IN BRIEF

Yale hires former UH football coach

NEW HAVEN, Conn. » Jacksonville Jaguars assistant Tom Williams has been hired at Yale, becoming the first black head football coach at the Ivy League school.

A person familiar with the decision confirmed the choice yesterday on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made. The school called a news conference for 2 p.m. tomorrow to introduce the new coach.

Williams, 38, has spent the past two seasons working with the Jaguars defense and has been an assistant coach at Hawaii, Washington, Stanford and San Jose State. He was on Hawaii's coaching staff from 1996 to 1998. He was the defensive coordinator in his final year at UH.

“;I am happy for Tom,”; Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio said in a text message to the Associated Press. “;He has shown strong leadership qualities and is a very good communicator. This is a great opportunity for him.”;

Hawaii lands quarterback recruit

Folsom (Calif.) quarterback David Graves, selected All-Metro MVP by the Sacramento Bee, has given a verbal commitment to Hawaii, the paper reported yesterday.

Graves' choices were between Nevada and Hawaii. After originally giving his commitment to the Wolf Pack, the senior who passed for 2,771 yards and 40 touchdowns in 11 games decided to change routes and commit to the Warriors.

Graves was a receiver as a junior before moving to quarterback for his senior season.

Pioli talks to Chiefs about GM job

Scott Pioli has become a hot commodity among a few teams hoping to rebuild.

Pioli, one of the architects behind New England's three Super Bowl victories, is talking to Kansas City about its vacant general manager's job. He has also been courted by Cleveland for its GM position.

The 43-year-old Pioli was scheduled to meet with Chiefs owner Clark Hunt yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos yesterday interviewed Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay's defensive backs coach and newly appointed defensive coordinator.