A day after losing 51-7 to second-ranked Nebraska, Kansas Coach Terry Allen lost his job.

Kansas Athletic Director Dr. Allen Bohl announced Sunday that Allen, who has served as head coach of the Jayhawks since 1997, will be replaced by defensive coordinator/secondary coach/assistant head coach Tom Hayes for the final three games of the season.

"I want to thank Terry Allen and his family for their dedication and loyalty to the University of Kansas over the past five years," said Bohl. "He is a quality person of great integrity and someone who has given great effort in an attempt to make this football program better.

"Through his tenure, he has demonstrated dignity and class and he leaves our program in that fashion."

Allen compiled a 20-33 record at Kansas over the past five years. His season-by-season record at KU included 5-6 in 1997, 4-7 in 1998, 5-7 in 1999, 4-7 in 2000 and 2-6 in 2001.

"I want to make it clear to all of our fans that we will have a successful football program at the University of Kansas," Bohl said. "We want a top 25 program, and we will find a head coach that will take us to that level."

The 2001 season represented Allen's 13th season as a head coach. He worked eight seasons at Northern Iowa prior to his appointment at KU. Overall, Allen has a 95-59 career record as a head coach.

Allen was named as 34th head coach at Kansas on Dec. 28, 1996.

"We are making the change at this time for the benefit of the program," Bohl said. "We want to expedite the search process and have a new coach in place as soon as possible.

"It is critical to our future that we complete the hiring process and have our next head football coach by the conclusion of the season or soon afterward."

Hayes joined the Kansas staff following the conclusion of the 2000 football season. Prior to joining the Jayhawk coaching staff, Hayes spent five years as secondary coach of the Washington Redskins.

Hayes spent four seasons (1991-94) as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at the University of Oklahoma under head coach Gary Gibbs. He helped the Sooners to a pair of nine-win seasons and three bowl games.

Prior to serving on the staff at OU, Hayes worked two seasons (1989-90) as assistant head coach and secondary coach at Texas A&M under R.C. Slocum. He helped direct the Aggies to a combined 17-7-1 record and trips to the John Hancock Bowl and the Holiday Bowl.

Hayes worked nine years (1980-88) as an assistant coach under Terry Donahue at UCLA. Hayes helped the Bruins to eight bowl games, including three Rose Bowl victories. Overall, Hayes has coached on staffs that have a combined 10-3 record in post-season bowl games. He also spent one season as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Cal State Fullerton and worked two years on the staff at the University of Iowa.