BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Florida Atlantic coach Matt Doherty has accepted an offer to become the coach at SMU, according to published reports Monday.

Doherty accepted the offer Sunday after one season at Florida Atlantic, assistant coach Rex Walters told The Palm Beach Post. The Dallas Morning News also reported the hiring, citing university sources.

FAU athletic director Craig Angelos told The Palm Beach Post that a press conference was expected Monday in Dallas.

"I got the impression the terms were coming together for them, but I don't know for sure," Angelos said. "I think they are angling for an afternoon news conference. Whether it happens or not remains to be seen."

The Dallas Morning News reported on its Web site Monday that Doherty met with SMU president Gerald Turner on Sunday and accepted the offer, according to university sources. The newspaper also said Doherty will meet with SMU's search committee and, if approved, would be introduced no later than Tuesday.

Doherty's salary this year was $171,000 and he was to get annual raises for the duration of the seven-year contract, Angelos said. The deal also included a clause where Doherty would have to pay $200,000 to be released from the deal until he coached his second season.

Doherty led the Owls to a 15-13 record this season.

After seven seasons as an assistant at Kansas under current Tar Heels coach Roy Williams, Doherty went to Notre Dame for the 1999-00 season, going 22-15.

The next season, Doherty's first Carolina team went 26-7, was ranked No. 1 in the country late in the year and won a share of the ACC's regular-season title. He was named The Associated Press' coach of the year.

But he missed the NCAA tournament in each of his final two seasons in Chapel Hill, and resigned under pressure in April 2003.

After a two-year coaching absence, he joined the staff at FAU.