Merlin Olsen, an Outland Trophy honoree at Utah State who starred as a member of the "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line during a 15-year career with the Los Angeles Rams and then became a popular television sports broadcaster and actor, died Thursday in Duarte, California, of cancer. He was 69. After retiring from football, Olsen worked with Dick Enberg as a color analyst for NBC broadcasts of the Rose Bowl and National Football League games. He also was an actor, most notably in the TV series "Little House on the Prairie" and "Father Murphy." The College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in 1987 and served as emcee for the Honors Celebration at the 1992 NCAA Convention.

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Women's basketball – Tina Kuhle dismissed as head coach at Wisconsin-Platteville, where her teams compiled a 65-88 record through six seasons … Cristy McKinney resigned after five years as head coach at Clemson. McKinney, who earlier coached at Rice, leaves Clemson with a 275-231 career record through 18 seasons.

Football assistants – Milo Austin joined the staff at Montana State as running backs coach. The former West Virginia football student-athlete previously has coached at Midwestern (Texas) and Hampton.