Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel, after his team’s 65-64 win at North Carolina on Wednesday, spoke out about the Tar Heels fans’ treatment of his brother and current Panthers assistant, former UNC standout Jason Capel.
Jason Capel, who averaged 12.1 points in four years at North Carolina (1998 to 2002), was booed by UNC fans after the game, which completed a season sweep for Pitt.
In a video reviewed by ESPN, an animated Jason Capel, standing in the hallway of the Dean E. Smith Center after the matchup, can be heard proclaiming, “Check the record book! My boys did my work. I ain’t got to say nothing. All I did for this program and y’all disrespect me? You got a broom? That’s a sweep.”
Jeff Capel said his brother was upset by a tweet posted by the North Carolina men’s basketball account before the game but did not identify the specific tweet.
“My brother loves the school,” Jeff Capel said. “He dreamt of coming here as a player when we were little, when he was little. He wore that [North Carolina] jersey with a lot of pride, and since he’s left here, there has been a lot of disrespect toward him. And one thing happened today, and I don’t think it’s coming from within the basketball program, and I don’t know who controls their social media … . I get social media, you try to be funny or whatever, but I thought it was them trolling him.
“It’s a complicated relationship with him and North Carolina. He loves [them], but I think at times, he doesn’t feel that back.”
Hours before Wednesday’s game, the official Twitter account for North Carolina basketball tweeted a photo of a game-day program that showed Creighton Lebo — a walk-on and the son of North Carolina assistant Jeff Lebo — sticking out his tongue. Creighton Lebo, who has played two minutes total this season, wears No. 25, the same number Jason Capel wore for North Carolina.
The tweet was not a shot at Jason Capel, a North Carolina spokesperson told ESPN. “The game-day graphic had absolutely nothing to do with Jason Capel,” the spokesperson said. “The person who made the graphic didn’t even know what number Jason wore when he played here 21 years ago when the designer was three years old. We put all of our players on game-day graphics, and it just happened to be [Lebo’s] turn.”
Jeff Capel said the rocky relationship between Jason Capel and North Carolina goes back to 2009, when Jeff Capel was the head coach at Oklahoma and the Sooners faced the Tar Heels in the Elite Eight.
“My brother was there with my whole family supporting me — he had an [Oklahoma] shirt on — and the North Carolina fans were pretty s—ty towards him, excuse my language, but pretty, pretty nasty, and it [took one of the former North Carolina players to say something to them],” said Jeff Capel, who played hoops at Duke from 1993 to 1997. “You hear about the Carolina family and it’s just amazing to me that their social media people would do that. I don’t think it’s [UNC coach Hubert Davis]. Hubert is awesome. He really is. I don’t think it’s the players on the team.”
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Yet as his team limped to an 8-9 record, barely making the wild-card round of the playoffs, there were games in which he missed target after target, looked lost, and in which a hungrier opponent from the jump poleaxed his team, and him. There he lay at 45, struggling beneath a pile of defensive linemen.
Watching, it was hard not to wonder: Why keep playing?
Why, Tom, after seven Super Bowls and three league M.V.P. awards and a narrative for the ages: the skinny, slow, middle-round draft pick climbs his way to a place on football’s Mount Rushmore, sits atop it, stays and stays. Why keep going?
Brady and the Buccaneers’ season ended badly: a 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
And yet … it was only two years ago when he won a Super Bowl, beating Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The safe bet was that Brady would keep going, maybe even try to play until he was 50, perhaps for the San Francisco 49ers, his beloved boyhood team.
The fact that being on an N.F.L. team at a half-century years old seemed possible — that’s surely another sign of his greatness.
What memories he provided. There are far too many to recount here fully, but several stand out. Brady, in 2002, his second season and first as a starter, leading the Patriots over the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl on the wing of a last-minute drive.
Brady — or should we have called him Tom Houdini? — in the Super Bowl of 2017, forging an escape for the ages, overcoming a third-quarter score of 28-3 on the way to beating the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28.
For McCarthy, the 2023 offseason figures to be the most important one for him yet.
Why? He needs to find an offensive coordinator, an offensive line coach, quarterbacks coach and a running backs coach. And he needs to win. Probably more than he did the last two years when he went 12-5 each season and got to the divisional round in 2022.
A Cowboys head coach has not called plays since Jason Garrett in 2012.
In 2019, as he entered the final year of his contract, Garrett wanted to call plays and have his hands on the future of his job. But owner and general manager Jerry Jones decided that would not be the best way to operate, and Kellen Moore was given the keys to the offense as coordinator. Garrett was out after an 8-8 finish in 2019.
