BRIEFLY : WORLD CUP CALAMITY CAUSES COACH CANNING.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

The Brazilian Soccer Confederation on Monday dismissed national team coach Mario Zagallo and the entire staff who coached the team during the World Cup in France. The move was widely expected and the team's new coach will be named Aug. 31.

Zagallo coached the national team over 148 games in two terms, including 107 victories, 29 ties and 12 losses. His last game was this year's World Cup final, which Brazil lost 3-0 to France.

``The saga will continue and you'll have the last installment when they name the new coach,'' Zagallo told reporters.

BASKETBALL: Frank Layden, a former NBA Coach of the Year with the Utah Jazz, was hired to coach the Utah Starzz of the WNBA. He replaces Denise Taylor, who was fired after compiling a 13-34 overall record, including a 6-13 mark this year.

Layden will retain his position as president of the Jazz, but he stressed that his new job was not temporary.

The American Basketball League agreed to show up to 16 of its games this coming season on Fox Sports Net, down from 24 last season. Earlier this month, the league signed a deal with CBS to air two games of the championship series - the first games to be shown on non-cable television.

Both of those deals are time buys, meaning the league will be responsible for selling advertising and will co-produce the games with the networks.

FOOTBALL: Curtis Jones, Missouri's defensive-line coach and father of the team's starting quarterback, has died of a massive heart attack at age 55. Jones played for Missouri in 1966 and 1967 and went on to play three seasons as a defensive guard and linebacker in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and the Green Bay Packers.

Washington State defensive tackle Taeao Salausa, from Long Beach, has been arrested in Pullman, Wash., for investigation of rape, burglary and theft. A police report said a 29-year-old woman student at Washington State told officers Salausa entered her home and raped her July 11, after which she found some of her possessions missing. The report said they were acquainted.

BOXING: Cody Koch, a heavyweight boxer known as the ``Alaskan Assassin,'' died in Shields, Mich., following an argument at a tavern. The body of the 25-year-old fighter was found early Sunday outside Shooters Bar by sheriff's deputies. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, but no results were announced.

MOTOR SPORTS: NASCAR driver Jeff Purvis was suspended for four races and fined $5,000 for an altercation with another driver at a Busch series race last weekend. Purvis said he would immediately appeal the suspension, allowing him to race next weekend.

HOCKEY: The Detroit Red Wings have offered Slava Fetisov a chance to return for one more year as a player, general manager Ken Holland said. The 40-year-old defenseman became an unrestricted free agent July 1.

The New York Rangers agreed to terms (undisclosed) on a contract with right-winger Stefan Cherneski, their first-round pick in the 1997 NHL draft.