“A medal. That’s what we’re going to fight for,” Wiley told The Associated Press. “And I have full belief that we’re going to do it.”
The U.S. men’s team plays at the Olympics for the first time since 2008 when it takes on host nation France, one of the tournament favorites, in Marseille on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Wiley is likely to be the subject of increased interest from Chelsea fans, at least, after he completed his move to the two-time Champions League winner from Atlanta United FC on Monday in a deal worth a reported $11 million.
The left-back said he had been inundated with messages since the announcement and has not been able to reply to them all while the U.S. prepares for its Olympic return. But rather than the transfer distracting him from the Games, he said Olympics had helped take his mind off the biggest move of his career while the details of the transfer were being finalized, months after he learned of Chelsea’s interest.
“I think for me the most important thing was staying present. It’s been an ongoing thing for a while now, for a few months,” Wiley said. “Just knowing where I was, staying focused with Atlanta at the time and then now with the Olympics has helped me kind of just be in the moment.
“I think it’s important to, to enjoy it first. You know this doesn’t happen to too many kids and so I think [you need] to embrace the feeling.”
As well France, which is coached by Thierry Henry, the Americans have been drawn with Guinea and New Zealand in Group A.
U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said his players should embrace the opportunity of playing France in its opening game, but doesn’t believe it will define his team’s tournament.
“I think once we reflect on our lives in the future, we will be proud that we play this game,” Mitrovic said. “We are very grateful to play that game tomorrow. It’s going to stay forever for us, but it’s only one of three games that we have in the group stage and the points of the game count the same as in the other games.”
Jordan Raanan is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Raanan covers the New York Giants. You can follow him via Twitter @JordanRaanan.
The New England Patriots had options to trade the No. 3 overall pick, right up until several hours before the 2024 NFL draft, but it would have taken “something crazy” to get them to move out of the spot that eventually netted North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye.
Credit the New York Giants for at least trying. They wanted to make it happen in the worst of ways. It just would have taken a “pretty significant” package for the Patriots to even flinch. And by significant, they meant a Ricky Williams-style cupboard of picks.
General manager Joe Schoen called the Patriots at 3:32 p.m. ET on the afternoon of the draft’s first round and offered the Giants’ first-round pick (No. 6 overall), a first-rounder in 2025 and another pick this year. It was not even close to enough.
Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf didn’t flinch when presented with that offer. His reasoning? The Patriots needed a quarterback!
Here’s how the conversation played out on the latest episode of “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants.”
Schoen: “You guys still listening [to offers]? You guys still making a decision? What do you think?”
Wolf: “I think we’re pretty happy with sitting here picking. But, again, if you offer us [your first, second and third-round pick] this year, [your first and second-round pick] next year …. I mean, I’m exaggerating. But it’s going to be something crazy like that.”
Schoen: “It would probably have to be pretty significant. So, like a [first-round pick] this year [obviously No. 6 this year], a [first-round pick] next year and something more this year is not going to do it? It’s got to be multiples in ’25?”
Wolf: “Um, we’re in this situation where we just probably sit and pick a quarterback.”
Schoen: “Well if anything changes and you wanted to add something on that to take a swing, let me know.”
And with that, the Giants’ dreams of landing one of the top three quarterbacks were gone. They also liked Jayden Daniels enough to trade up for him, but the LSU quarterback was a lock at that point to go No. 2 in the draft to the Washington Commanders.
So the Giants pivoted to finding a playmaker for quarterback Daniel Jones. They had contingency plans in case wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers were selected fourth and fifth. But as it panned out, New York took Nabers as the sixth overall pick out of LSU. Hardly a consolation considering he was the top-ranked wide receiver, according to wide receivers coach Mike Groh.
It goes to show that the Patriots were never really going to trade out of the top three because nobody would have conceded what they were asking for. ESPN’s Mike Reiss described it throughout the process as only an “unprecedented deal” would entice Wolf and New England.
The Giants were monitoring the process for months. In a previous episode of Hard Knocks, Schoen was shown walking over to the Patriots suite at the NFL scouting combine and telling Wolf to “keep me in mind” if they were going to make a trade.
New York now has to massage the situation and make Jones — the current and oft-injured starter — feel wanted. Jones’ contract allows the organization a reasonable out after this season, should they be so inclined to pivot in that direction.
It’s hard to imagine the Giants passing up that option given that they’ve already looked at finding Jones’ potential replacement. It could be an interesting and likely awkward year in New York with both parties knowing this happened and it being broadcast for the world to see.
CLEVELAND — José Ramírez homered for the first time in July and drove in two runs as the Cleveland Guardians ended their three-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.
Ramírez connected in the fifth inning off Joey Wentz (0-2) to help the AL Central-leading Guardians get just their third win in 10 games. Ramírez added an RBI single in the sixth.
Steven Kwan and rookie Jhonkensy Noel also hit homers for Cleveland, which has been in an offensive rut for weeks. The Guardians came in having scored two or fewer runs in six of their past eight games.
Wenceel Pérez hit a two-run homer for the Tigers.
Trailing 5-2, Detroit scored two in the seventh on a sacrifice fly and Zach McKinstry’s heads-up baserunning.
McKinstry, who doubled with one out, was on third and alertly broke for the plate when Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis tried to pick Matt Vierling off first and his throw got stuck under the Detroit center fielder’s body.
Rookie Cade Smith (5-1) pitched a hitless 1 2/3 innings, Scott Barlow stranded the tying run in the eighth and Emmanuel Clase worked a perfect ninth for his league-leading 30th save. He now has 140 saves with Cleveland, passing Bob Wickman for the second most in club history.
Ramírez’s first homer since June 29 put the Guardians ahead 3-2 in the fifth.
The All-Star third baseman fell behind 1-2 against Wentz before yanking a fastball over the wall in left for his 24th homer, ending his long-ball drought after 74 at-bats.
Cleveland tacked on two more runs in the sixth on rookie Angel Martínez’s sacrifice fly and a two-out RBI single by Ramírez.
Noel tied it 2-2 in the fourth with a towering homer onto the pedestrian plaza in left. Noel jumped on the first pitch from Alex Faedo, the second of five pitchers used by Tigers manager A.J. Hinch in a bullpen game.
Pérez put the Tigers ahead 2-1 in the fourth with a shot to right-center that followed Mark Canha’s one-out double.
Kwan, who has led the majors in hitting for several weeks, connected for Cleveland’s first homer in five games in the third.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: OF Parker Meadows (right hamstring strain) is scheduled to run the bases on Wednesday as he moves closer to activation. He’s been increasing baseball activities and could soon be sent on a rehab assignment. … Tests revealed RHP Reese Olson (right shoulder strain) does not have any structural issues. For now, he’ll be restricted from throwing while resting in Detroit.
