RENO, Nev. - Former Nevada athletics director and head coach Chris Ault has been appointed to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, the CFP Management Committee and Executive Director of the CFP Bill Hancock announced Wednesday.

Ault is one of three new appointees to the committee, joined by Washington Athletics Director Jennifer Cohen and Miami (OH) Athletics Director David Sayler. The new members will begin three-year terms starting this spring.

Ault, a member of four different Hall of Fames, including the College Football Hall of Fame (2002), was at Nevada continuously from 1976-2012 as the department's head football coach and athletics director, serving as athletics director from 1986-2004, and spending three separate stints as head football coach (1976-92, 1994-95, 2004-12).

Ault guided the football program in its transitions from Division II to Division I-AA (now FCS) in 1978, then to Division I (now FBS) in 1992. Over 28 seasons at the Wolf Pack helm, Ault went 234-108-1, captured 10 conference titles over three conferences (Big Sky, Big West, WAC), reached the 1990 Division I-AA championship game, and earned six conference coach of the year honors. He was also named the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA Coach of the Year, and the 1991 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.

In his final stint as the Wolf Pack head coach, Ault created and installed the "Pistol" offense ahead of the 2005 season, beginning a stretch of eight-straight seasons with a bowl game appearance (2005-12) and two WAC titles (2005, 2010).

The Pistol offense became one of top attacks in the nation, especially on the ground as Nevada led the nation in rushing in 2009 (by nearly 50 yards per game). The Wolf Pack became the first school in the history of college football to have three players rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season in 2009, and the 2010 season saw the Wolf Pack offense shatter a number of school, conference and NCAA records. Perhaps the most notable: Ault's duo of quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Vai Taua became the greatest rushing tandem in the history of college football in terms of both most points and most yards gained.

The 2010 Wolf Pack team finished the season 13-1 and ranked No. 11 in the season's final Associated Press poll.

The CFP selection committee is responsible for selecting the top four teams in the playoff and assigning them to semifinal games, as well as ranking the other top 25 teams. The committee meets in-person beginning late in the football season and produces a ranking of the top 25 teams each week leading up to its final selections. The other returning selection committee members are Mitch Barnhart (athletics director, University of Kentucky), Boo Corrigan (athletics director, NC State University), Chet Gladchuk (athletics director, U.S. Naval Academy), Jim Grobe (longtime head coach at Ohio University, Wake Forest and Baylor), Warde Manuel (athletics director, University of Michigan), Will Shields (former All-American offensive lineman, University of Nebraska), Gene Taylor (athletics director, Kansas State University), Joe Taylor (Vice President for Athletics and Community Wellness, Virginia Union University), Rod West (group president Entergy Corporation and former linebacker at the University of Notre Dame) and Kelly Whiteside (longtime sportswriter for USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Newsday).