Tulane hiring New Mexico's Bob Toledo as football coach

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ New Mexico offensive coordinator Bob Toledo is taking over at Tulane, The Associated Press has learned. <br/><br/>Two people familiar with the decision, who asked not to be identified

Monday, December 11th 2006, 12:43 pm

By: News On 6

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ New Mexico offensive coordinator Bob Toledo is taking over at Tulane, The Associated Press has learned.

Two people familiar with the decision, who asked not to be identified because a formal announcement was pending, said Monday that Toledo _ a former head coach at UCLA _ had been hired by the Green Wave.

Tulane scheduled a news conference for 5:30 p.m. (EST) on Monday to introduce its new coach.

Toledo will take over for Chris Scelfo, who was fired after Tulane finished 4-8 this season. Toledo helped New Mexico finish 6-6 and earn a berth in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl.

Toledo coached at UCLA from 1996-2002, compiling a 49-32 record that included a school-record 20-game winning streak and two Pac-10 championships. Despite his successes, he was fired in 2002 by Dan Guerrero, then in his first year as UCLA's athletic director, who said he felt the program wasn't heading in the right direction after a 7-5 season.

Scelfo spent eight seasons at Tulane and went 37-57. He also guided the Green Wave through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the team was displaced, played 11 games in 11 different cities and finished 2-9.