Banner Graphic, Volume 22, Number 106, Greencastle, Putnam County, 7 January 1992 — Page 7

Williams paid $380,000 for job at Georgia Tech

ATLANTA (AP) Bill Lewis was so anxious to become Georgia Tech’s ninth head football coach, he was willing to pay for it. He said that’s exactly what he did to get out of the remaining three years on his contract at East Carolina. “MY WIFE AND I are going to settle and comply with that contract ourselves,” Lewis said of the buyout clause in his deal with the Pirates. “That was part of a hectic day, getting all of that settled.” The buyout clause in his East Carolina contract was believed to be $380,000. Lewis said he took out a loan to pay it, then signed a five-year contract with the Yellow Jackets, terms of which were not disclosed. Lewis replaces Bobby Ross, who left after five years to replace Dan Henning as coach of the San Diego Chargers. Ross earned more than $330,000 annually at Tech. LEWIS SAID HE was retaining one of Ross’ assistants, Danny Smith, as his assistant head coach. He said Smith and his ultimate choices for offensive and defensive coordinators would have identical power on his staff. After leading East Carolina to its best season ever, Lewis was on Tech’s list of candidates as soon as Ross announced his departure on Jan. 1. Lewis’ Pirates were in Atlanta on New Year’s Day, posting a 37-34 comeback victory over North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl. The 11-1 record earned the Pirates a No. 9 ranking in the Associated Press college football poll. IT WILL BE Lewis’ third stint as a head coach. He had a 14-20-1 record in three seasons at Wyoming beginning in 1977 and was 21-12-1

Carnesecca wants guy who paid recruit

NEW YORK (AP) Lou Carnesecca has heard Dexter Cambridge’s story. Now he wants to know the identity of the man the suspended Texas basketball player says offered him money to attend St. John’s. Cambridge was to appear today before the NCAA Subcommittee on Eligibility in Anaheim, Calif., as part of the appeal of his suspension over admitting to taking $7,000 from a Lon Morris booster upon his graduation from that junior college. CAMBRIDGE TOLD a number of reporters that he would tell the NCAA that a man he cannot identify called him in November 1989 to the Holiday Inn in Jacksonville, Texas, and reportedly opened a briefcase containing money. “A guy told me he would give me the money if I went to St. John’s,” Cambridge said. “I turned it down because I knew it was wrong.” Cambridge said the man was not a member of the St. John’s coaching staff but was a representative of the school. “If this kid can produce the guy, we want to know,” Redmen coach

Division l-A schools are target of NCAA proposal

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Proposals to reduce the representation of Division I-A schools, college athletics’ big moneymakers, on two policy-making panels are among the issues to be voted on at the NCAA’s annual convention. Those measures are among more than 140 items to be dealt with at the four-day meetings that begin today, with some 2,300 delegates attending. THE PROPOSALS TO cut Division I-A representation on the NCAA Council and Presidents Commission are expected to go to a vote on Wednesday. “If they get passed, then you can bet there will be some very, very unhappy people in Division I-A,” said Chuck Neinas, executive director of the College Football Association. “I would predict a lot of provocative quotes.” The 106 Division I-A schools are the major football schools, and they also represent a sizeable majority of the top Division I basketball programs. UNDER A PROPOSAL introduced by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the Council and Presidents Commission would in-

at East Carolina. He’s also been an assistant coach for 23 years at Georgia, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and East Stroudsburg State, his,alma mater. He coached defensive backs at Tech in 1971 and 1972. Lewis was on Georgia’s staff for nine years, leaving when Ray Goff replaced Vince Dooley in 1989. “Bill is a fine football coach who has compiled a solid record during his coaching career,” Goff said. “I know the people at Georgia Tech are excited about having Bill as part of their program.” LEWIS SAID IT was “one of the happiest days of my life.” He held a meeting with the Tech team Monday night following the announcement. “He seemed like a pretty good guy,” running back Jimy Lincoln said. “With the offense he runs, we can put a lot of points on the board. I’ll like that.” Lewis promised to give Tech an exciting team with an option offense and a complete passing game. “If I’m an offensive player tonight at Georgia Tech, I’m excited because I really believe that we will bring one of the most exciting offensive concepts in college football,” Lewis said. HE SAID HE thought it would be an offense that would be especially pleasing to Shawn Jones, who has passed for 6,044 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushed for 968 yards and 16 scores in his first three seasons. “Jones is a very accomplished quarterback, an exciting play-action quarterback,” Lewis said. “I hope Shawn watched the Peach Bowl. If I’m a quarterback, I’m going to be excited about playing quarterback in this system.”

