San Diego State football coach Tom Craft was fired yesterday after failing to post a winning record in four seasons, and athletic director Jeff Schemmel promised to hire a replacement "who can excite the community."

Craft, who played quarterback for the Aztecs in the mid-1970s and was their offensive coordinator a decade ago, was 19-29 in four seasons as head coach. His best finish was 6-6 in 2003.

San Diego State lost 49-38 at Hawai'i on Saturday night to finish 5-7.

"Give Tom a lot of credit. I think the program's better than it was before," Schemmel said. "But I just thought it lacks some positive energy, and certainly a positive energy that the community can get excited about."

Craft had one season left on his contract. He's expected to be reassigned within the athletic department at his base pay of $148,000.

TEMPLE

GOLDEN TO BE HIRED

Virginia defensive coordinator Al Golden will become the new Temple football coach, a school official told The Associated Press yesterday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement is not scheduled until news conference today.

Temple was 19-71 during Bobby Wallace's eight years as coach.

University of Hawai'i defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville had been mentioned as a possible successor to Wallace.

AWARD

DUMERVIL WINS HONOR

Louisville senior defensive end Elvis Dumervil won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy yesterday as the best defensive player in college football.

Dumervil, the Division I-A leader with 20 sacks and 10 forced fumbles, edged Virginia Tech cornerback Jimmy Williams, Alabama linebacker DeMeco Ryans, Oregon tackle Haloti Ngata and Penn State end Tamba Hali in voting for the award.