DiNardo after a 3-8 season. DiNardo went 8-27 in three years.

Indiana has been to the Rose Bowl only once and hasn’t had a winning season since going 6-5 in 1994.

Miami went 8-4 this year. Hoeppner, 57, will coach the RedHawks against Iowa State in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28.

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New Mississippi Coach Ed Orgeron was charged with repeated domestic violence more than a decade ago when he was an assistant at Miami, according to records obtained Friday by Associated Press.

Background checks were conducted on Orgeron, most recently USC’s defensive line coach, and other candidates, chancellor Robert Khayat said at a news conference introducing Orgeron as the Rebels’ coach. Athletic Director Pete Boone said school officials are aware of the coach’s history.

“Many years ago Coach Orgeron had a very unpleasant experience that involved behavior he is not proud of,” Khayat said. “Pete Boone, the athletics committee and I are totally comfortable and confident that coach Orgeron is going to provide the kind of role model that we want for our program.”

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Running back Maurice Fenner and quarterback Justin Rascati ran for two touchdowns apiece and James Madison won its first national championship with a 31-21 victory over Montana in the Division I-AA title game Friday night. Both teams finished 13-2.