Guardians: LHP Sam Hentges (shoulder inflammation) has started his rehab throwing program. He was placed on the 15-day injured list on July 11.
UP NEXT
Tigers RHP Jack Flaherty (7-5, 3.13 ERA) starts amid strong speculation he’ll be traded in the next week. He’ll start against Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (8-4, 3.58).
The top stories and transfer rumours from Saturday’s newspapers…
THE MIRROR
Manchester United will only allow Antony to leave on loan if another club is prepared to cover his full pay packet, it has been claimed.
Manchester City must avoid selling potential stars like Cole Palmer and instead offload ageing talent like Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson, says ex-player Bacary Sagna.
Bologna’s chief executive has dealt Arsenal a fresh transfer blow as he denied that Riccardo Calafiori’s move to the Gunners is imminent.
Liverpool fell to a humbling defeat against Preston North End in a behind-closed-doors friendly, with former Manchester United prospect Robbie Brady putting the Reds to the sword in style.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments about Manchester United looking for the “next Kylian Mbappe” may explain his transfer approach this summer – with the club wasting no time signing younger players.
THE SUN
London-based investment firm Vici Private Finance is ready to rescue Everton from the threat of administration.
Sven-Goran Eriksson insists Gareth Southgate’s replacement does not have to be English.
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Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville share their view on what’s next for Gareth Southgate
Rodri and Alvaro Morata are being investigated by UEFA for their behaviour during the trophy parade for Spain’s Euro 2024 win.
DAILY MAIL
Crystal Palace are to set to launch a bid for Arsenal’s forgotten man Emile Smith Rowe, as the Eagles look to pip London rivals Fulham to his signature.
World Cup Winner and Premier League legend Thierry Henry has emerged as a candidate for the vacant US Men’s National Team coaching position.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United could give Manuel Ugarte the perfect welcome present if they manage to bring him to Old Trafford this summer.
THE TIMES
The FA has taken the unusual step of advertising the vacant England manager’s job – and outlined that it expects the successful candidate not only to win a major tournament, but to do so while “inspiring the nation” and having strong personal values.
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The FA has formally advertised the England men’s manager job on its website. Dharmesh Sheth has all the details on what is required for applicants to take on the toughest job in football
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Eddie Howe has said he will reject any approach from England to replace Gareth Southgate as long as he remains happy at Newcastle.
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Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says he is committed to the club amid speculation linking him with the England job ‘as long as I have certain things’
DAILY RECORD
Rangers have reignited their interest in Plymouth striker Morgan Whittaker.
Ianis Hagi’s agent is adamant that Rangers will look to cash in on the midfielder this summer – but has ruled out a switch to the Turkish Super Lig.
SCOTTISH SUN
Rapid Bucharest coach Neil Lennon is closing in on a shock swoop for Celtic stopper Benjamin Siegrist, according to a report.
The telling bit in the video of Enzo Fernandez and other Argentinian players singing a racist song about France following their victory in the Copa America final is the voice you can hear just at the end.
“Corta (el) vivo,” someone says — “stop the live stream.”
They know. They know what they’re saying. They know that what they’re saying is profoundly offensive, and they know what will happen if the outside world hears it.
This isn’t one of those things that can be equivocated. It’s not something that can be denied. The words are clear, and we know the words because it’s a song that has been around for a couple of years.
The words to the chant were: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.”
The song in question came from a group of Argentina fans before the 2022 World Cup final, which was flagged at the time by French anti-racist protestors as an “expression of a far-right ideology”.
GO DEEPER
French Federation filing complaint over ‘unacceptable racist’ chants by Argentina players
Frankly it’s bad enough that Argentina, presumably insulated from a PR perspective by their victory at the World Cup, didn’t seek to distance themselves more from the song, but the fact the players seem to have incorporated it into their celebrations is so much worse. If nothing else, it speaks to an unpleasant collective mentality and pervading culture that a group of players, at a moment of triumph, would choose this song as part of their celebrations.
It’s also worth noting, without wishing to detract from the blatant racism, the transphobia that is at play here too. The full lyrics of the song make reference to French players being “cometravas, like Mbappe.” “Cometravas” is a slang term that essentially translates as “someone who has sex with transgender people”.
Football in general has made positive steps to make the game more welcoming for LGBTQ+ people. Players who actively choose not to participate in anti-homophobia campaigns are thankfully few and far between, and those that do are often punished — like Monaco midfielder Mohamed Camara who, after covering up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt last season, was suspended for four games.
Things like this song, however, do not help and in fact actively harm the effort to make football a more inclusive place.
But if the song itself and the gleeful willingness of the players involved to sing it was not depressing enough, the aftermath has been almost as bad.
Fernandez himself issued an apology of sorts, claiming that he got “caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations” and the song did not “reflect my character or beliefs”. He also said, rather laughably, that “I stand against discrimination in all forms”. Let’s just say that when he is inevitably forced to participate in some sort of anti-racism campaign in the weeks or months to come, his words will ring hollow.
Chelsea themselves reacted in fairly responsible fashion, putting out a statement that set out their own position and values, saying they will use this as “an opportunity to educate” and that they have started an internal disciplinary procedure.
It will be interesting to see what comes of that process, given that if Fernandez was a fan and was caught singing that song in the stands at Stamford Bridge, he would be looking at the ugly end of a fairly lengthy stadium ban.
Beyond that though, things have been very quiet.
Wesley Fofana, the French Chelsea defender, called it “uninhibited racism”. David Datro Fofana, the club’s Ivory Coast striker, put a statement on Instagram saying that “racism in all its forms should be condemned in the strongest possible terms” and that the fight against racism “needs to be taken seriously by everyone involved in the sport”.
David Datro Fofana has also condemned the incident (Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
It’s the last bit that feels the most pertinent. Because aside from those two responses, plus a picture posted by Nicolas Jackson of Fernandez hugging a black child, the meaning of which is open to interpretation, there’s not been much else.
Only black players have acknowledged the incident publicly so far. No white players have condemned the song. Perhaps some of Fofana’s white team-mates have offered private support, but as things stand there has been nothing beyond that.
As will be depressingly familiar, it is the black players that have been left to do the emotional work, to carry the mental baggage of having to deal with a racist incident. It enforces the idea that racism is a problem only for black people, when it’s a blight that shames us all. It isolates the black players, suggesting that it’s not something that anyone else has to worry about.
Imagine the power that would come from a white player standing up, unprompted, and condemning the song. It would provide a valuable symbol, but it would be more than just a surface-level thing. It would have genuine import.
The clubs of the other players in the video have, at the time of writing, decided not to comment. It is, in fairness, a little tricky to definitively identify exactly who is singing in the video, but everyone seems to be trying their best to ignore the issue entirely.