While 2023 is not the last year of McCarthy’s contract — 2024 is — he will be getting the opportunity Garrett never got, a chance to go down fighting by doing what he did best all those years with the Green Bay Packers: calling plays as the head coach.
Speaking to reporters at the Senior Bowl Wednesday, Jones said McCarthy will call the plays in 2023 and the Cowboys will run a version of the West Coast offense McCarthy ran with the Packers.
When McCarthy arrived in Dallas in 2020, he kept Moore in place as the playcaller and said if he had taken a job elsewhere, Moore would have been an offensive coordinator candidate for him. Maybe McCarthy was just placating Jones by keeping Moore, because he said previously he would never not call plays again during his tenure with the Packers.
For McCarthy to succeed in 2023, he has to get the structure of the offensive side of the ball right.
Brian Schottenheimer is considered the favorite for the coordinator job. He spent 2022 as a consultant for the Cowboys. McCarthy sang his praise late in the season. The Cowboys are also reportedly interviewing Carolina Panthers assistant head coach/offense Jeff Nixon for the job. He doesn’t have ties to McCarthy, but he has more recent ties to college football, and NFL offenses have started to look more and more like college offenses in recent years.
The offensive line job might be even more important, especially if McCarthy is calling plays. Joe Philbin spent years with McCarthy in Green Bay, but that connection was not good enough to get Philbin another year with the Cowboys as offensive line coach.
With OT Tyler Smith, C Tyler Biadasz and OT Terence Steele (who is coming back from a torn ACL and MCL), the Cowboys have three ascending players in place. Guard Zack Martin continues to play at an All-Pro level, OG Connor McGovern is set to be a free agent and there are questions about OT Tyron Smith’s future, since he is entering the final year of his contract and has not played a full season since 2015.
The running back room could look a lot different, too. Ezekiel Elliott might not be back. Tony Pollard is set to be a free agent, but the Cowboys can always place the franchise tag on him.
The Cowboys felt the need to have new voices in quarterback Dak Prescott’s ear, which is why they allowed Moore to leave and did not renew the contract for quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier. McCarthy came to the Cowboys as a “quarterback whisperer” — have you heard he coached Joe Montana, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers? — but nothing seemed to change Prescott’s interception woes in 2022.
Doesn’t McCarthy share in those mistakes? Can he coach it out of Prescott in the future? Is elevating coaching assistant and former NFL backup quarterback Scott Tolzien to the quarterbacks coach job the answer?
At least McCarthy doesn’t have to worry about the Payton shadow anymore. He just might not be shadow-free.
Some folks believe defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who passed on head-coaching chances the last two years, will be the next Cowboys coach.
The 2023 NBA trade deadline is set for Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. ET. Which teams will be making deals ahead of that deadline, and how will that impact the landscape of the NBA heading into the 2023 playoffs?
There have been only two in-season trades to date, but after an offseason that saw multiple All-Stars dealt for a bevy of draft picks, there could be a lot more movement as the deadline gets closer. Will the Los Angeles Lakers, currently on the outside of the play-in tournament, make a big move to help LeBron James, who is on the verge of becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader?
Get all of the news, intel and analysis from our experts here, including trade grades and destinations for every player who could be on the move.
5:30 p.m.: Indiana Pacers center Myles Turnerhas agreed to a two-year, $60 million contract extension that includes an additional $17.1 million renegotiation on his 2022-23 salary, his agent Austin Brown of CAA Sports told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Despite the new contract, Turner remains eligible to be traded.
Jan. 24
9 p.m.: After acquiring Rui Hachimura from the Washington Wizards, Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka was asked whether the team’s pursuit of deals leading up to the Feb. 9 trade deadline would include parting with the franchise’s 2027 and 2029 first-round picks to complete a deal. “I think the calculus for the Lakers is to win a championship or not. There’s no in-between or incremental growth,” Pelinka said. “So as we analyze opportunities, we have to do it through that lens.”
Jan. 23
12:39 p.m.: The Lakers are finalizing a deal to acquire forward Rui Hachimura from the Wizards for guard Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Hachimura has averaged 13.0 points per game this season, the final year of his rookie contract. He is slated to be a restricted free agent this summer.
Jan. 21
11:23 p.m.: Wizards forward Rui Hachimuraaddressed the trade rumors swirling around him with reporters after the team’s win over the Orlando Magic, saying “I just want to be somewhere that wants me as a basketball player, and I want to be somewhere that likes my game.” When asked whether Washington is that place, he replied: “I don’t know. We’ve got to find out.” Hachimura declined to comment when asked whether he had requested a trade.
