
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 27, 1995                   TAG: 9510270128
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COACH WINS TITLE AT W&L

A big cheer went up at the end of Washington and Lee's football practice Wednesday, and it wasn't just because the ``gassers'' had been completed.

Frank Miriello, working this season as ``interim head coach,'' had his title shortened Wednesday. Mike Walsh, W&L's athletic director, told Miriello he would be the Generals' head coach beyond this year.

As practice was drawing to a close Wednesday, Miriello was running down a list of goals set before the season when he got to the part about keeping the coaching staff together.

``I stopped then and said the president and athletic director feel good about what's been happening, and that they've decided to make me the head coach,'' Miriello said Thursday from his office. ``The kids just went nuts.''

On May 22, Walsh named Miriello the Generals' coach for the 1995 season. He was stepping in for the Gary Fallon, who suffered a fatal heart attack April 29. Fallon was the Generals' coach from 1978 through 1994. Miriello served on Fallon's first four Washington and Lee staffs and returned to the school in 1990 to work as defensive coordinator and assistant lacrosse coach.

The two were very close friends, a relationship that led Miriello to term his appointment as interim head coach ``bittersweet.'' Still, Miriello said he hoped to continue leading the Generals, if only to keep Fallon's philosophies in the program.

The Kulpmont, Pa., native was surprised at the timing of the announcement, but said Walsh thought it might give the team a boost for the final stretch of the schedule. ``Maybe it will get us over the heap,'' said Miriello, in his first season as a college head coach.

Walsh praised Miriello for his contributions to the program.

``It's been clear for some time that all facets of the program were working well,'' Walsh said. ``He's been a very positive member of this athletic department for the past five years.''

Some of Miriello's comrades in the coaching community had been upset with Washington and Lee officials for not hiring him as the head coach from the beginning.

``I never felt that way,'' Miriello said. ``I just decided to go out there and win it.''

He has done that with a 3-2-1 record. The Generals could be favored in their final three games, all home dates, as well.

by CNB