Perhaps we could give them the benefit of the doubt and say that, in time, they will speak to their Argentinian players and remind them of their responsibilities — not as footballers or representatives of a club, but as human beings. But at the moment it would seem that they are just hoping the whole thing goes away.
Even if it is tough to identify the individuals doing the singing, anyone who sat in silence while such a racist song was being sung probably could do with at least a talking-to. Surely the least we can expect from the clubs is for them to acknowledge the incident, that they will investigate and if it is found that any of their players were involved, they would face the appropriate punishment.
Chelsea are the only club to have said anything so far, not that we should necessarily be handing out extra credit for that: after all, they couldn’t possibly have avoided it.
Elsewhere though, crickets. For all the glossy campaigns and well-intentioned initiatives and solemnly shot ‘No to racism’ UEFA videos, when so much of the game is silent at moments like this, the idea that football is serious about combating racism is very hard to take seriously.
(Header photo: Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
A panel of the Clemson board of trustees approved Brownell’s enhanced contract, along with new deals for men’s soccer coach Mike Noonan and baseball coach Erik Bakich among several coaches and assistants on Thursday.
Athletic director Graham Neff said Clemson’s coaches have been key in helping the department compete in a wide range of sports.
“In addition to countless accolades on the field, each of these leaders run programs built upon integrity and academic excellence,” Neff said in a statement. “In an evolving environment, stability is critical and provides Clemson the opportunity to compete nationally.”
Brownell, who’ll enter his 15th season this fall, is the program leader with 265 victories. His latest deal would tie him to the school through the 2028-29 season.
He’ll make $3.5 million next season, a $500,000 increase what he was scheduled to make under his old agreement.
Brownell will receive a raise of $250,000 for the final four years of the contract, giving him $4.5 million in the last year of the deal for the 2028-29 season.
Brownell thanked Clemson administrators for their continued support and was proud of his team’s recent success, especially in winning 47 games the past two seasons — a program record for that span.
“There is not a better time than now to be part of the Clemson family,” he said.
The school would owe Brownell 50% of his total compensation if he’s dismissed in the first two years of the deal. After that, Brownell would receive 37.5% of what remains on the agreement.
Brownell has made four NCAA tournaments during his tenure, with this past spring being his most successful run. The sixth-seeded Tigers defeated 11th-seeded New Mexico in the NCAA opener before ousting third-seeded Baylor and second-seeded Arizona to advance to the Elite Eight.
It ended a step shy of the Final Four with an 89-82 loss to Alabama.
Brownell made $2.75 million last season, which ranked him fifth among ACC coaches’ salaries. This year’s leader, Virginia coach Tony Bennett, received a contract extension, but did not include a raise in his salary of just over $4 million a year.
Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who earned $3.5 million this year, got a contract extension Wednesday. Financial details were not released.
Noonan, who won two of the last three NCAA College Cup championships, had two years added to his contract through the 2029 season, along with a raise for next season from $440,000 to $600,000. Noonan would receive a increase of $17,500 to his salary each year going forward.
Bakich had the baseball team hosting a home NCAA super regional for the first time since 2010. He had two years added to his deal through the 2030 season. He’ll receive a raise of $325,000 next season for a salary of $1.275 million.
Bakich would receive raises of $50,000 each season going forward. He will also get retention bonuses of $200,000 should he remain with the Tigers this Sept. 1 and in September 2027 and September 2029.
Women’s soccer coach Eddie Radwanski and women’s golf coach Kelley Hester each received contract extensions. Radwanski got three more years through the 2028 season while Hester was given two more years through 2029 season.
LYON, France (AP) — Ambitious French side Lyon took its pre-season spending to over 100 million euros ($109 million) by signing Georgia forward Georges Mikautadze on a four-year contract on Thursday.
The 23-year-old Mikautadze joins from second-tier French club Metz for 18.5 million euros ($20.2 million). Lyon said the deal includes a possible additional payment of 4.5 million euros ($4.9 million) and 15 percent of any sell-on profit.
The seven-time French champion already signed central defender Moussa Niakhaté for 31.9 million euros ($34.8 million) and midfielder Orel Mangala for 23.4 million euros ($25.5 million) — both from Premier League side Nottingham Forest — along with Ghana forward Ernest Nuama for 28.5 million euros ($31.1 million) from Belgian club RWD Molenbeek.
Mikautadze stood out for Georgia at the recent European Championship, and was one of several players to finish as joint top scorer at the tournament with three goals. He impressed with his dazzling dribbling ability and close control, as well as his clinical penalty taking.
Monaco was also keen to sign Mikautadze. He scored 13 league goals in 20 games for Metz last season, almost helping the club avoid relegation from the first division.
Lyon overcame a terrible start to last season to finish sixth in the league under coach Pierre Sage and reach the French Cup final, where it lost to Paris Saint-Germain. Sage was awarded a two-year deal until 2026 for reviving the club’s fortunes and qualifying it for the Europa League.
BASTAD, Sweden (AP) — Rafael Nadal recovered from a tumble and a 4-1 deficit in the second set to beat fifth-seeded Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Nordea Open on Thursday.
Nadal fell over in the first game of the second set after attempting to slide on the clay, and needed treatment on a couple of bleeding scrapes. He then went a break down before winning the last five games of the match to reach his first quarterfinal since January.
“Great feelings, it’s been a while without playing on the tour since Roland Garros and I had a chance to compete against a great player like Cameron,” Nadal said. “It’s part of the journey today. I haven’t been competing very often so matches like today help and holding the pressure on the opponent for the whole game is something I need to improve on because I haven’t played enough.”
Nadal is playing at the tournament in Sweden for the first time since he won the title as a 19-year-old in 2005 as he prepares for the Olympic tournament on clay at Roland Garros in Paris.
He beat Leo Borg, the son of Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg, in the first round on Tuesday. That was his first singles match since he lost in the first round of the French Open to Alexander Zverev. He teamed up with Casper Ruud on Monday to win a first-round doubles match.
The 38-year-old Nadal skipped Wimbledon as he didn’t want to switch surface to grass and then back to clay and risk injury. He has been dealing with hip and abdominal injuries over the past 1 1/2 years.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — DirecTV has signed a multiyear deal to become the jersey partner of the San Diego FC, its first foray into kit sponsorship in MLS while expanding its presence in the local sports market.
DirecTV will appear across the front of SDFC’s primary and secondary jerseys when the expansion club begins play in February.
“It’s always the most important commercial partnership, because it sits right on your heart, right on the front of your jersey,” said Tom Penn, San Diego FC’s CEO. “From that standpoint it’s really important to pick the right partner.”
Thursday’s announcement comes about five weeks after SDFC signed Mexican star Chucky Lozano to a four-year contract.
