January 15, 2021 3:50 am
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Urban Meyer has agreed to become head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He leaves the broadcast booth and returns to the sidelines after a two-year absence that followed a health scare. The 56-year-old Meyer was team owner Shad Khan’s top target. Khan waited nearly a week to get it done. They met last Friday on Khan’s yacht in Miami, again Wednesday and one final time at the facility Thursday. Meyer has won three college national championships with a staggering winning percentage of more than 85%. Hiring the longtime college coach with three national championships signifies a new direction for a franchise that has lost 105 of 144 games since Khan took over in 2012.
January 15, 2021 3:47 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are shaking up their coaching staff. The team announced offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and assistants Shaun Sarrett and Tom Bradley will not be back following a first-round playoff loss to Cleveland. Fichtner spent 14 seasons with the Steelers and was promoted to offensive coordinator three years ago. Yet Pittsburgh’s offense struggled down the stretch this season following an 11-0 start. The decision to not retain Fichtner could impact whether quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returns in 2021. Roethlisberger and Fichtner have a close relationship dating back to Fichtner’s stint as quarterbacks coach from 2010-18.
January 15, 2021 2:47 am
GREENVILLE, Pa. — Women’s and Men’s basketball schedules for the current season were announced Thursday by the Presidents’ Athletic Conference office. The pairings feature one game between each of the 10 schools in the league. All matchups pit two schools at one site for the women’s game with the men’s game being held at the other school’s facilities. League play is set to start on Saturday, Jan. 23 with the regular season finales tabbed for Saturday, Feb. 27. All schools will be invited to participate in the league’s championship tournaments starting March 1. Plans for returning to competition and current schedules are subject to change at any time based on available public health best practices and approaches or local, state and federal guidelines, recommendations or mandates. PAC institutions will have adjusted attendance policies in place for home games during the 2021 season in an effort of promoting and prioritizing the health and safety of student-athletes, game day staff and designated personnel in light of COVID-19. Schools will determine if on-campus student attendance is permissible at their own facilities. There will be no outside fans or visiting team’s fans permitted. Institutional attendance policies will continue to be reviewed throughout the season.
Women’s composite schedule Men’s composite schedule
January 15, 2021 2:55 am
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Left-hander Nik Turley has been traded to the Athletics from the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash, giving Oakland a reliable reliever for late in games after losing closer Liam Hendriks in free agency.Turley went 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA and one save over 25 relief outings – most by any big league rookie – spanning 21 2/3 innings for the Pirates in the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season.
January 14, 2021 3:48 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Philadelphia Flyers have won the first NHL game of the 2021 season. Joel Farabee had a goal and three assists in the Flyers’ 6-3 decision over the Penguins. The game was tied 3-3 until Michael Raffl tallied 5:37 into the third period to begin a flurry of scoring for Philadelphia. Oskar Lindblom and Kevin Hayes scored 20 seconds apart to turn this one into a rout. Nolan Patrick also scored in his first game since April 2, 2019. The 22-year-old center and No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft was stricken with debilitating migraines that caused him to miss all of last season.
January 14, 2021 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Phoenix Suns are dealing with contact tracing that has forced the postponement of Wednesday’s game against Atlanta and Friday’s contest versus Golden State. In addition, Friday’s game between the Pistons and Washington in Detroit has been postponed amid contact tracing among the Wizards. Neither the Wizards nor the Suns would have enough available personnel to meet the minimum 8-player requirement. Eight NBA games have been scrubbed since Sunday. Three of those games were slated for Wednesday.
January 14, 2021 3:51 am
TORONTO (AP) – Mark Shapiro has been given a five-year contract extension as the Toronto Blue Jays’ president and chief executive officer. Rogers Communications chairman Edward Rogers said Shapiro’s leadership and commitment over the last five years have been critical to the team’s growth and development. The Blue Jays returned to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016. Toronto was 32-28 during the pandemic-shortened season, earning a wild card in the expanded playoffs.
January 13, 2021 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin expects a significant amount of change following his team’s stunning wild-card loss to Cleveland. The Steelers finished 12-5 in dropping five of their final six games after starting 11-0. The biggest questions surround the status of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and defensive coordinator Keith Butler. Tomlin says it is “reasonable” to expect Roethlisberger to return for an 18th season. The contracts for both Fichtner and Butler are up and change could be coming to the offense after the Steelers finished last in the NFL in yards rushing.
January 13, 2021 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – With five games called off this week already and more teams dealing with virus-related issues, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have enacted additional rules in the hope of keeping the season going safely. Among the new policies: for “at least the next two weeks,” the league and union said Tuesday, players and team staff will have to remain at their residence when in their home markets and will be prohibited from leaving their hotels or having outside guests when on the road. Tonight’s matchup in Chicago between the Bulls and the Boston Celtics has been postponed because of coronavirus concerns. Tomorrow’s Wizards-Jazz game in Washington is the latest to be scrubbed.
January 13, 2021 3:48 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – Augusta National Club chairman Fred Ridley says the Masters intends to have a limited number of spectators when it is played April 8-11. He says the club still plans to operate the tournament the way it did in November with healthy and safety standards set because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those standards included mandatory COVID-19 testing for everyone on site, along with CDC guidelines such as social distancing and wearing masks.
