CFB notebook: Locksley expected to be Alabama's offensive coordinator

Alabama is expected to name Mike Locksley as its new offensive coordinator, ESPN reported on Friday. Locksley has spent the past two seasons with the Crimson Tide, including one year as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. The 48-year-old Locksley will replace Brian Daboll, who will serve as the Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator after spending one season at the same position in Alabama. Daboll replaces Rick Dennison, whom the Bills fired last week after one season. Locksley is expected to work with the Crimson Tide's quarterbacks as well. --About two hours after Louisville announced that Peter Sirmon had stepped down as the Cardinals' defensive coordinator, Sirmon was named the defensive coordinator at Cal. Sirmon also will serve as Cal's inside linebackers coach. Sirmon has moved around a lot lately. Cal will be the fourth school that has employed him as an assistant coach since 2014. --Rod Smith, who had been co-offensive coordinator at Arizona the last six seasons, was named offensive coordinator at Illinois. Smith replaces Garrick McGee, who was dismissed after two seasons with the Fighting Illini. Illinois averaged only 19.7 points and 315.1 yards per game last season. Smith will also serve as Illinois' quarterbacks coach. --The University of Wisconsin Board approved a deal that keeps Badgers head coach Paul Chryst on a five-year contract, which runs through the 2022 season. Wisconsin renewed Chryst's contract in similar fashion after both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, so he essentially has a rolling five-year contract. The contract he signed last year called for Chryst, who is 34-7 at Wisconsin, to earn $3.3 million in 2018, with annual raises of $100,000.