Sports Friday, December 7, 1984/The Battalion/Page 9 NFC East teams try to land playoff spots See page 10 lationa] ^vearT, rsdayii lancing ne to emu refiner^ ia. «the k 'West (4 der wat >ed to bet odyear ^ 1 £ Petti bone leaves A&M for NIU job move k< ■ Santa k Texas sing it 104 mve been ofthepoit move aki. ;o ihepijt; n- page 11 dubhyip 1 ting to bra toconsidtii es-sutli juries otti isband-b Napier in detemr ir billy ti :s they w )y an Am Id mait I affainit )f Thursi" ■estedbii nts, hesai nd guiln may fact tents, Nap e severity 1 •eviouspnl je countti: a verbal nore seta ie suspdj ired, N'a| ere criimi : offtcen: nishme®! Jerry Pettibone, lexas A&Ms wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator, was named head foot ball coach at Northern Illinois Uni versity Thursday. Pettibone, who came to A&M in 1982 and wars named assistant coach following that season, said a head coaching position has always been his goal. “I’m excited about the opportu nity to go to Northern Illinois as head football coach,” Pettibone said. “This has been a goal for a long time. I’m excited about the opportu nity at Northern Illinois for several reasons. Number one, the excellence of the athletic director, Bob Brig ham. The football program is in very stable condition, because of the ex cellent job that Bill Mallory and Lee - Corso have done.” Pettibone succeeds Corso, who de parted NIU last month after one season to coach the new Orlando Re negades of the United States Foot ball League. Pettibone is at least the second assistant to resign from A&M coach Jackie Sherrill’s staff since the regular season ended. “This is an excellent opportunity for me to go in there and work with some fine young men, who are ex-_ cellent athletes, and continue the tradition that has already been estab lished at NIU,” Pettibone said. “I certainly will have a (contract) commitment to stay at Northern Mi- . nois four years. I would like the op portunity to complete the full four- year recruiting cycle. Hopefully, I can stay longer than that.” feel like the program mng in n icry positive duertion with the of the season 07-12 over ‘' •TCt-/). / wish Conch Shcvritt, the y in the program the very best For erry Pcttilxme '1 experience he receive* tant under Sherrill. 2d as an assis- “The experience I had at Texas A&M was a very positive one thaT will mean a great deal to me,” he said. “I’ll carry memories for the rest of my life.'»I feel like the program at A&M is moving in a very positive di rection with the victories in the last two games of the season (37-12 over Texas and 38-21 over TCU). I wish Coach Sherrill, the staff and every body in the program the very best for the future.” Sherrill said he was pleased that Pettibone was getting an opportu nity as a head coach. "I’m very excited for Jerry (Petti bone) to have an opportunity to be come the head coach at Northern Il linois,” Sherrill said. “I think that all of us in the coaching profession are excited when one of our former coaches goes off and becomes a head coach. 1 think that’s very indicative of the quality of people who are on our staff. “Jerry has done an outstanding job at Texas A&M. He has the qual ities of becoming a head coach and I’m sure that he’ll add a lot to North ern Illinois’ program. I’d like to wish him the best of luck and I know that Jerry will do the things necessary to get the job done.” Pettibone is a veteran of 19 years as an aide to such coaches as Colora do’s Chuck Fairbanks, Oklahoma’s Barry Switzer, Iowa’s Hayden Fry and Nebraska’s Tom Osborne. Prior to coming to A&M, Pettibone spent three years as recruiting coordinator and split end coach at Nebraska from 1979-81. He spent seven years as chief recruiter at Oklahoma, his alma mater, and one season at Southern Methodist University in 1971. Acknowledged by Sports Illus trated last year as the nation’s top college football recruiter, Pettibone signed 20 players who became con sensus All-America selections, in cluding Heisman Trophy winners Billy Sims at Oklahoma and Mike Rozier at Nebraska. Pettibone inherits an NIU team that went 4-4-1 in Corso’s only sea son. The previous year under Bill Mallory, now head coach at Indiana, the Huskies were champions of the Jerry Pettibone will become ■ NIU’s new football coach. Mid-America Conference with a 10- 2 mark, including a victory over San Jose State in the California Bowl. S problems shmen ® 1. Having ndane«if ;an also!