Alabama's Shula fired after 6-6 year

Texas assistant Gene Chizik was hired as Iowa State's new coach.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama coach Mike Shula was fired after a 6-6 season that ended with three straight losses, including a defeat by Auburn.
Athletic director Mal Moore said Monday that defensive coordinator Joe Kines would serve as interim head coach. The firing was first reported by The Tuscaloosa News on its Web site.
Shula, a former Alabama quarterback, led the Crimson Tide to a 10-2 season last year and a Cotton Bowl victory. But his teams were winless in four tries against Auburn. The Tigers beat the Crimson Tide 22-15 on Nov. 18.
Shula said he was "deeply disappointed" by Moore's decision.
"From my very first day on this job, I had a single mission: To return the Crimson Tide to its place among the elite programs in college football," he said in a statement. "Although I maintain that we were moving steadily in that direction, I regret sincerely that I will not be given the opportunity to finish the job I was hired to do."
Shula's firing means Alabama is looking for a head coach for the fourth time since 2000. The Tide has had seven coaches in the 24 years since Paul "Bear" Bryant's last season in 1982. Bryant had directed the Alabama program for 25 years.
Shula took over the proud but troubled program less than four months before the 2003 season after Mike Price was fired following spring practice for his off-the-field behavior -- specifically a night of drinking at a strip club in Pensacola, Fla. Price got the job after Dennis Franchione bolted for Texas A & amp;M.
Iowa State
AMES, Iowa -- Texas assistant Gene Chizik was hired as Iowa State's football coach and will try to revive a team that finished 4-8 this season.
Chizik will replace Dan McCarney, who resigned this month after 12 seasons, Cyclones associate athletic director Steve Malchow told The Associated Press.
Chizik, the defensive co-coordinator at Texas, came to the Longhorns before the 2005 season, and the school won a national championship in his first season. By the end of the 2005 season, Chizik's teams had won 28 straight games dating to his years in Auburn, where he was defensive coordinator for three seasons.
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