San Jankovich, former Miami athletic director, dies at age 85

MIAMI -- Sam Jankovich, the Miami Hurricanes' athletic director when they won their first three national championships in football, has died. He was 85.

Jankovich died Wednesday in Hayden Lake, Idaho. A funeral service will be held in his native Butte, Montana.

He was the Hurricanes' athletic director from 1983 to 1990 and hired coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson, who both won national titles. Jankovich also revived the men's basketball program at Miami in 1985, 14 years after the school had dropped the sport.

Jankovich was athletic director at Washington State, and was CEO for the New England Patriots in the early 1990s.

Jankovich starred at Butte High and played for the University of Montana. He later coached at Butte High and was an assistant coach at Montana State before joining former Bobcats coach Jim Sweeney at Washington State.