“It’s equally foundational,” Penn said. “There’s nothing more important than a foundational player, your foundational coach. Those kinds of things are critically important. But a foundational kit partner is a big deal. I don’t know how many tens, hundreds of thousands of jerseys we’ll end up seeing out in the community, but every single one of them is going to have DirecTV right across their heart. So. it’s woven into fabric, I guess pun intended, of the club.”
DirecTV sponsored the Holiday Bowl last year and remains in talks to sponsor the game moving forward. Holiday Bowl officials announced recently that after two years at Petco Park, the game will be moved to Snapdragon Stadium, which will be SDFC’s home pitch.
Bowl CEO Mark Neville said officials wanted to first sort out conference affiliations and are “working on it” as far as DirecTV’s continuing sponsorship.
“They love San Diego, they love soccer,” Penn said about the satellite TV provider, which is once again sponsoring the Soccer Champions Tour of friendlies involving European clubs in U.S. cities.
SDFC will become MLS’s 30th club. It is owned by Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Tribe, the first Native American tribe to have an ownership stake in a professional soccer team. The ownership group also includes San Diego Padres star third baseman Manny Machado.
“It’s an exciting sponsorship deal here for us at DirecTV,” said Vince Torres, the chief marketing officer. “For us it really expands what we’re doing in the space of soccer. … Now we have this opportunity here and I think it’s fairly unique, with a big market right around the corner from our headquarters in L.A. that presented itself and we jumped all over it.”
DirecTV will also be involved in community outreach programs such as support for local nonprofits like Ronald McDonald House Charities and support for local active military and veterans.
Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
EAGAN, Minn. — They were two young football minds, looking for common ground to lead the Minnesota Vikings into a new era. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was the new general manager, and Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell was a finalist for the Vikings’ vacant head-coaching job.
It was the afternoon of Jan. 31, 2022, and members of the team’s search committee — owner/president Mark Wilf, chief operating officer Andrew Miller and executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, among others — sat around a conference table in a Southern California hotel. They largely just listened as Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell talked for more than three hours. About a third of the conversation was devoted to the most pressing need facing the franchise: quarterback.
O’Connell was emphatic. The Vikings could win with Kirk Cousins in 2022, and perhaps beyond. It wasn’t time to replace him yet. Adofo-Mensah agreed but wanted to know more. Whenever that time came, how should they do it? What type of player would O’Connell want? And how should he be developed?
O’Connell spoke from his expansive background. He had been a star quarterback at San Diego State, a third-round pick in the 2008 draft, an NFL backup for five years and an assistant coach for another seven.
In between, O’Connell had worked as a private coach for draft-hopeful quarterbacks. He knew how prospects exaggerate their strengths and hide their weaknesses. So he laid out a process for cutting through that façade. The end result, he said, was a marriage that required adjustments from all participants. “Marriage: it’s that serious,” Adofo-Mensah said later.
More than anything, however, O’Connell emphasized pragmatism. At one point during the conversation, O’Connell compared two quarterbacks. Deshaun Watson and Matthew Stafford, he said, approached the game from entirely different skill sets. But ultimately, he said, “they both get to first-and-10.”
That phrase stuck with Adofo-Mensah, who understood in the moment that O’Connell was flexible and thoughtful enough to accept what he considered the reality of quarterback acquisition. Most drafts don’t have a transcendent prospect like Andrew Luck or Joe Burrow, and most teams don’t get their first choice. A true draft assessment hinges on how many of its quarterbacks can get your offense to first-and-10, and what environment they need around them to expand their impact to championship levels.
O’Connell got the job. Two years later, the Vikings set themselves up for a highwire task this offseason: Parting ways with Cousins and finding his short- and long-term replacements, all in the span of two months. They made Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy the fifth quarterback selected in the 2024 draft (No. 10 overall), in the process working as hard to protect their draft capital as they did to secure McCarthy. There was no celebration until they had maneuvered to select Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner — one of the draft’s best pass-rushers — seven picks later.
“I believe in J.J. McCarthy,” O’Connell told ESPN, “but to get him in the building the right way under the right circumstances, and having another first-round pick like Dallas Turner helps that.”
ESPN spent the offseason tracking the Vikings’ quarterback transition, one that took them through intense negotiations with Cousins, included a check-in on the Los Angeles Chargers‘ Justin Herbert and the acquisition of a second first-round pick that ultimately helped secure Turner rather than McCarthy. It featured a set of five private workouts around the country, one big surprise and the first top-10 quarterback pick in team history (Fran Tarkenton was picked No. 11 overall in 1960).
Interviews with coach, executive and agent sources in and around the organization revealed a two-year process built around the probability the Vikings would never have a draft position high enough to call their own shot and would need a multifaceted plan to succeed with whomever they landed.
“What people don’t understand about the quarterback-selection process,” O’Connell said, “is that it’s not just the quarterback themselves. It’s: ‘What does the rest of the picture look like with that quarterback?’”
NFL TEAMS RARELY pull off a quarterback transition without some lean years in between, and ESPN’s Football Power Index projects the Vikings to win 6.8 games in 2024 — an unavoidable and uncomfortable fact as both Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell enter the third year of four-year contracts. They had hoped Cousins would bridge them to the next quarterback, but the bridge to McCarthy has now fallen to veteran Sam Darnold, a once-elite prospect himself who is now with his fourth team in seven seasons.
McCarthy’s moment might not come as soon as the Vikings hope. O’Connell, scarred by Washington’s botched development of quarterback prospect Dwayne Haskins during his tenure there as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, laid out for ESPN his plan to ensure that McCarthy won’t have to play until he is ready.
“Those things [O’Connell] talked about are the reason why I have so much faith in him,” Adofo-Mensah said. “to take a mold-and-play like [McCarthy] with talent and traits that are as high-end as anybody, and mold him into that player we want him to be.
“A lot of times when we go back over history and we say, ‘These quarterbacks have missed.’ There’s a lot of hands that are dirty in that regard, and we’re going to make sure that our hands are clean and give him the best opportunity he can to be the best player he can be in this offense.”
The Vikings’ hiring of Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell in 2022 coincided with one of the worst quarterback classes in recent draft history. The best QB has been the San Francisco 49ers‘ Brock Purdy, whom the Vikings had hoped to sign as an undrafted free agent, sources told ESPN in the fall.
Instead, the 49ers drafted Purdy with the final pick of the draft to avoid a bidding war. No other member of the class is likely to start in 2024, and the top two selected — the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ Kenny Pickett and the Atlanta Falcons‘ Desmond Ridder — have already moved on to new teams.
O’Connell shut down some mild internal sentiment to take a flier on a quarterback that spring. He has since jokingly referred to himself as the Vikings’ “quarterback killer” in draft discussions.