Camesecca said Monday. “Bring this guy to me. I want to know if there’s a nut out there. “IF THE KID went to meet him, he had to be someone he knows, that or some nut,” Carnesecca said. “Then he counts the money and gives it back. We want to know. If he’s out there, get him, lasso him, because we don’t know anything about this.” Camesecca said he tried to recruit the 6-foot-7 Cambridge out of high school, but “he couldn’t get in school so he went to the JC.” “We tried to get him after junior college, but the kid was going to Texas because a couple of players from that school and the coach were there,” Camesecca said. CAMBRIDGE PLAYED just four games for Texas this season. In the appeal, Texas officials were to claim that his suspension for the 1991-92 season should be reduced because only one-third of the $7,000 he received in 1990 from Keith Heingartner, a former Lon Morris coach now a businessman in Jacksonville, was based on performance, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

clude a representative of every men’s basketball conference. The Northeast Conference, meanwhile, has made a proposal to apportion Division I representation on the panels according to geographic region. Both measures would reduce Division I-A representation, now 12 members of the 44-member Council and Presidents Commission. NCAA president Judy Sweet opposes the proposals. “I think the Council operates very effectively in the current structure,” said Sweet, who is from Division 111 UC San Diego. “I think there will be some healthy debate on the proposal. I don’t sense that there’s a lot of strong support.” Proposals by the Presidents Commission to raise academic requirements for athletes are expected to be among the major issues at the convention. Under the present freshman eligibility rule known as Proposition 48, to be eligible their first year, freshmen must have a 2.00 or C average in 11 high school “core” or college preparatory courses.

TOM FLORES: President and coach of Seahawks

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Flores’ Seahawks will be Raider-like

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) The Seattle Seahawks have a new direction, a new philosophy and a new coach Tom Flores. In their post-Chuck Knox era, they could resemble the Los Angeles Raiders, a team Flores coached to two Super Bowl championships in nine seasons. “OFFENSIVELY, MY personality is to put the ball down the field a little bit more,” Flores said Monday after officially succeeding Knox as coach of the Seahawks. “I like to spread it out and challenge them up the field.” “When you win two Super Bowls, that’s not bad for a start,” Seahawks owner Ken Behring said of Flores. “Our philosophy is very much the same. I think he will bring that philosophy of knowing how to win.” Behring, the California land developer who has owned the Seahawks for four years, was on hand at a news conference to announce Flores’ new role. THE 54-YEAR-OLD Flores has spent the past three seasons as the Seahawks’ president and general manager. He will remain as presi-

January 7,1992 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

dent although he will drop the title of general manager, letting others in the Seahawks front office handle player contract negotiations. Flores coached the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1979 through 1987 under owner Al Davis. He piloted the Raiders to Super Bowl championships at Oakland in the 1980 season and in Los Angeles in the 1983 season. After a 5-10 record that included a 1-2 mark during an NFL players’ strike, Flores resigned as the Raiders’ coach with a year remaining on his contract He served as a consultant to the Raiders in 1988. Flores said he was burned out when he left the Raiders, but is ready to return to coaching because he missed it “I decided it was time,” he said. BEHRING EMPHASIZED he didn’t pressure Flores into replacing the 59-year-old Knox, who resigned Dec. 27. Behring said he thought the team was mired in mediocrity under Knox. In the years Behring has owned the Seahawks, they are 3232. They have missed the playoffs three seasons in a row.

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