News Nuggets, 08.28.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Muse pushes Pirates' cause with ACC chief

East Carolina has let it be known, through direct channels, that it wants to be considered for membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference if the league decides to add another school. ECU Chancellor William V. Muse delivered the message in person to ACC commissioner John Swofford.

Muse visited Greensboro, the home of the ACC office, last Thursday, and met over lunch with Swofford to set forth ECU's interest in potentially joining the ACC. Swofford indicated his league has no plans for further expansion at the present time. The ACC recently swayed Miami and Virginia Tech into agreeing to depart the Big East for ACC in 2004-05, boosting the conference's ranks to 11 teams.

If the NCAA turns down a recent ACC request to allow leagues with fewer than 12 members to stage a football championship game — or if an 11-team configuration turns out to be unsatisfactory for scheduling purposes — it is expected the ACC will then consider adding another member and splitting into two six-team divisions.

Nix wins national football coaching honor

Southern Mississippi defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix has been selected as an AFLAC and Scholastic Coach & Athletic Director Magazine Assistant Coach of the Year. He represents the top one percent of the 300,000 coaches who were nominated for the award.

"I'm honored to be recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation," Nix said. "I would like to believe that I do have a positive influence on both the coaches I coach with and the players who play for me, but I am equally aware that it takes a team effort, both players and coaches, in order to be successful."

Nix is one of a small number of coaches selected from among some 300,000 assistant coaches nationally, representing all sports, including every level from high school through the collegiate ranks.

According to the magazine, the awards are given annually to "the real heroes of sports in America, the nation's top high school and college assistant coaches. They're the real men and women who toil, frequently with little recognition, to make certain their programs are the best they can be while having a positive effect on the young athletes in their charge."

Nominations are received annually from head coaches, other assistants, players, fans, the media and, in at least several cases, the coaches' own children.

Nix, an outstanding linebacker at Southern Miss, has been a member of the Golden Eagle coaching staff since graduating in 1995. He was the was the youngest defensive coordinator in the nation last year. Nix has coached a number of players who have earned all-conference and All-America honors, as well as several who have been successful in the NFL.

Revered former TCU football coach passes

The Texas Christian athletics community was saddened this week with news that former Horned Frogs head football coach Jim Wacker had died. He was 66 years old.

Wacker's legacy includes his aggressive stance to reign in a renegade program which arranged for football players to be paid when he took over as head coach. The NCAA repercussions from that Wacker-instigated enforcement hobbled TCU with a 1-8-2 record in 1983, but he steered the Frogs to a dramatic 8-4 turnaround the following season en route to a Bluebonnet Bowl date. He ultimately earned several national honors as well as Southwest Conference Coach of the Year awards.

"I've heard nothing but positive things about Coach Wacker from those he was most closely associated with at TCU," said Eric Hyman, the schools athletics director. "His enthusiasm and his energy were contagious. He was always very positive and upbeat. TCU people have very fond memories of him during his tenure in Fort Worth. He touched a lot of lives and lived each day to the fullest. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."

From 1983 through 1991, Horned Frogs grid fortunes were in the hands of Wacker, who was a Texas college coaching legend after logging a pair of national championships at Division II Southwest Texas State and an NAIA title at Texas Lutheran. Wacker posted a 40-58-2 record during his nine-year stint with the Horned Frogs, ranking third on the program's all-time list in games coached and fourth in career victories.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2003 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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