Ault returns as Nevada's head coach

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada athletic director Chris Ault, the winningest football coach in school history, will return to the head coaching job for a third time to try to snap a five-year stretch without a winning record.

School president John Lilley announced the move at a news conference Wednesday with Gov. Kenny Guinn and Reno Mayor Bob Cashell. It came three days after the firing of Wolf Pack Coach Chris Tormey, whose best record in four seasons was this year's 6-6.

Ault, 57, won seven conference championships and posted a 163-63-1 record during 19 seasons from 1976-92 and 1994-95.

A record-setting quarterback in his playing days at Nevada in the 1960s, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame last year.

Twice he was selected the national coach of the year in NCAA Division I-AA. His teams were known for high-powered passing offenses before he stepped down from the job a second time in 1995 and became just the athletic director in 1996 -- a job he'd held since 1986.

Ault announced Tormey's firing on Sunday after the Wolf Pack closed the season with a 56-3 loss at No. 18 Boise State, going 1-4 down the stretch to finish 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Ault cited Tormey's overall record of 16-31 and failure to beat in-state rival UNLV as factors in his decision. The loss to Boise State was the deciding factor, he said.

"That was tough to sit through," Ault said. "We used to handle Boise. The roles are reversed and I don't like it.

Tormey came to Nevada after posting a 33-23 record as head coach at Idaho from 1995 to 1999.