Rutgers fires football coach Kyle Flood and athletic director Julie Hermann

Rutgers fired football coach Kyle Flood and athletic director Julie Hermann yesterday, stripping the athletic department of its most prominent employees after a season that was a failure on and off the field.

University president Robert Barchi announced that Patrick Hobbs, Dean Emeritus of the Seton Hall University School of Law, will take over for Hermann. Hobbs did a stint as Seton Hall's AD and was initially targeted to be an interim replacement for Hermann, but Barchi said Rutgers decided to offer him the job permanently Friday.

Barchi said in his statement that he decided last week to make a change in leadership.

The Scarlet Knights finished 4-8 after blowing a big lead over Maryland on Saturday, a game that was not even close to being the worst of the team's embarrassments this season.

Flood was suspended for three games for making inappropriate contact with a professor regarding a player's academics. Also, seven players have been arrested since August, though charges were dropped against star receiver Leontee Carroo.

Flood was 27-24 in four seasons at Rutgers, including bowl appearances in his first three.

Richt out at Georgia

Mark Richt stepped down as Georgia's coach in what was called a "mutual" decision but looked like a firing.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in a statement that he met with Richt yesterday morning "to discuss the status of our football program." McGarity said the two "mutually agreed that he would step down as head coach."

Georgia (9-3) ended its regular season with Saturday's 13-7 win over Georgia Tech.

London resigns at Virginia

Mike London resigned after failing to guide Virginia to a winning season in five of his six seasons as coach. Athletic director Craig Littlepage said in a release from the school that he met with London yesterday morning and both agreed that a change was in the best interest of the program. The move comes less than 24 hours after Virginia (4-8, 3-5 ACC) lost, 23-20, to state rival Virginia Tech, its 12th consecutive loss in the series.

Fuente hired at Va. Tech

Virginia Tech hired Memphis' Justin Fuente as its next coach. Frank Beamer is retiring after 29 seasons and will be followed by a 39-year-old coach who has spent the past four seasons at Memphis, turning a struggling program into a winner. Memphis went 9-3 this season.

Miles staying at LSU

Les Miles rode across the Tiger Stadium field on the shoulders of his players Saturday night while fans chanted his name. It would have been quite a send-off, except LSU's administration doesn't want him going anywhere after all.

Minutes after LSU closed the regular season with a 19-7 victory over Texas A & M, athletic director Joe Alleva said Miles will remain the coach. The announcement capped more than a week of speculation that Miles was on the verge of losing his job after his first three-game losing streak in his 11 years at LSU. -- AP