Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt promoted graduate assistant Jeff Hafley to secondary coach, filling the position on his staff that opened last week when Chris Ball took a job as co-defensive coordinator at Washington State.

Hafley has been a graduate assistant on Pitt's staff the past two seasons and focused primarily on the secondary. Before that, he was the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Albany.

"Jeff Hafley is an outstanding young coach who is highly driven and ready for this opportunity," Wannstedt said in a statement released yesterday. "Jeff played a vital role in our weekly defensive planning this past year. His knowledge, organizational skills and rapport with our players and staff have made him a tremendous asset for Pitt."

The move is not much of a surprise because Hafley is known as a hard-working and intelligent young coach, and Wannstedt had said numerous times in the past he'd like to promote him when a full-time position became available.

"I am extremely excited and appreciative of this great opportunity to become the secondary coach at the University of Pittsburgh," said Hafley, who was a receiver at Siena from 1997-2000, in a news release. "It is an honor to work for a great person and head coach in Dave Wannstedt. Our program has an incredibly bright future under his leadership."

Wannstedt also formally announced yesterday that offensive line coach Paul Dunn had been let go and is "pursuing other opportunities."

Five of Pitt's seniors have been invited to play in All-Star games, beginning with today's Hula Bowl in Honolulu. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. on Versus. Cornerback Kennard Cox and tight end Darrell Strong will participate in that game.

Also, two-time All-Big East defensive end Joe Clermond will play in the East-West Shrine Game at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 in Houston. The game will be on ESPN.

Pitt's two starting offensive tackles, Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn, will play in the Senior Bowl Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala. The game starts at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on the NFL Network.

Of the five, Otah and McGlynn seem to be drawing the most attention from NFL scouts. Strong is considered an intriguing prospect because of his size, athleticism and physical skills.

Tailback LeSean McCoy was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference rookie of the year. In addition, McCoy, linebacker Scott McKillop and Otah were named to the ECAC Division I-A Eastern All-Star team. ... McCoy and defensive end Greg Romeus were named to the freshman All-American team by the Football Writers' Association.