“I have had to, in a lot of ways, fight off some mistakes from being made,” O’Connell said during an appearance this spring at the “Faith & Life” lecture series in Plymouth, Minnesota, which was posted on YouTube. “Mainly because the evaluation process I go through. Hope and faith are wonderful things, but I do not like them to necessarily be strategies.”
O’Connell was correct about the 2022 class, and the Vikings’ success with Cousins that season ensured another year would pass before finding his successor. Their 13-4 record left them with the No. 23 overall pick, and the top three quarterbacks were off the board by No. 4. They did select Jaren Hall in the fifth round, at No. 164 overall, but were realistic about his slim chances of developing into a long-term starter.
That pushed the conversation to the 2024 draft. Close observers understood that Adofo-Mensah was already hedging his financial bet with Cousins in 2022, having added only one year to the quarterback’s contract. Negotiations in 2023 led to a compromise agreement that would allow Cousins to enter the 2024 free agent market without being subjected to the franchise tag.
Cousins responded with perhaps the best first half of a season in his career. He was tied for the NFL lead with 18 touchdown passes and ranked second with 2,331 passing yards when he tore his right Achilles tendon in Week 8. The injury hit the franchise hard. People throughout the organization believed O’Connell had elevated Cousins’ game and set him on a course for a late-career blossoming as a genuine top-10 NFL quarterback. They knew his injury would heal well before the start of the 2024 season and, according to multiple sources, genuinely wanted him to return as their starter.
Players young and old shared that sentiment. Receiver Justin Jefferson said Cousins’ return would be “perfect.” Right tackle Brian O’Neill wanted Cousins back with “one thousand million percent” certainty.
With that backdrop, O’Connell leveled with Cousins after the season: The Vikings’ 3-6 record after his injury had exposed the dangers of not looking beyond a 36-year-old quarterback. With their best draft position (No. 11 overall) in a decade, the team had decided to tap into a deep 2024 quarterback class and find its next starter. But no one — not ownership, not Adofo-Mensah and not O’Connell — wanted the rookie to play right away. Cousins would be their starter in 2024 and possibly longer.
It would be a tough sell, and the Vikings were already considering their next steps. At the combine, they checked with the Chargers on Herbert’s availability. It was the kind of call many NFL teams make to a team that has changed leadership. Adofo-Mensah had worked with new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh when they were both with the 49ers from 2013 to ’14, and was well aware of Harbaugh’s preference for a run-based offensive scheme. The Chargers did not want to move Herbert, but the Vikings’ interest was a sign for league observers about Cousins’ looming availability.
Cousins had said publicly and privately that he wanted to finish his career in Minnesota, but he also made clear he wanted the structure of a new contract — the guaranteed money, in other words — to reflect that the Vikings wanted the same thing. “It’s not about the dollars,” Cousins said in January, “But it is about what the dollars represent.”
Internally, the Vikings knew they couldn’t make that commitment. Adofo-Mensah wanted what he refers to as “optionality.” There was too much value in a rookie quarterback’s contract, with its low salary cap impact, to overlap it with a long-term veteran deal. His final offer, delivered at the NFL combine at the end of February, was a deal that fully guaranteed Cousins’ 2024 salary and offered partial guarantees for 2025. Cousins, who would later say he wanted to avoid what amounted to a “year-to-year” contract, turned it down.
By that time, there were rampant public reports the Falcons were readying a massive contract offer that would meet Cousins’ expectations for an end-of-career agreement. He accepted their four-year offer, with two fully guaranteed years and part of a third, as confirmation the Falcons wanted him as their long-term starter. As it turned out, the Falcons were also planning to draft their next quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall. They just didn’t tell Cousins.
The Vikings moved full speed into a new era.
EVEN BEFORE THE combine, O’Connell had his plan for identifying the Vikings’ next quarterback and then refined it with input from coaches and members of the personnel department. If it went well, it would be the only quarterback replacement plan he would employ with the Vikings. That would also be true if it didn’t go well. The same went for Adofo-Mensah. Both of their careers would likely rest on the shoulders of the quarterback they ultimately drafted.
The Vikings would deemphasize the players’ scripted pro days and instead conjure as realistic of a job interview as possible. In those private workouts, O’Connell and staff would evaluate each player in the Vikings’ offensive scheme. It was important to conduct the process in the quarterback’s familiar football environments so the Vikings could observe how each interacted with people they already were comfortable with.
So after bidding farewell to Cousins, and agreeing to terms with Darnold two days later, they went to work.
A combination of McCown, Phillips and assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski would monitor each pro day, while a larger group would follow a more expansive itinerary that coincidentally would start with McCarthy on March 29 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The traveling party, which jetted on one of owner Zygi and Mark Wilf’s private planes, included Adofo-Mensah, O’Connell, Phillips, McCown, Udinski, senior vice president of player personnel Ryan Grigson and passing game coordinator/tight ends coach Brian Angelichio. On a few occasions, the group was joined by some of the Wilfs’ adult children.
The schedule varied based on availability, but most days began with O’Connell teaching a series of plays from the Vikings’ playbook in a classroom at each school’s football facility. For roughly an hour, he would review expectations for footwork, progression and eye placement, among other minutiae. O’Connell stressed his intent as a playcaller for each play.
McCarthy later said the experience was a significant part of why he considered Minnesota his top potential destination.
“It was the way [O’Connell] presents the install,” he said, “the way he compartmentalizes everything about how to look at this play individually and how to make it more relatable to what your knowledge is and how you can smoothly and efficiently step into this playbook.
“That was something that was truly unique because you go around to so many defensive coaches like [Washington’s] Dan Quinn and [New England’s] Jerod Mayo, and being able to have that relationship as former QB and current QB, it’s truly special and it means a lot.”
From there, the group would go to a practice field and pull in receivers and other skill position players who were available to participate. Phillips and Angelichio would coach those players, adding to the realism of the environment, as they went through the plays. The receivers were not part of the initial install, so part of the evaluation was watching how each quarterback guided — or didn’t guide — them through rough patches.
In McCarthy’s case, the Vikings’ scouting and film review had been limited by a Michigan offense that asked him to throw an average of 22.1 passes per game, the fourth fewest by a first-round quarterback in his final full college season over the past 20 years. But as part of their evaluation, they filtered his throws into what O’Connell referred to as “weighty downs” — particularly third downs and red zone attempts — to help compare his most important plays to other first-round prospects who had more overall attempts.
In some cases, McCarthy had more attempts in those situations than some of those other passers. As they watched him during his private workout, the Vikings saw a degree of decisiveness and arm strength that in their opinion rivaled any of the draft’s top six quarterbacks.
“I left there very, very confident in my evaluation of J.J,” O’Connell said, “and if anything, felt even stronger about it.”