Jan. 18
7:35 p.m.: Are the Atlanta Hawks struggling to find a trade partner for forward John Collins? ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on “NBA Countdown” that Collins’ contract, which has $75 million remaining on it beyond this season, is giving teams some pause. “There are some teams, such as Utah, that would like a draft pick with Collins to offset that money,” Wojnarowski said. “Landry Fields, the new general manager in Atlanta, he does not see John Collins as a money dump.”
6:30 p.m.: Could Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell, who is slated to be a free agent this summer, be a player to watch at the trade deadline? “As we get closer to that Feb. 9 deadline, there’s going to be some decisions to be made about D’Angelo Russell’s future and if there’s a deal out there where they potentially bring back a guard who maybe has more years left on his contract,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on “SportsCenter.”
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Why D’Angelo Russell will be a player to watch at the NBA trade deadline
Adrian Wojnarowski explains why the Timberwolves have D’Angelo Russell at the center of their trade deadline discussions.
4:15 p.m.: Is Luka Doncic putting pressure on the Dallas Mavericks‘ front office to upgrade the roster ahead of the trade deadline? Owner Mark Cuban says no. “Luka has never suggested, asked, demanded or discussed changes to the roster,” he said. “Luka and [general manager] Nico [Harrison] have a great relationship. They talk almost daily. Luka knows exactly what we have going on and is very supportive.”
Jan. 9
8 a.m.: Could the Toronto Raptors be a major player at the trade deadline? “Their guys are better than whoever else might be available,” an East executive told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “They’ll have plenty of interest if they’re out there.” Full story »
Jan. 5
2:02 p.m.: The Celtics are trading Noah Vonleh and cash to the Spurs, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Vonleh, who had a non-guaranteed contract, played 23 games for Boston this year, averaging 1.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.4 minutes.
Jan. 3
8 a.m.: Why haven’t the Phoenix Suns traded Jae Crowder yet? Their ownership situation is complicating things, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports in the weekly Hoop Collective column. Writes Windhorst: “[Suspended team owner Robert] Sarver still has to give personal sign-off on any deal for a player with a salary that is more than the current ‘average player salary,’ multiple league sources confirmed to ESPN. This would include any luxury tax payments, which the Suns are currently projected to pay.” Full story »
Christian Eriksen has not been Manchester United’s best player this season but the injury that has ruled him out until late April soon brought home the fact that he is among their most important. It is difficult to replace the Dane from within.
Against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday evening, Casemiro took on that creative mantle once more, setting up Wout Weghorst for the best chance of the first half and playing the key pass for the opening goal in the second. But even the Brazilian needs some help.
Surprise deadline day arrivals are sometimes characterised as panic buys but the arrival of Marcel Sabitzer on loan from Bayern Munich was logical and essential. He can help solve the problem because he possesses qualities that are required in a crucial position.
After the misstep of playing Eriksen as a forward on debut in the home defeat to Brighton, Erik ten Hag redeployed him in a midfield role. From there, United have been able to utilise his creativity in the final third while also relying on him in the build-up phase.
“We put him a little bit deeper on the pitch as he plays in a ‘six’ and an ‘eight’ role where he has lots of freedom,” Ten Hag explained earlier this season. “We tell him which spaces he has to be in but also he has to adapt to that. I think he can make a game for you.”
There was a time when that role would have been alien to Sabitzer. He enjoyed success further forwards at Red Bull Salzburg, scoring 27 goals in all competitions in his final season in his native Austria, before finding fame in Leipzig coming inside from the right flank.
At Euro 2016, he was even his country’s striker. Thomas Janeschitz was Austria’s assistant coach at that tournament and knows Sabitzer well having first worked with him at U17 level. He has followed this evolution into someone capable of covering for Eriksen.
Image: Marcel Sabitzer’s Champions League heatmaps reveal his changing role
“I had him very early on before later working together with the national team and at the very start I brought him in from the side. But I think that his best position now is playing behind the forwards, maybe as a No 8 or a No 10,” Janeschitz tells Sky Sports.
“He has very good technical ability on the ball and he is able to score goals because of his shooting prowess from outside the box. His strengths are still in the offensive game but he has also developed well in his defensive work. He is able to run a lot.”
That is reflected in his unusual blend of statistics. He ranks fourth for tackles per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga this season but is also fourth for passing accuracy in the final third of the pitch and in the top six for completed passes per 90 minutes in that attacking zone.
