Head Coach

Cal State Fullerton Monday hired another young basketball coach with a growing reputation, signing Deborah Ayres to a three-year contract to coach the Titan women's team. Unlike Brad Holland, 35, the former UCLA assistant who was hired as Fullerton men's basketball coach in April, Ayres, 34, has head-coaching experience. She has spent the past two seasons as coach at Solano College in Suisun, Calif., and was a junior varsity and varsity head coach at Vallejo High School for six years.

Russ Davis, an assistant women's basketball coach at Southern California College, has been promoted to head coach, Athletic Director Bob Wilson announced Friday. Davis will take over for Dean Cooper, who retired after last season. Cooper had brought Davis in as an assistant before the season, intending for Davis to take over the program when he stepped down. Davis was also the head coach for the Estancia High girls' team, leading the Eagles to the quarterfinals of the section playoffs.

Jerry Glanville, who took charge of the Houston Oilers on an interim basis for the final two games of the 1985 season, Monday was named head coach of the National Football League team. Glanville, 44, was chosen over two other finalists--San Francisco 49er quarterback coach Paul Hackett and Dick Coury, former head coach of the United States Football League's Portland Breakers. Glanville, an NFL assistant coach for 12 years, signed a five-year contract.

Willis Reed stepped down as head coach of the New Jersey Nets today to become a vice president in the organization, the club announced. Reed becomes vice president of basketball and business development, which will oversee the team, personnel and marketing aspects of the Nets, said John Mertz, the team spokesman. Reed has agreed to take the new post under a five-year contract. Nets General Manager Harry Weltman will direct a search for a new coach, Mertz said.

Ron Rothstein, an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, Monday was picked as head coach of the new Miami Heat of the National Basketball Assn. Rothstein, 45, will be at a news conference today, the club said. Lewis Schaffel, Heat managing partner, said the team has an oral agreement with Rothstein. "He's a teacher, one with patience," Schaffel said. "He's just the person we need to work with our young players." Rothstein spent two years as an assistant coach with the Pistons.

The Phoenix Suns, trying to rebound from three straight losing seasons as well as recent drug charges against several players, Monday hired assistant coach John Wetzel as their new head coach. Wetzel, 42, becomes the seventh head coach in the team's 19-year history. General Manager Jerry Colangelo said Wetzel will soon sign a two-year contract "with an option for two additional years." Wetzel was one of only two candidates interviewed for the vacant head coaching job.

The Gulls have narrowed their list of candidates to two and will likely name a new head coach by the middle of this week, said Don Waddell, vice president of hockey operations. One candidate is former Buffalo Sabres Coach Rick Dudley, who worked briefly for the Gulls as a scout during the IHL playoffs. Waddell would not release the name of the other finalist, currently under contract as an assistant with a NHL club.

Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino agreed Sunday to coach the Atlanta Falcons, moving to the NFL less than a week after the firing of Jim Mora. Petrino, 45, joins the Falcons after guiding Louisville to a 12-1 record, capped by a 24-13 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday night in the Orange Bowl. A Louisville spokesman said Petrino met with players Sunday night to say he was leaving. The Falcons planned a formal announcement today, but issued a statement announcing their new coach.

Ernie Zampese, Dallas Cowboy offensive coordinator, will interview for the Rams' head coaching position after his Pro Bowl assignment Sunday in Hawaii. Zampese, former Ram offensive coordinator, had indicated in the past that he had no interest in becoming a head coach in the NFL. In discussions Thursday, however, he said he now has an interest in the Rams. "We have always been under the impression that Ernie had no interest," said Steve Ortmayer, Ram vice-president of football operations.

Tom Watt, an assistant who has been running the Toronto Maple Leafs since Friday, today was named head coach of the NHL team. Watt becomes the 12th person to have the job in 13 seasons, and takes over a team that has only one victory and a tie in its first 12 games. It is the franchise's worst start ever. Watt, who was in his first year as an assistant to Doug Carpenter, was named coach on an interim basis when Carpenter was fired Friday.