OF SOMEWHAT LESS importance, but still a priority, was the team’s assessment of each quarterback’s interactions with the people he encountered on his home turf. When he walked on the practice field, did he simply nod and say hello to the receivers? Or did he gather them and express enthusiasm, creating an immediate miniteam? In many cases, current players were working out or lifting weights around the time of the Vikings’ workouts. Did they stop and watch? Were they interested in the quarterback’s performance?
McCarthy’s big personality gave him an advantage in such situations. The same was true for a task the Vikings assigned each quarterback: Take us to eat — lunch, in most cases — at a place of your choosing. (The Vikings paid.) What type of place would the quarterback select? Was it on campus, and if so, how did the students and other patrons respond to him? Would the employees recognize him and know his order, or had he chosen a place to avoid crowds?
McCarthy selected Zingerman’s Deli, the famous eatery a brief walk from Michigan’s central campus. The group did not call ahead, and they walked into a crowded weekday lunch hour, said Miles Bolton, a front-of-house staff member who was there that day. McCarthy took photos with fans who recognized him as the group waited in line to place orders. “He was really gracious in taking time to pose for pictures and interact with fans,” Bolton said.
In most cases, the Vikings arranged the seating for O’Connell and McCown to sit on either side of the quarterback, ensuring he could speak freely with the people he had already interacted with the most. “You definitely have to be careful about putting too much emphasis on that kind of stuff,” O’Connell said. “You can’t say, ‘Hey, he was awkward at dinner, so we can’t draft him.’ You use it as a sliver of the total evaluation.”
Each visit was followed by an intense review on the plane ride, either back to Minnesota or to the next quarterback stop, while the day was still fresh in the group’s mind.
The trip to Michigan was followed by stops in Seattle to see Penix; Eugene, Oregon, for Bo Nix; and then Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for Drake Maye. The final stop was April 18 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to visit with Jayden Daniels. The Vikings also met with South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, Tulane’s Michael Pratt and Tennessee’s Joe Milton III at the NFL combine.
WHEN THEY RETURNED to Minnesota, it was time to stack their draft board and assign values to each quarterback. How many of the QB prospects would they be willing to give up extra draft assets to acquire? And how many would they accept at or close to their spot at No. 11, with the benefit of additional acquisitions?
Even before the trip commenced, Adofo-Mensah began maneuvering to give himself what he again referred to as “optionality.” On March 15, he acquired an additional first-round draft pick (No. 23 overall, from the Houston Texans). Given the cost of the trade — second-round picks in 2024 and 2025, plus a 2024 sixth-rounder, while getting a 2024 seventh-rounder from the Texans — the move was widely regarded as the first step in making a bigger jump for a quarterback near the top of the draft.
In several public appearances, Adofo-Mensah insisted the deal had no specific intent — an expected line from an NFL general manager who didn’t want to give away his strategy. But as it turned out, he truly believed it.
Even before the private workouts, the Vikings knew they liked enough of the quarterback class to conclude they would be within striking distance of several. They also knew they would like some more than others and wanted to have enough assets to move up into the top three spots of the draft if the opportunity arose. If it didn’t, and the Vikings wound up drafting a quarterback at No. 4 or later, Adofo-Mensah thought the Texans trade would help him surround that quarterback with another blue-chip talent.
“We went over our scenarios,” he said, “and thought this was a really good way to position ourselves.”
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Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy’s prospect profile
Check out some of the top college highlights from new Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
WHEN DRAFT DAY arrived, the Vikings had multiple possibilities in play. First, though, O’Connell sought out a symbolic but important meeting. He called Darnold into his office at 10:30 a.m. and walked him through the team’s plan.
Darnold had signed a one-year, $10 million contract and had long understood the Vikings would likely draft a quarterback. “No matter what happens,” he said upon arriving, “I’m going to compete.” But Darnold was his likely Week 1 starter and, based on how the draft fell, perhaps for much longer.
The conversation lasted 45 minutes. Darnold told O’Connell he appreciated the candor but that it wasn’t necessary. After all, Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick by the New York Jets in 2018, had lost starting spots with two teams in his first five seasons and had spent his sixth as a backup with the 49ers. No one owed him anything.
“I just felt it was very important for me to look him in the eye and say exactly the reality of this,” O’Connell said.
Reality was also sinking in for some of the scenarios the Vikings had laid out. There was a strong possibility three quarterbacks would be off the board before they had a chance to make a trade offer, creating the likelihood they would be drafting at or near their original spot at No. 11.
It was clear that Caleb Williams and Daniels would be drafted with the first two picks by the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders, respectively. That left the third spot, where the New England Patriots were intent on drafting Maye unless a team overwhelmed them with an offer.
The Vikings really liked Maye, and they were willing to forfeit the ability to surround him with an additional player at No. 23 in order to get him. Their offer to the Patriots was substantial. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Vikings’ final proposal included three first-round picks — No. 11, No. 23 and their top pick in 2025 — but with a request for two of the Patriots’ midround picks in return. It was not enough to tempt the Patriots.
“It’s always about walkaway prices,” Adofo-Mensah said, speaking generally about draft trades. “Your only leverage in the negotiation is your willingness to do something else. So I’ve got to say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’ It’s got to mean something.”
IN PREPARATION FOR not moving into the top three, Adofo-Mensah called Jets general manager Joe Douglas before the draft to map out a potential move to No. 10 if necessary. Then the waiting game began.
McCarthy was next on the Vikings’ priority list, ahead of Penix. Many around the league had paired Penix’s downfield mentality and quick release with O’Connell’s offensive philosophy, but the Vikings felt confident McCarthy had similar capacities. Michigan’s offense simply hadn’t asked him to use them. And at 21, three years younger than Penix, McCarthy had more potential for growth.
But their relatively similar evaluations left the Vikings more confident in resisting the urge to move up. No team with picks between No. 4-10 needed a quarterback. Would another team trade into that group for McCarthy or Penix? It was possible, the Vikings assessed, but even if one were selected, the other should be in range for the Vikings. At one point during the draft, Adofo-Mensah turned to Grigson and said sarcastically he was “supposed to trade the whole farm” for No. 4, according to a video posted by the Vikings.
As it turned out, the Falcons surprised everyone by selecting Penix at No. 8 despite having signed Cousins a month earlier. Now the Vikings were focused on the Bears’ No. 9 spot. They knew they could make a trade with the Jets at No. 10 to get McCarthy, if needed. But there was another nagging thought among some decision-makers. Would the Bears be cutthroat enough to trade out — despite their well-known interest in receiver Rome Odunze — to block the NFC North rival Vikings from getting him?
The Seattle Seahawks had met twice with McCarthy, once at the combine and then after his pro day, and new head coach Mike MacDonald had been Michigan’s defensive coordinator during McCarthy’s first season in Ann Arbor (2021). ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had gone so far as to match McCarthy and the Seahawks in his first 2024 mock draft.
