The same day Texas A&M entrusted its program to one former NFL head coach, Georgia Tech decided to end the tenure of another.

Coaches were coming and going yesterday around college football as each school searched for a winning formula.

Georgia Tech fired Chan Gailey, the ex-Dallas Cowboys coach, while Texas A&M hired Mike Sherman, the ex-Green Bay Packers coach. Arkansas' Houston Nutt and Washington State's Bill Doba also departed days after emotional wins.

Indiana gave interim coach Bill Lynch a four-year contract after he led the Hoosiers to their most successful season in 14 years. Duke fired Ted Roof, who went 2-3 as an interim coach in 2003 to earn the full-time job then won just four more games the next four seasons.

At Southern Mississippi and Colorado State, two longtime, successful coaches were on their way out after disappointing years. Southern Miss' Jeff Bower resigned after 14 straight winning seasons and 10 bowl invitations in 11 years. Colorado State has offered Sonny Lubick a job as an associate athletic director but school officials stopped short of saying he has been fired or has resigned.

Sherman, an assistant head coach with the Houston Texans for two seasons, will return to the school where he was the offensive line coach from 1989-93 and in 1995-96 under R.C. Slocum. He replaces Dennis Franchione, who resigned Friday.

Sherman signed a seven-year contract that will pay him $1.8 million a year.

The 52-year-old Sherman hasn't coached in college since leaving A&M to become an assistant in Green Bay in 1996. He'll coach the remainder of the season for the Texans (5-6).

Sherman became the Packers' head coach in 2000, and Green Bay went 59-43 and won three NFC North titles in his six seasons.

Gailey was 44-32 in six years at Georgia Tech. He never lost fewer than five games in a season and was 0-6 against rival Georgia.

Defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta will take over as interim coach for the bowl, and he will be a candidate for the job permanently.

Georgia Tech (7-5) came up far short of another run at the Atlantic Coast Conference championship one year after winning its division.

"Nobody likes to get fired," Gailey said. "But all they can take is your job. They can't take your faith. They can't take your family. They can't take your integrity."

Nutt and Arkansas rebounded to finish the regular season 8-4 and knocked LSU out of the nation's No. 1 spot with a 50-48, triple-overtime victory Friday. Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring will coach the team in its bowl.

Nutt, who resigned yesterday, went 75-48 at Arkansas since being hired in December 1997.

"Houston's decision to resign was neither forced, or encouraged, or requested," Chancellor John A. White said.

Doba said he will not return at Washington State after a 5-7 season in which the team missed going to a bowl game for a fourth consecutive year.

He was 30-29 at Washington State, including Saturday's 42-35 win over Washington.

At Northern Illinois, Joe Novak, who spent the past 12 seasons building the program, retired yesterday, two days after the Huskies finished 2-10.