Image: Marcel Sabitzer’s stats for Bayern Munich this season show a range of qualities
It helps to explain why he is suited to such a demanding role. Schooled in the philosophy espoused by the Red Bull clubs, Sabitzer knows that hard running is non-negotiable. But Bayern recognised that he is capable of high quality in possession of the ball too.
That was a process that began under Julian Nagelsmann, his coach at both Leipzig and Bayern. Initially, he saw Sabitzer as a forward before eventually appreciating the need to get him on the ball more. The dynamism remains but he is a better player now.
Janeschitz regards him as a new breed of Austrian player in that respect. “There was a big change in the development and education of young players here and he was at the start of that. Before, we prepared them for the Austrian league but that was not enough.”
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Watch Marcel Sabitzer’s best moments in the Bundesliga for Bayern and RB Leipzig
Sabitzer’s intelligence and technique could easily see him cover for Bruno Fernandes and the forwards if the situation demands it and Ten Hag prefers to go with Fred alongside Casemiro. He fills a gap left by the serious injury to Donny van de Beek as well as Eriksen.
“While best as a No 8 or No 10 because he likes to have the ball and play good passes,” says Janeschitz, “he is able to play many positions. This is also a strength of his. But wherever he plays, the most important quality he has is the ability to read the game.”
Ten Hag on Sabitzer
“I know the player a long time from Salzburg, and especially Leipzig, he performed fantastic. I expect the same here. He has a great attitude, he is the right age. I am sure this opportunity will motivate him and he will perform for us.”
A loan signing, the onus is on Sabitzer to make an instant impact at Old Trafford. At 28, he has the character to take on that responsibility. “He does not want to lose, which is always a good characteristic, and he is very ambitious,” adds Janeschitz.
“When I first worked with him for the national team we had some older players there but after that he made the step to become a leading player. Along with David Alaba and Marko Arnautovic, he was one of the strong leaders within the team.”
Sunday 12th February 1:00pm
Kick off 2:00pm
Expect him to take on that role quickly, welcoming the opportunity to feel important once more. Thirty-four of his 54 appearances for Bayern came as a substitute but Sabitzer has been at his best when the team needs him. At United, that need is more obvious.
“That is why I think this is a good decision for him. He had some problems at Bayern and did not play as much as he expected. Because of the injuries at Manchester United, he will get the minutes that he wants. I hear the coach likes him so it is good for everybody.
“The pressure is high but I think he is able to take on the challenge.”
Mixed martial arts is not what it used to be. In its early days, the sport was widely dismissed as a cringey toughman sideshow and relegated to the outcast fringe. For years, MMA was sustained by an obsessive and faithful fan base that mined fight clips from dingy corners of the internet and watched on low-def VHS tapes.
If you knew, you knew. If you didn’t know, you probably didn’t care to. There was something cultish about following MMA in the 1990s and early aughts, like hitting the midnight screening of “Eraserhead” or grooving to Lee “Scratch” Perry. Or watching Fedor Emelianenko smash some big, scary dude you thought was unbeatable.
That might not make sense to those who’ve only recently acquired a taste for cage fighting. As MMA has evolved into a quasi-mainstream attraction over the past decade or so, by which time Fedor’s spotlight had dimmed, the sport’s audience has expanded as well. So it’s reasonable to conclude that newer fans may not get what all the fuss is about over Saturday’s Bellator 290 main event, in which Emelianenko will fight for the final time (9 p.m. ET on CBS, with prelims at 6 p.m. ET on the Bellator and Showtime YouTube channels).
This is a significant moment in MMA history, not simply because Emelianenko is challenging heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in one of the two title bouts that night in Inglewood, California. (The other pits Johnny Eblen, the undefeated middleweight champ, against Emelianenko’s protege, Anatoly Tokov.) Fedor still has massive appeal, and it is not about today or anything that has happened in the last decade. It runs deep into the sport’s underground past, which he ruled with an iron fist. That might seem hard to fathom for those who look at Emelianenko today and see just a quiet, balding 46-year-old with a thick physique that is not at all sculpted in granite.
Emelianenko is known to his fans as “The Last Emperor,” but it would be more fitting to dub him MMA’s first emperor. There are other greats on whose backs (and fists and chins) the sport was built. Some from those formative years even share Fedor’s worthiness of one-name name-drops — Royce, Tito, Vitor and Randy, to name just a few. But no one has owned the regal aura of the man from Stary Oskol, Russia.
From 2000 through 2010, he fought 33 times and lost once — a dubious doctor’s stoppage just 17 seconds into a fight in Japan that remains a painful memory for longtime MMA fans. If Emelianenko had advanced in the Rings tournament that night, his next opponent would have been Randy Couture. Missed it by that much.
