Hawaii tabs McMackin

Greg McMackin was hired as Hawaii's football coach Wednesday after serving as its defensive coordinator last season on a team that went undefeated until losing the Sugar Bowl.

He replaces June Jones, who left the Warriors to coach SMU less than a week after they were routed by Georgia. McMackin agreed to a five-year deal that will pay him $1.1 million a season, making him the highest paid coach in school history. He will earn 10 times his 2007 salary.

The 58-year-old former assistant with the 49ers and Seahawks said the Warriors will not change their wide-open offense that flourished last season behind quarterback Colt Brennan.

The Warriors finished the regular season 12-0, then lost 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl. After Jones bolted for SMU, athletic director Herman Frazier was fired.

Applewhite to Texas

Former Texas quarterback Major Applewhite is rejoining the Longhorns as an assistant coach, leaving his job as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama.

The 29-year-old Applewhite was the youngest offensive coordinator in the Football Bowl Subdivision last season and returns to the campus where he was a fan favorite as a player from 1998-2001.

"We're really excited to have Major back," Texas head coach Mack Brown said Wednesday. "We always knew when Major was playing that he was a student of the game and would be a terrific coach one day. He's living up to that."

Texas scheduled a Thursday news conference to introduce Applewhite as the assistant head coach and running backs coach. His salary will be $250,000, the same amount he was paid at Alabama.

Wildcats hire Hankwitz

Northwestern hired two new coordinators, choosing Mick McCall to run the offense and Mike Hankwitz the defense for coach Pat Fitzgerald.

McCall replaces Garrick McGee, who resigned earlier this month. Hankwitz, who coached at Colorado under Bill McCartney and Gary Barnett, follows Greg Colby, who was fired.

WVU suit moved

West Virginia University's lawsuit against Rich Rodriguez was transferred to federal court on Wednesday because the former Mountaineers coach had moved to Michigan when it was filed.

The move gives Rodriguez, hired by Michigan on Dec. 16, until next Wednesday to file a response. The suit was filed in a local court on Dec. 27 to collect on a $4 million buyout clause in his contract. Meanwhile, the university is continuing its investigation into missing records associated with the program under Rodriguez.

"What's got to be determined is what exactly is missing," WVU spokesman Mike Fragale told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "There's a lot of things I just don't know."

Notable

Two Penn State football players were ordered Wednesday to stand trial on refiled felony assault charges in connection with a campus fight last year. Police said defensive tackle Chris Baker and linebacker Navorro Bowman beat up a man during a party in October. District Judge Carmine Prestia dismissed the felony counts last month and ordered the players to stand trial on misdemeanor charges. But the Centre County District Attorney's office refiled the felony charges in late December, saying that Prestia erred. Prosecutors also requested a new judge.

Saskatchewan Roughriders coach Kent Austin has left the CFL to become offensive coordinator at Mississippi, where he once was a star quarterback.

Virginia Tech junior Branden Ore has filed paperwork with the NFL to declare his eligibility for the league draft in April,

Mississippi tackle Michael Oher changed his mind and will not enter the NFL draft.