• Chiefs hire Weis as offensive coordinator: Barely a month after getting fired at Notre Dame, Charlie Weis signed on Friday as offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he’ll join two old friends in trying to revive a flagging franchise that’s won only 10 games in three years. In an interview on Wednesday, Weis virtually confirmed that he was coming to Kansas City to rejoin head coach Todd Haley and general manager Scott Pioli.

• Former OSU kicker to return to Winnipeg: Former Oregon State kicker Alexis Serna has re-signed with the Canadian football league Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Serna led Winnipeg with 161 points last year while making 40 of 49 field-goal attempts. He won the Lou Groza Award in 2005 as college football’s best placekicker.

• USF fires football coach Jim Leavitt: South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt has been fired following an investigation of an allegation that he struck one of his players in the locker room. The only coach in the program’s 13-year history confirmed his dismissal, telling The Associated Press he was “disappointed” and the allegation was “absolutely false.” He just completed the second season of a seven-year, $12.6 million contract.

• Fired coach accuses Texas Tech of slander, libel: Fired Texas Tech coach Mike Leach on Friday accused his former bosses of making “slanderous and libelous” statements intended to damage his reputation and hurt him financially. Court documents filed Friday said statements made by university administrators “were made intentionally” to harm Leach and expose him to financial harm.

• Locker says money wasn’t enough to get him to NFL: The big pile of money waiting in the NFL wasn’t enough to persuade Jake Locker to leave Washington. The Huskies quarterback spoke Friday about his decision to bypass the NFL and return to Washington for his senior season despite the possibility of being a high first-round draft pick. Some draft pundits considered Locker a potential No. 1 overall selection. Locker said hearing all that talk was flattering, but he wanted to make a decision that he’d be comfortable with 20, 30 years from now, and that was remaining at Washington. He also says there are goals he wanted to reach when he came to Washington that still haven’t been met. No. 1 on that list would be getting Washington back to a bowl game for the first time since 2002.

• Rice, Smith lead 17 HOF finalists: If ever two players seemed like locks to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith would be the choices. Rice retired as the NFL’s career receiving leader, and Smith finished as the top rusher. They were among 17 finalists announced Friday for the Hall of Fame, including two senior nominees. The voting for entry into the shrine by a 44-member panel will take place Feb. 6, the day before the Super Bowl. The Class of 2010 will be inducted in August in Canton, Ohio. Other finalists include receiver Tim Brown, also a first-time nominee, and fellow wideouts Cris Carter and Andre Reed.

• Boldin doesn’t practice but still hopes to play: Arizona’s Anquan Boldin is doing everything he can to be healthy enough to play in the Cardinals’ wild-card game against the Green Bay Packers. The three-time Pro Bowl receiver didn’t practice again on Friday because of a left high ankle sprain, a condition compounded by a sprained left knee. He was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. Three of Arizona’s other injured players, all starters, practiced on a limited basis: defensive end Calais Campbell (broken left thumb), safety Antrel Rolle (injured right thigh), and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (bruised left kneecap).