* d it hards’ :m. Thanh ii rning p® op°i laoly wow an any ho area® under ah ie to gg 31 of their® rore st rtii ii are un!® 1 r to be ah® ents tbs' !t having W nessure® 1 inancial j have ah* eerstudff ve diffe* y over# into the' 1 ising ue using job stre» elp and rf its "f J J«/P lit 0 r desf^; «<«?, , ,W* : ' m£ UT’s Degrate wins Lombardi A ward United Press International Texas defensive tackle Tony Degrate was awarded “ me “ ‘ HOUSTON the Lombardi Award, which is given annually to college football’s best lineman, Thursday night. Degrate, from Snyder, had 147 tackles this season, 123 of those unas sisted. The 6-foot-4, 278^pounder was the Longhorns’ seventh player nominated for the award in 15 years. Texas’ Kenneth Sims won the cov eted award in 1981 and became the No. 1 draft pick of the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh offensive tackle Bill Fralic, outside linebacker Jack Del Rio of Southern Cal and noseguard William Perry of Clemson were the other three finalists for the award, named after Vince Lombardi, who died of cancer in 1970. Last year’s winner was Dean Steinkuhler of Nebraska, who was the top draft pick of the Houston Oilers and No. 2 overall in the NFL draft. The winner was selected bv the votes of college football coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the country. _\| Ag sports magazine offers insighf By JULIA HARDY Reporter Texas A&M Sports Hotline is a detailed sports review magazine that provides accurate information for those interested in Aggie athletics. The first copy of the magazine was distributed on Oct. 29, after the Rice game. Alan Jones, A&M’s assis tant athletic director for operations, said four more publications have been released after every A&M foot ball game since then. Texas A&M Sports Hotline pro vided readers with a detailed de scription of the game itself, action photographs, statistics and quotes from various A&M players. “It’s a great way to communicate to your people and it gives them a vehicle with which to answer their questions,” Jones said. Different features have been in cluded in each issue. In the Dec. 3 Sports Hotline, for instance, there was a feature story on Ray Childress, A&M’s United Press International All-American defensive end. The “Chatter Box” section of Sports Hot line answers reader’s questions and includes other bits of little-known Aggie sports trivia. Sports Hotline will begin pub lishing 20 magazines a year, starting in January of 1985. Twelve mag azines will be written after each foot ball game and one wrap-up of the enire season will be published in De cember. From January to July, Sports Hotline will be published once a month. The spring editions will inlcude men’s and women’s bas ketball, tennis, track and golf, as well as features on A&M baseball and softball. “We will try to include all recruit ing information,” Jones said. About 4,000 people were sent complimentary issues of the first five Sports Hotlines, but beginning this January, a subscription will cost $30 a year. “We’ve priced (Sports Hotline) so that we won’t have to keep raising the price each year,” Jones said. Sports Hotline originated when Inside Aggie Sports, a small mag azine printed by local businessmen, folded 18 months ago. Athletic Director Jackie Sherrill promised subscribers of Inside Ag gie Sports that a similar magazine would be published. “We thought we could do it better ourselves here at A&M, on campus, where we know more of what is going on,” Jones said. “We also have the advantage of printing the mag azine on campus and having it mailed Monday right after the game. “Inside Aggie Sports always seemed to be late,” Jones said. “News is not worth reading a week later.” Ralph Carpenter, assistant athletic director for media relations at A&M, writes everything in Sports Hotline. “I’m in charge of the business as pect and the circulation,” Jones said, “I also critique (Sports Hotline).” The responses to Sports Hotline from satisfied former students have been tremendous. Jones said the reason is simple. “We’re prompt, full of informa tion and current,” Jones said. “Busy people need quick and accurate in formation and Sports Hotline pro vides it.” ‘ KNOW WHAT WOULD BE A NEAT TRICK?” If all the Juniors, Seniors, and Grad students would get their class pictures taken for the 1985 AGGIELAND. PHOTO SESSIONS EXTENDED THROUGH FRIDAY, DEC. 7TH AT THE YBA STUDIO, 1700 S. KYLE. <;a>-