And in case you weren’t watching back then: Throughout his fighting prime, Emelianenko never had the sculpted physique of a muscleman. Same as it ever was.
Speaking with Emelianenko on Monday, I asked him which of his 40 wins was his favorite. “First fight for the belt with Nogueira,” he said in Russian through an interpreter, referring to the 2003 bout in which he won the Pride heavyweight title, ending Big Nog’s 14-fight unbeaten streak. “I had to activate my fighting IQ and find keys to victory. At that time, he was the best fighter in the world.”
But fight results alone don’t paint a vivid picture of Emelianenko. For that, it all starts with the stoic executioner’s walkout, his eerily dead-eyed stare piercing his opponent’s resolve before the first punch has been winged.
And lurking behind this impassive temperament is a profoundly reflective presence. Consider Fedor’s response when I probed him about the fights that didn’t happen. Couture? Brock Lesnar? Which fight does he most wish he could have had during the prime of his career?
“I am very happy with the way it happened,” Emelianenko said. “Whatever God gave me, I was very happy with it. You don’t have to think about things that never happen. You have to live in the moment and be happy with what you have.”
His answers came after long pauses, making me grateful that we were on a Zoom call. Ten seconds of silence on the phone would have had me thinking that our line had gone dead. When I asked Emelianenko about his expectations for Saturday’s fight, a rematch of a 35-second Bader win from four years ago, the silence felt as lengthy as that first fight. On my screen, a stone-faced Fedor pondered … and pondered … and then spoke.
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Bader knocks out Fedor in 35 seconds
Ryan Bader hits Fedor Emelianenko with a left hook to win the Bellator heavyweight title and the Heavyweight World Grand Prix championship.
“Everything that happened last time happened very, very quickly,” he said. “It didn’t go my way, for sure. Of course, I didn’t get any younger [since then]. But I hope, even at 46 years old, I can give him a fight.”
That humility may be refreshing in a trash-talk sport, but it doesn’t feel so reassuring. MMA does not usher its aging stars out the door gently. In the last year alone, revered former UFC champs Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Frankie Edgar were brutalized in their career finales. So just in case you weren’t saddened enough by Bader’s two-punch KO of the legend four years ago, here comes the sequel, starring a Fedor whose reflexes are now four years less sharp.
But this is the final fight Emelianenko wanted, and he’s earned the right to exit through a door of his choosing. And while longtime fans should be ready to cover their eyes at a moment’s notice, wouldn’t it be a sweet throwback if he were to give us a glimpse of his old destructive self? We’ll never see prime Fedor again, but may he still have it in him to wreak havoc for one round?
Emelianenko has won four of his past five fights, all with first-round knockouts of faded stars such as Frank Mir, Chael Sonnen and a round mound of “Rampage” Jackson. Is it possible that Bader will join that concussive club? Sure, it is. He has aged, too, over the four years since the first Fedor fight. Bader is just a few months from turning 40 and could be as faded as those other late-career Emelianenko conquests.
Should Fedor pull off the implausible this weekend, don’t expect him to cancel his retirement plans. “Doesn’t matter what happens Saturday — I am going to be done,” he said. “I hope that soon enough, Valentin Moldavsky is going to become heavyweight champion.” Moldavsky, another of Emelianenko’s proteges, challenged Bader a year ago and lost a tight decision.
For the record, Emelianenko acknowledged that even a stunning victory at Bellator 290 would not send him into retirement as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. When I reeled off a list of names and asked who is the best heavyweight on the planet, this was the one time during our conversation when Fedor did not pause to reflect. “[Francis] Ngannou,” he answered immediately, with the Russian interpreter not needed this time.
With any MMA retirement, of course, there’s no guarantee it’s really the end of the road. Emelianenko has been here before — back in 2011, on the night he defeated former UFC title contender Pedro Rizzo in Saint Petersburg, Russia. After getting a congratulatory handshake at ringside from President Vladimir Putin, Emelianenko announced his retirement. “My family influenced my decision,” he told a Russian media outlet. “My daughters are growing without me. That’s why it’s time to leave.”
But three years later, Emelianenko returned to fighting.
I asked him how his family reacted to that.
“I was able to talk them into it,” he said with a smile (after a long pause, of course).
Will he be talking his family into another return somewhere down the road?
“No,” Emelianenko said without hesitation. Then, after some reflection, he elaborated: “I’m 46 years old, and the longer I do this, my injuries from the past remind me [of that]. And my wife, from fight to fight, she says, ‘Listen, you have to stop doing it, keep yourself with family.’”
