McNeill adds to ECU staff

Football coach Ruffin McNeill has added four assistants to his first coaching staff at East Carolina.

McNeill on Tuesday hired three of his former Texas Tech colleagues: offensive line coach Brandon Jones, running backs coach Clay McGuire and outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons.

Defensive tackles coach Marc Yellock joins the Pirates after four years at Elon.

Jones coached linemen at Sam Houston State last season after spending two years with McNeill on the Red Raiders' staff. McGuire had been on Texas Tech's staff since 2006, starting as an intern and rising to running backs coach. Simmons was receiver Michael Crabtree's position coach in Lubbock.

Yellock played for the Pirates from 1997-2000 and was a defensive staff assistant in Greenville from 2004-05.

Hokies, Broncos to kick off on Labor Day: Boise State's national profile keeps rising.

The Broncos announced Tuesday that they have moved their game this fall against Virginia Tech to Labor Day. The nationally televised showcase will match the kings of the Western Athletic Conference and the perennial contenders for the ACC. Both teams finished last season in the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25.

The game will begin in primetime at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., home of the Washington Redskins. It had been scheduled for Oct. 2.

The Broncos' upgraded nonconference schedule for 2010 also includes a September home game against Pac-10 runner-up Oregon State.

Tide coordinator gets raise: Alabama has doubled the salary of defensive coordinator Kirby Smart after he helped the Crimson Tide win a national championship.

Smart will make $750,000 a year through Feb. 28, 2013, under a deal unanimously approved Tuesday by the compensation committee of the university's board of trustees. He made $360,000 in salary last year plus $72,000 in bonuses.