Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. I'm all for this era of increased player freedom in college sports, but I think it's a little ridiculous that quarterback TJ Finley is set to play for a seventh school. |
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A total facelift in the AFC North |
There was something comfortably familiar about the NFL's Week 18 Sunday Night Football regular-season finale between the Ravens and the Steelers. Two division rivals met yet again in a game with high stakes on a cold night in Pittsburgh, with John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin patrolling the sidelines, just as they had for the previous two decades. But when Baltimore and Pittsburgh renew the rivalry next season, fans may find the matchup jarringly foreign. Tomlin decided yesterday to step down as coach of the Steelers after 19 years in charge, following in the footsteps of Harbaugh, whose 18-year run with the Ravens came to an end when he was fired after that Week 18 loss. I'm sure you've heard this fact a million times by now, but it's worth repeating because it's so remarkable: The Steelers will be hiring just their fourth head coach since 1969. Tomlin took over in 2007, when Bill Cowher resigned after 15 years at the helm, and his résumé was honestly a bit thin. He'd been a college position coach before being hired to coach defensive backs for the Buccaneers in 2001, a role he held for five years. He then spent one season as the Vikings' defensive coordinator in 2006 before unexpectedly landing the Steelers job despite not being one of the favorites at the start of the process. He was 34. Tomlin wasn't well known when he was first hired, but he quickly proved that the Steelers were right to take a chance on him, leading Pittsburgh to its sixth Super Bowl victory in his second season. He went on to have one of the most remarkable tenures of any coach in NFL history. His team never finished below .500 in any of his 19 seasons. |
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The best of Sports Illustrated |
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- Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald could have made 'tons of money on Wall Street,' but he turned into a brilliant football coach instead, writes Greg Bishop.
- The Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh is over, but the reason why it lasted as long as it did lies in the Super Bowl-winning coach's ability to connect with everybody around him, Albert Breer explains.
- Conor Orr reveals how the league views the Steelers' job opening and his list of top candidates to replace Tomlin.
- With the Steelers' job now available, Orr once again ranks the NFL's head coach openings.
- Chris Mannix says the Thunder finally looked like a defending champion sending a message after defeating a Spurs team that had owned them all season.
- Once a staunch critic of LIV Golf, Tiger Woods took a leading role in building the "Returning Member Program," allowing Brooks Koepka a pathway back to the PGA Tour, Bob Harig reports.
- The most shocking thing about Brooks Koepka's PGA Tour return isn't that he's been welcomed back, writes Michael Rosenberg, but that LIV Golf let him walk. Now the breakaway tour's future is very much in doubt.
- Kevin Sweeney dives into the details behind St. John's men's basketball program's firing of its general manager.
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… things I saw last night: 5. Oilers star Leon Draisaitl's powerful one-timer for a goal against the Predators. (Draisaitl also had two assists in Edmonton's 4–3 overtime loss after having a goal and two assists in a win over Nashville last week.) 4. Another thunderous dunk by Michigan State's Coen Carr. 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo booing back at the Bucks crowd during a blowout loss to the Timberwolves. (Milwaukee fell to 17–23 on the season, 11th place in the East.) 2. Victor Wembanyama's two dunks on Chet Holmgren in the first quarter of the Spurs-Thunder game. 1. John Blackwell's game-winner at the buzzer for Wisconsin, immediately following a game-tying three by Minnesota's Cade Tyson. |
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With the NBA trade deadline looming on Feb. 5, Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols explore the market and the players seeking contract extensions. |
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