When asked about his plans for the future, Emelianenko talked about coaching the pro fighters on his team and working with young Russian kids just starting their MMA training. But his eyes lit up when he returned the conversation to family.
“We now will have time together,” he said. “When I don’t have to be training, we go for walks. When my children were young and it was nap time, I would stay with them. Same thing at night, reading them bedtime stories. This is the happiest time for me.
“Family is first. They’ve been waiting for me for a very long time.”
MIAMI — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has cleared the concussion protocol, a source told ESPN, more than one month after entering it.
NFL Network was the first to report the news.
Tagovailoa was diagnosed with his second concussion of the season after hitting his head during the Dolphins’ loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day. He was placed into the protocol the next day and missed the team’s final three games of the season.
He was named a first alternate to the Pro Bowl Games but will not attend despite having cleared the protocol, a source told ESPN. That source also said the length of Tagovailoa’s most recent stay in the concussion protocol was deliberate and was not the result of any debilitating symptoms or setbacks.
The third-year quarterback set career highs in completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns in a resurgent season that saw him win FedEx Air Player of the Week in Week 2 and Week 8. Tagovailoa also led the NFL in passing rating during the 2022 season.
He missed the better part of six games after sustaining concussions in Week 4 and Week 16. The NFL and NFLPA launched two joint reviews into how his head injuries were handled this season, the first of which resulted in the termination of an unaffiliated neurological consultant who had cleared him to play after he hit his head in Week 3 and stumbled shortly after.
The league altered its concussion protocol as a result of that same joint review.
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said that the team will enter the 2023 season with Tagovailoa as its starting quarterback and that doctors Miami has spoken to do not believe Tagovailoa’s concussions will leave him more susceptible to head injuries.
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Having already added an MVP this offseason by trading for Jonquel Jones, the Liberty added a second via free agency on Tuesday, landing two-time WNBA Finals MVP Stewart. With second-team pick Sabrina Ionescu already on the roster, New York now boasts 30% of last year’s All-WNBA selections — matching the Las Vegas Aces‘ total — and might not be done adding star players just yet.
Let’s take a closer look at how the Liberty project with their new star-studded frontcourt, particularly in comparison to the Aces after the defending champions loaded up with the addition of Candace Parker.
Additionally, let’s consider what’s next for the Seattle Storm after Stewart’s departure. With All-Star guard Jewell Loyd still in Seattle, rebuilding doesn’t seem to be in the cards, barring a trade. But the Storm will have a very different look in 2023 after the departure of Stewart and retirement of legendary point guard Sue Bird.
How do Stewart and Jones fit together?
It’s safe to say that adding two former MVPs, both in their prime, during the same offseason is unprecedented in WNBA history. In fact, before this year, just two former MVPs had ever changed teams prior to age 30: Tina Charles when she was traded to the Liberty in 2014 and Elena Delle Donne upon her trade to the Washington Mystics in 2017.
Back in 2008, Seattle added a pair of former MVPs in Yolanda Griffith and Sheryl Swoopes. However, Griffith was 38 when she joined the Storm and Swoopes was soon to be 37. At that stage of their careers, both were role players, not anchor pieces like Jones and Stewart.
Undoubtedly, teaming up will require some sacrifice for Jones and Stewart — probably more so Stewart since Jones already saw her usage drop after it reached a career-high 27% during her MVP campaign. Still, last season Jones finished 24% of the Connecticut Sun‘s plays with a shot, trip to the free throw line or turnover. Stewart was at 29% in Seattle.
Some of those opportunities in New York will come from replacing Natasha Howard, who had a 26% usage rate and was traded to the Dallas Wings as part of the Jones deal. But the Liberty’s other starter up front was center Stefanie Dolson, who will likely head to the bench, and Dolson’s usage rate was a modest 17%. That was a 43% combined share of the offense for last year’s New York frontcourt starters, as compared to 53% for Jones and Stewart with their former teams.
So long as Jones and Stewart are comfortable with fewer touches and shots, with Ionescu surely dialing back her offense as well, the fit should work well. Jones and Stewart are both capable of stepping away from the basket and each has enough gravity as an outside shooter (Stewart is a career 37% 3-point shooter, while Jones has hit 38% on lower volume) to space the floor while the other posts up or runs pick-and-roll with Ionescu.
At the other end, Jones and Stewart were among seven players to receive votes for Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, with Stewart making the All-Defensive first team and Jones on the second team. Both players have guarded multiple frontcourt spots over the course of their careers, giving Liberty coach Sandy Brondello flexibility in how to deploy them for maximum benefit.
