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 announced a news conference 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 Hawai'i, Washington, Stanford and San Jose State. He was a defensive coordinator in his final year at UH in 1998.

"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."

Williams replaces Jack Siedlecki, who retired in November after 12 seasons to become an assistant athletic director at Yale. Siedlecki was 70-47 at the school, including 47-37 in the Ivy League. He led the Bulldogs to a share of the conference title in 1999 and 2006, but was just 4-8 against Harvard and had lost seven of the last eight with the Crimson.

Yale went 6-4 this season, including 4-3 in the conference and a 10-0 loss to Harvard in the 125th edition of "The Game."

WASHINGTON

USC ASSISTANT HOLT HIRED TO RUN DEFENSE

Still stinging from an 0-12 season, Washington fans probably wouldn't mind if the Huskies became "USC North."

Washington's new coaching staff is certainly starting to take on that look.

After USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian was snagged to be the Huskies' new head coach, Sarkisian plucked away the Trojans' defensive coordinator yesterday, hiring Nick Holt to hold the same position with the Huskies.

Holt will replace Ed Donatell, who was not retained after Sarkisian was hired in early December.

"This is very exciting for Husky football," Sarkisian said in a statement. "I don't think we could have found a more qualified or successful defensive coordinator anywhere in the country."

Holt was expected to be formally introduced at a news conference today, and will become the third former USC staff member to join Sarkisian's new Huskies' staff, with a handful of assistant spots still to be filled.

Demetrice Martin and Jared Blank have also been hired to the UW staff.

Holt, 46, also has Pacific Northwest ties, serving as head coach at Idaho in 2004 and 2005.

ELSEWHERE

Florida: Florida's Percy Harvin says his sprained ankle is "90 percent" healed for Thursday's BCS national championship game against Oklahoma. Harvin missed the SEC championship game after severely spraining his right ankle against Florida State on Nov. 29.

North Carolina: Receiver Hakeem Nicks said he plans to skip his final season and enter the NFL draft after setting 14 school records. Nicks leaves Chapel Hill as the program's all-time leader in catches, yardage and touchdown receptions.

Southern Mississippi: Linebacker Gerald McRath is declaring himself eligible for the NFL draft, the school said. McRath made 137 tackles (78 solo) during his junior season, and has 386 tackles, 32 1/2 tackles for loss and eight sacks in his career.