The Vikings’ draft room remained tense until the Bears drafted Odunze. Adofo-Mensah finalized the deal with the Jets for No. 10, giving New York fourth- and fifth-round picks with a seventh-rounder in return, to swap first-round picks and submit McCarthy’s name.
“You’re always sweating a little bit with that one pick in between,” he said, “but this business is about taking a little risk and trying to get a reward, and I think we got that in the end.”
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton later suggested that he had bluffed the Vikings into moving up, out of concern that he would move from No. 12 to No. 10 and select McCarthy ahead of the Vikings. But based on their accumulation of draft insight, the Vikings were confident that Payton preferred Oregon’s Nix, whom he drafted at No. 12.
Back in the draft room, Adofo-Mensah turned his attention to a trade that would flip the No. 23 pick into No. 17, which he used to select Turner.
“Cooking!” Grigson said.
“Cooking with gas!” Adofo-Mensah replied.
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McAfee likes Vikings naming Sam Darnold starter
Pat McAfee and his crew evaluate the Vikings’ decision to make Sam Darnold the starting quarterback heading into training camp.
THE VIKINGS MOVED through their spring practices with Darnold atop the depth chart, and O’Connell confirmed the obvious in mid-June: Darnold would open training camp as the Vikings’ No. 1 quarterback. For the first time under Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell, the Vikings appear set to bring four quarterbacks to camp — Darnold, McCarthy, veteran backup Nick Mullens and Hall, the 2023 fifth-rounder — perhaps an extra step to prevent McCarthy from playing before he is ready.
O’Connell brings scar tissue to the job of developing McCarthy. As Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2019, O’Connell had a front seat to the franchise’s botched work with first-round draft pick Dwayne Haskins. Despite initial plans to take a methodical approach to his development, coach Jay Gruden put Haskins on the field in Week 4 — long before he was ready. Haskins struggled for two seasons, was released in 2021 and spent his final NFL season as the Steelers’ No. 3 quarterback. (Haskins died in April 2022 after being struck by a truck in Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
“When we selected him, we had a lot of confidence in what he could become under the right circumstances and development and timetable,” O’Connell said, “and that didn’t exactly end up being the mindset just a few short months later.”
The Vikings have started at the beginning, by revamping some of McCarthy’s footwork. In particular, they have him putting his left foot forward and right foot back when in the shotgun, as opposed to the “square” stance that some passers and teams use. That early work has demonstrated McCarthy is a “pretty coachable player,” McCown said.
Assuming McCarthy doesn’t win the starting job in training camp, the Vikings’ schedule has a natural transition point: A bye after their Week 5 trip to London to play the Jets. Publicly and privately, O’Connell has left McCarthy’s timetable open-ended.
McCarthy will be ready, O’Connell said, when “the comfort level that he has within our offense and his ability to then translate it to adverse situations and difficult aspects of playing quarterback in the NFL aren’t magnified by inexperience.
“But I want to be very clear that the expectation is for this player to not be perfect,” O’Connell said. “He’s going to have growing pains, he’s going to learn on the fly. I’m not trying to remove that aspect of it, either, but [deciding when he will play] is not something you can write up on a board. It’s a feeling.”
The job will test the self-preservation instincts most every NFL coach and general manager stare down at some point in their careers. O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah have given the franchise a future to build toward, but how much of the present can they sacrifice as they reach the midpoint of their contracts? During their tenure, the Vikings have a 20-14 record in the regular season and are 0-1 in the playoffs in the increasingly tough NFC North.
“It’s just more about what is in the best interest of the organization,” O’Connell said. “Those circumstances cannot affect what J.J.’s development plan is or any other player on the team for that matter. It just can’t be something that selfishly ever impacts that decision.
“That really won’t change because, and I don’t know if it’s the former quarterback in me or not, but I do feel an obligation to have the best interests of not only J.J. but our entire team, at heart, when we make that decision.”
OF THE VIKINGS’ 22 projected offensive and defensive starters, 18 have at least four years of experience. But their veteran core has largely accepted the short-term uncertainty of this transition, none more so than safety Harrison Smith. The team’s longest-tenured player, Smith restructured his deal to return for a 13th season two days after Cousins’ departure.
The pair had developed what Smith called a “pretty cool relationship,” and in fact, Cousins stopped at Smith’s home in Knoxville, Tennessee, while driving with his family to Atlanta. But Smith said it isn’t his nature to assume Cousins’ departure, and the tenure of Darnold and McCarthy, means the Vikings have sacrificed their ability to compete this season.
“I’ve always felt it’s the opposite,” Smith said. “If you’re a competitor and you have faith in your abilities and what’s going on around you, that should always be your mentality. And this year is no exception.
“I kind of like it sometimes when it’s like this. Not that I’m playing to prove people wrong, but it’s kind of fun sometimes. The league is so volatile every year. You can think you’re making the best decision in going here and doing this and doing that, and it rarely plays out how you think it’s going to play out.”
Smith was not alone. Receiver Justin Jefferson texted McCarthy the night he was drafted, symbolically ceding his “J.J.” nickname to smooth out the rookie’s arrival, and later agreed to a four-year contract extension. O’Neill, who in January said he wanted Cousins to return “one thousand million percent,” said in April that it’s “not my job” to project the impact of personnel moves. “My job is to block people,” he said. “Life moves on. It’s a business. It’s time to get to work and time to push this thing in the right direction.”
And defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, entering his seventh NFL season, acknowledged the history of quarterback transitions but noted there are always exceptions, such as Baker Mayfield‘s success last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I’m getting older,” Phillips said, “and in Year 7, I probably have less years in front of me than behind me, so my window to win a Super Bowl is narrowing. But I’m extremely optimistic about the moves they’ve made. … I don’t know how the whole thing is going to come to a conclusion, but I think we are going to win a lot of football games with Sam as the captain of the ship. The veterans here are going to be like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to roll with this.’ People have confidence in the moves they’ve made.”
LIKE MOST NFL teams, the Vikings produced and published nearly 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes video of their draft room. None of it included the kind of celebration you might expect at the successful end of a two-year journey. After completing the trade with the Jets, Adofo-Mensah smiled, stood up and said: “We’ve never picked a quarterback in the top 10,” his way of saying the deck had been cleared for selecting McCarthy.
“We got it?” a member of the personnel staff asked him.
“Yeah,” Adofo-Mensah said.
The room was still nearly silent.
“You’ve still got all your picks, man,” O’Connell told him, noting the Vikings had drafted their quarterback without giving up the second of their two first-round picks.
Finally, team executives circled the room and shook hands. They stood and clapped as the pick was announced.
“Proud of you, bro,” O’Connell told Adofo-Mensah.
