Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal today from two former University of Alabama assistant football coaches who lost their jobs during an NCAA investigation of the Crimson Tide’s football program.

Ronald W. Cottrell and Ivy Williams sued the NCAA in 2002, alleging that NCAA officials had conspired to defame them during the investigation, which they said had made it difficult to find work.

A state judge in Alabama dismissed the cases in 2005, ruling that the coaches’ high-profile responsibilities made them public figures who must prove malice in a defamation case — a standard the judge believed they could not meet. The Alabama Supreme Court later upheld the trial judge’s rulings.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s action today means those rulings stand. —Brad Wolverton