Gerry DiNardo, Gary Crowton and David Cutcliffe all became unemployed coaches Wednesday, upping the total coaching vacancies in Division I-A to 15.

DiNardo was fired by Indiana after three straight losing seasons; Crowton agreed to resign at BYU following a third straight losing campaign; and Cutcliffe’s first losing record in six years at Mississippi led to his dismissal.

The moves come a day after Notre Dame fired coach Tyrone Willingham. Sixteen major-college teams have changed coaches this season. Florida was the first when they pulled the plug on Ron Zook in October.

South Carolina was the first and so far only school to hire a new coach. The Gamecocks brought in Steve Spurrier the day after Lou Holtz retired.

DiNardo was fired 11 days after the Hoosiers ended a 3-8 season with a 63-24 loss to in-state rival Purdue. The firing is the first major coaching change by Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan since he was hired in September as the school’s fourth AD in a little more than three years.

Greenspan said there was a “sense of urgency” for turning around a football program that has not had a winning season since going 7-4 in 1994.

“The goal for us is to build a viable program,” Greenspan said. “We’re going to have some urgency.”

DiNardo replaced Cam Cameron after the 2001 season and went 8-27.

Ole Miss officials informed Cutcliffe of their decision early Wednesday.

“This has been a tough day, but tough times don’t last … tough people do,” Cutcliffe said.

Cutcliffe declined to discuss specifics of his dismissal.

“We just couldn’t come to an agreement,” he said. “We couldn’t get everything on the same page.”

Cutcliffe was 44-29 in six seasons at Ole Miss, 25-23 in the Southeastern Conference, and just a season removed from going 10-3 and finishing tied for first in the SEC West with Eli Manning at quarterback.

But without Manning, the first pick in the NFL draft, Ole Miss slipped to 4-7, its worst season in 10 years. The Rebels were 3-5 in the SEC and lost four games by a total of 19 points.

Cutcliffe, the former offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Tennessee, had been criticized for his handling of the quarterback position this season.

Crowton agreed to resign, ending a four-year stint with the Cougars that began with 12 victories. BYU finished 5-6 this season.