Right now, I’d keep the Aces as WNBA championship favorites because it should be easier for them to integrate Parker than it will for New York to get comfortable with multiple new starters. Still, the terrifying possibility for the rest of the league is the Liberty aren’t finished adding to the roster.
Could New York add another All-Star?
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported earlier this month that Courtney Vandersloot‘s free agency would be a factor in Stewart’s decision. The Liberty were among four teams Vandersloot was expected to meet with before making her own choice. Could New York still add Vandersloot, too?
Yes, particularly if Stewart and Vandersloot are willing to take less money than their maximum possible salaries. If Stewart signs for the maximum $202,154 for players changing teams besides a sign-and-trade, that would leave the Liberty about $160,000 to offer Vandersloot, per salary data from HerHoopsStats.com.
By waiving reserves Michaela Onyenwere and DiDi Richards, New York could get that offer above $180,000, in the ballpark of what Vandersloot made last season with the Chicago Sky ($195,000). To offer more than that, New York would have to trade a player with a protected contract.
One wild card for the Liberty’s 2023 roster: The team has a pair of key international players — guard Marine Johannes and center Han Xu — who are reserved, meaning they can negotiate only with New York. If those players re-sign for the minimum salary, it will be much easier for the Liberty to fill out the roster with Stewart and another highly paid free agent.
From a fit standpoint, Vandersloot would make sense in New York given the success Ionescu enjoyed after the Liberty signed point guard Crystal Dangerfield midseason and moved Dangerfield into the starting lineup. Freed from primary distribution responsibilities, Ionescu emerged as a nightly triple-double threat. Adding Vandersloot would make New York my favorite to win the first title in franchise history.
What’s next for the Storm
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Stewart on move to Liberty: ‘I want to continue to be great’
Breanna Stewart explains the mindset behind her decision to play with the New York Liberty.
We saw a Seattle team without Bird and Stewart reach the playoffs in 2019, when both missed the season due to injury. The Storm even won a playoff game before being eliminated in the second round by the Los Angeles Sparks.
Besides holdovers Loyd and center Mercedes Russell, that team also featured Howard, who won Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-WNBA first team honors. If Seattle is to replicate its 2019 success, a similar breakthrough will probably be required from fourth-year post Ezi Magbegor, like Han and Johannes a reserved player this offseason.
As a starting center through the All-Star break last season, Magbegor seemed to be on that kind of trajectory. She averaged 11.3 PPG and 6.5 RPG as a starter while leading the league with 2.3 BPG. Magbegor struggled to make the same impact after Charles replaced her in the starting lineup, seeing her per-minute averages fall in addition to less playing time.
There’s much work to be done for the Storm, who have just Loyd and Russell under contract but also possess the most cap space in the WNBA. In particular, Seattle needs to find a replacement for Bird at point guard. Vandersloot, a native of the Seattle area, could still be in the mix there. Otherwise, the Storm are likely looking at a drop-off at point guard to restricted free agents Natisha Hiedeman and Marina Mabrey or unrestricted option Moriah Jefferson.
With so many open roster spots, it’s tough to say how competitive Seattle can be without Stewart. For now, Loyd’s presence, Magbegor’s development and the Storm’s ability to land veteran free agents in the past suggest the team still should be in the mix for the playoffs.
The second signing day is in the books and almost every top prospect is now signed, sealed and about to be delivered – if they’re not already on campus. Here is a look at the winners and losers from the February signing day:
WINNERS
Alabama
Alabama did nothing on the second signing day and still the Crimson Tide retained the top class in the country and all but a complete lock – even if five-star Duce Robinson ends up at Georgia – that they would remain No. 1 in the Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings. What an incredible run for Nick Saban as Georgia is coming off back-to-back national titles, there is so much talk about transfer portal and NIL and here’s Saban just loading up again, not to be pushed aside by Kirby Smart, Deion Sanders or anybody else just yet.
The transfer portal was such a crucial and instrumental focus for first-year coach Kenny Dillingham as the Sun Devils tied Colorado for the most portal additions and yet still when four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada became available, Arizona State made a run at him and landed him on Wednesday. The Pittsburg, Calif., quarterback was involved in an NIL mess with Florida and got out of his national letter of intent as ASU and TCU made him a priority. After a visit to Tempe and lots of consideration – plus with the connection to his dad to the school – the Sun Devils won out as he joins portal QBs Drew Pyne (Notre Dame) and Jacob Conover (BYU) in the class.