It wasn’t time to pop champagne, however. Now it was first-and-10, and the work was just beginning.
As the four-time defending Olympic gold-medal winner, Team USA will be favorites once again but could face stiff competition — including a France team that will have Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert.
After exhibition wins against Australia and Serbia in Abu Dhabi, Team USA now heads to London for another pair of tune-up matches against South Sudan and Germany.
The team will then travel to France where it will play three Group C games in Lille on July 28 (Serbia), July 31 (South Sudan) and Aug. 3 (Puerto Rico). The knockout rounds then shift to Paris with the quarterfinals (Aug. 6), semifinals (Aug. 8) and gold-medal game (Aug. 10) at Accor Arena.
As we countdown to Paris 2024, we will have you covered with the latest news and analysis.
Coaching staff: The Warriors’ Steve Kerr will coach Team USA, assisted by Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat), Tyronn Lue (LA Clippers) and Mark Few (Gonzaga).
Twelve teams qualified for the Olympics, with three groups made up four teams each. The top two teams from each of the three groups will qualify to the quarterfinals. The top two third-place teams also advance. The group-stage games will be played at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille. The quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games will be played at Accor Arena in Paris.
GROUP STAGE ROUND
July 27 Group A: Australia vs. Spain; Greece vs. Canada Group B: Germany vs. Japan; France vs. Brazil
July 28 Group C: South Sudan vs. Puerto Rico; Serbia vs. USA
July 30 Group A: Spain vs. Greece; Australia vs. Canada Group B: Japan vs. France; Brazil vs. Germany
July 31: Group C: Puerto Rico vs. Serbia; South Sudan vs. USA
Aug. 2 Group A: Australia vs. Greece; Canada vs. Spain Group B: Japan vs. Brazil; France vs. Germany
Aug. 3 Group C: Puerto Rico vs. USA; Serbia vs. South Sudan
QUARTERFINALS Aug. 6 Four games
SEMIFINALS Aug. 8 Two games
BRONZE MEDAL GAME Aug. 10
GOLD MEDAL GAME Aug. 10
Olympic qualifying tournaments
The 2024 FIBA men’s Olympic qualifying tournaments took place July 2-7 in Greece, Latvia, Spain and Puerto Rico.
Those tournaments decided the final four squads — Brazil, Greece, Puerto Rico, and Spain — to complete the 12-team field for the men’s Olympic basketball tournament in Paris. They will join the other qualified eight teams: France, USA, Canada, Australia, South Sudan, Japan, Serbia and Germany.
The game officially launched Friday, with EA Sports increasing its server capacity during early access to handle the crush.
“To say we’ve been blown away by the excitement, energy and anticipation around College Football 25 over the past few months would be an understatement,” EA Sports said in a blog post this week. “Just like you, our team has had July 19 circled for months as the culmination of so much work and dedication to build this game, and the chance to see it in players’ hands for the first time.”
EA Sports’ college football games used to be released annually, a cultural icon in American sports for much of the franchise’s existence. The company froze future editions in 2013 when athletes began questioning why they weren’t getting paid to be featured in the games.
With athlete compensation rights sorted out in court and now allowed by the NCAA, EA Sports announced in 2021 it would be reviving the franchise. The video-game developer offered Bowl Subdivision players a minimum of $600 and a copy of the game to have their likeness included in it. More than 11,000 players accepted offers.
EA Sports has said its goal for the game was “to feel like a love letter to college football and its fans.”
San Diego State and Colorado were among the schools hosting College Football 25 events this week. Across social platforms, athletes such as LeBron James, Tim Tebow and Michael Vick — even comedians Shane Gillis and Dan Soder — were live-streaming head-to-head matches in the game.
Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, one of the cover athletes, said in May some of the best moments of his childhood involved playing EA Sports college football with his best friend.
“Just for it to be back, as well as to be on the cover of it, it’s an awesome feeling,” he said.
The game’s other standard-edition cover athletes are Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado two-way player Travis Hunter. The deluxe edition features the backs of numerous players in a stadium tunnel, including Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins.
EA Sports’ college football franchise dates to the 1990s. It grew in popularity in the early 2000s as gaming systems became more advanced, allowing for revolutionary game modes such as the popular Race for the Heisman create-a-player that was introduced in NCAA Football 06.
That edition also featured historic teams, including the 1992 Alabama squad that Clemson coach Dabo Swinney played on.
“Sleeping on me a little bit,” Swinney joked about the 70 overall rating for his player, “WR No. 88,” which did, however, have a 91 speed rating. “They must have my going down the Hill speed. I appreciate the love they gave me on that.”
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AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli contributed to this report.
When the month of July started, no one was talking about Baylor‘s presence on the recruiting trail.
However, just under three weeks into the month, the Bears have been one of the hottest teams, not just in the Big 12, but in the country.
When July 1 hit, Baylor had 12 commitments, all coming from three-star prospects. Now, as of July 18, there are 17 commits in the class, four of which are four-star prospects.
Breaking down the new additions
The first commitment of the month came on the first day as three-star defensive tackle Jackson Blackwell pledged to the Bears over Texas Tech, Houston, Kansas State and others. Blackwell is 6-foot-3, 300 pounds and provides a powerful body in the middle of the defense.
Next up came the first big splash in four-star wide receiver Jacorey Watson out of Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek. Watson is ranked as the No. 118 overall prospect in the 2025 Rivals250.
“When I was on my visit in Waco, it felt like it was home. I can be comfortable here and I can ball out. And the offense they run with the raid offense is going to be outrageous.”
Watson’s commitment to Baylor was a bit of a surprise for some, but it would quickly prove to be just the beginning of a trend for Baylor.
Five days after Watson’s commitment would come the second domino as four-star defensive end Kamauryn Morgan chose the Bears over Texas A&M and SMU.
Before transferring to South Oak Cliff, 6-foot-5, 230-pound Morgan turned in a strong junior season at Red Oak, where he racked up 61 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 34 quarterback hurries. He also added 5.5 sacks three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.
He is also the fourth defensive lineman of the class.
This past weekend came the biggest shock of the class as Baylor pulled in the commitment of four-star wide receiver Taz Williams Jr. who did not even have the Bears in his final four. It was a late surge by Baylor to get the best of Penn State, Texas A&M, SMU, and Michigan.
Williams Jr. is the No. 135 overall prospect in the 2025 Rivals250. He is also the No. 25 wide receiver in the class.
The newest commitment of the class came Thursday evening as four-star running back out of Richland (Texas), Michael Turner, made his pledge to the Bears. He did so over the likes of TCU, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Utah.
Turner was wildly productive in his junior season with 1,625 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns.
With the new additions this month, Baylor’s class is creeping up to the top 25, currently sitting at No. 32 in the country. With 17 commitments, Baylor has an average star rating of 3.24.
