Football

Michigan picked San Diego State's Brady Hoke as its new coach. "He is a terrific coach and will be a great ambassador and leader for our football program," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said. "We look forward to having him build a championship program on the field and in the classroom."

Hoke rebuilt programs at at Ball State (2003-08) and San Diego State (2009-10). Before that he was a defensive line coach at Michigan, and was on the staff during the 1997 national championship run. Hoke replaces Rich Rodriguez, who was fired after going 15-22 in three disappointing seasons with the Wolverines.

* Pittsburgh hired Tulsa's Todd Graham, its third head coach in a month, as Pitt moved to distance itself from former coach Mike Haywood's short but embarrassing two-week stay. Graham said the Panthers will move rapidly away from the conservative pro-style system that was in place the last six seasons under former coach Dave Wannstedt. Haywood, the former Miami (Ohio) coach, was hired Dec. 16, but by Jan. 1, Haywood was out of a job after landing in an Indiana jail on a felony domestic abuse charge. His case has yet to be decided.

* The Carolina Panthers have entrusted Ron Rivera with turning around the NFL's worst team, making the San Diego defensive coordinator the second Latino head coach in NFL history. Rivera was introduced on Tuesday. He replaces John Fox, who was let go earlier this month after Carolina went 2-14 in his ninth season.

* New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams withdrew his name from consideration to become Denver Broncos coach. Rick Dennison, who spent almost a quarter century with the Broncos as a linebacker and an assistant coach, arrived at Tuesday to interview for Denver's coaching vacancy.

* Kansas State coach Bill Snyder received the FBI Director's Award by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)/FBI National Child I.D. Program. More than 250,000 child I.D. kits were distributed to kindergarten and first grade students throughout Kansas. Snyder raised the funds to make the distribution of the I.D. kits possible as well as arranging press conferences and helping the FBI get connected to schools for the distribution.

Tennis

Four athletes joined Wichita State's tennis program for the spring semester. Patrick Stiebinger, from Germany, will play for the men's team. For the womens' team, Montse Blasco Fernandez and Carla Venticinque, of Spain and Satjaporn Mahajaroenkul, from Thailand, are eligible for the 2011 season. Mahajaroenkul has been ranked as high as No. 197 in the world junior rankings.

Track and field

Wichita State plays host to the Herm Wilson Classic beginning with field events at 5 tonight at the Heskett Center. Field events continue at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Running events begin at 1:30 p.m. WSU, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston State and Emporia State will compete.

Volleyball

Wichita State's Jada Witham is transferring to Friends University. Witham, a sophomore middle blocker from Wichita, played in nine matches in 2010 for the Shockers. She played in five matches as a freshman after redshirting in 2008.

Baseball

Baseball's all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, 43, has retired and will return to the San Diego Padres in a front office job. The Beverly Hills Sports Council, which represents Hoffman, confirmed that he is done after recording 601 saves in 18 seasons. He spent most of his career with the Padres. He pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers the last two seasons.

* Carlos Gonzalez finalized his $80 million, seven-year contract with the Colorado Rockies. The deal covers what would have been his first three seasons of free agency. Gonzalez, 25, ad a breakout season in 2010, winning a Silver Slugger award and a Gold Glove. He won the NL batting title with a .336 average, hit 34 homers and drove in 117 runs.

* Infielder Alberto Callaspo and the Anaheim Angels agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract. The 27-year-old infielder was acquired from Kansas City in July in exchange for pitchers Sean O'Sullivan and Will Smith.

Hockey

Jaroslav Spacek scored the tying goal in the second period and Benoit Pouliot put Montreal ahead for good in the third as the Canadiens beat New York 2-1, snapping the Rangers' three-game winning streak.... Danny Briere had a goal and three assists against his former team, helping Philadelphia overcome a two-goal deficit to beat Buffao 5-2. The conference-leading Flyers have won 12 of 16.... Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler scored in a shootout, leading surging Vancouver to a 4-3 win over the Islanders. Vancouver improved to 14-0-3 in its last 17 games.... Patrice Bergeron scored three times for his first career hat trick as Boston beat Ottawa 6-0.

Basketball

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-96 in a game that featured five technical fouls in 10 seconds for the Timberwolved. Minnesota's Michael Beasley had seven points on 3-for-11 shooting while playing on a sprained left ankle, and left late in the fourth quarter after aggravating the injury. Referee Ken Mauer gave Ts to Darko Milicic and Corey Brewer for gesturing toward him on the same play. Coach Kurt Rambis got up and went to Mauer to discuss the calls and after a brief conversation, he was given two quick technicals and ejected. Ten seconds later, Kvein Love threw his arms up and hollered after officials did not call a loose-ball foul on Tim Duncan, and Mauer responded with a technical foul.... The Denver Nuggets scored 82 points in the middle two quarters and beat Phoenix 132-98. Aaron Afflalo led Denver with 31 points.

Skiing

Germany's Maria Riesch and Finland's Tanja Poutiainen shared a slalom victory at a World Cup run at night in Flachau, Austra. Lindsey Vonn, the three-time overall champion, straddled a gate and failed to finish her first run for the fourth straight race. Riesch extended her lead over Vonn in the overall standings to 196 points.