Coaches dismissed, reassigned after losing year in Tulsa

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Tulsa football coach Keith Burns has fired his offensive coordinator and appointed himself head of the defense after TU's worst season in more than 30 years. <br><br>Offensive

Wednesday, November 28th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Tulsa football coach Keith Burns has fired his offensive coordinator and appointed himself head of the defense after TU's worst season in more than 30 years.

Offensive coordinator Jim Gilstrap was dismissed, according to a statement released Wednesday by the school's sports information office. No replacement was named.

Defensive coordinator Jeff McInerney was moved to linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

Tight ends and special teams coach Kenny Edenfield and receivers coach Dan Bitson resigned to pursue coaching jobs elsewhere.

``I appreciate the hard work and effort that our coaching staff has given the past two years,'' Burns said.

The changes come after Tulsa's worst finish in more than 30 years. The Golden Hurricane opened the season with hopes of the school's first winning season in a decade, but finished 1-10 and was winless in the Western Athletic Conference.

Burns takes over a defense that gave up nearly 2,000 yards during one three-game stretch.

He played at Arkansas, where he was defensive coordinator before coming to Tulsa two years ago. Burns also was the top defensive assistant at Southern California for four years.