After a busy December signing period, it was quiet for Georgia’s 2023 class that looks to finish second even if the Bulldogs end up with five-star Duce Robinson. But coach Kirby Smart and his staff landed a big one in 2024 four-star defensive back Ellis Robinson, who completely fits the mold in Athens as an aggressive, physical, tough player who won’t back down. Alabama and many others were after the former New Rochelle (N.Y.) Iona Prep standout who’s now playing at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy but Georgia won out. And with four-star tight end Walker Lyons picking USC, that could be even further good news for Georgia and Robinson once he’s ready to decide.
Let it not be lost amid lots of big five-star news on Wednesday the solid finish Mississippi State had to this class – as the Bulldogs might have added one of the biggest sleepers in the entire group. High three-star defensive tackle Jonathan Davis from Monticello (Miss.) Lawrence County was being heavily pursued by Texas, Florida, Ole Miss and others down the stretch but the Bulldogs won out. They also added Theodore, Ala., cornerback William James as coach Zach Arnett to close things out.
The fact that Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff went into Gardena (Calif.) Serra and pulled Rodrick Pleasant away from USC was one of the bigger recruiting coups this recruiting cycle. Serra has sent so many top players to play for the Trojans and many have had a lot of success plus Pleasant was so close to many USC pledges already that it looked like a foregone conclusion – until it wasn’t. Pleasant was a big win but losing out on five-star tight end Nyckoles Harbor to South Carolina does hurt.
It was a battle right up to the end but South Carolina won out for five-star tight end Nyckoles Harbor, holding off mainly Oregon and Maryland as the Washington (D.C.) Archbishop Carroll standout described the last few days as “chaos.” The Gamecocks held on, though, and now coach Shane Beamer has a huge weapon on offense – and one with literal Olympic-level speed to work with. Harbor’s commitment was arguably the biggest storyline of the day and another massive building block for Beamer and his staff as the Gamecocks are trending up in a big way.
First-year coach Alex Golesh put a nice few finishing touches on his opening class at South Florida by adding three-star quarterback Israel Carter from Corona (Calif.) Centennial who was committed to Arizona State along with receivers JeyQuan Smith and Tyree Kelly. Not only were those players added but Carter and Smith talked about Golesh as a recruiter and his vision for the program as he convinced both to head across the country to help the Bulls.
It was a little bit of a mixed bag for USC on signing day as long-time favorite Rodrick Pleasant ended up picking Oregon over the Trojans but the addition of four-star tight end Walker Lyons is huge for the Trojans’ offense. The Folsom, Calif., four-star who was at one time committed to Stanford was being pursued heavily by Georgia, Utah and others but USC was always in the back of his mind and he decided to pull the trigger Wednesday after giving no indication in recent weeks that he was ready to go. Lyons will be doing a mission but down the road the four-star could be a huge bonus in USC’s attack.
Doesn’t it feel like the February signing day has gone the way of the dodo bird?
Some college coaches would prefer to only have the February signing day like the old days but now December has taken all the shine and luster away with only a few stragglers hanging on to make their decisions this late. It feels unnecessary. Almost everybody makes their choice in December, then two more handfuls get it done at the all-star events and only a select few take visits in January and make their final calls in February.
February could be revitalized if it becomes the only game in town again (or if the NCAA moves the early signing period to June, August or another time in the summer) but right now it seems unnecessary and nowhere near as important as the December signing period.
*****
Purdue
It’s not the biggest loss in the world but four-star Kendrick Gilbert had been committed to the Boilermakers since the summer, he’s an in-state prospect and he survived through the coaching change but when it came down to sign, the Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral prospect flipped to Kentucky. He had been flirting with that program for months but never made the ultimate choice to flip biding his time until Wednesday. Purdue now has the second-to-last class in the Big Ten and it is one of just two programs in the conference, joining Rutgers, with no four-star commits.
It was a rough – but not completely unexpected – day for Stanford as the Cardinal lost talented three-star defensive lineman Cameron Brandt to Michigan and powerful runner LJ Martin to BYU. Late January was very productive for the Cardinal as first-year coach Troy Taylor takes over but especially losing Brandt, an in-state prospect from Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon, to the Wolverines was not ideal.
Tom Brady says he is retiring “for good” from football, ending a storied 23-year NFL career during which the star quarterback won seven Super Bowls and set numerous records.
Brady announced his decision Wednesday on social media, saying he “wouldn’t change a thing” about his career.
Brady, 45, also announced he was retiring on Feb. 1, 2022, before changing his mind 40 days later and returning to play this past season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning, I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first,” Brady said in a video on Twitter. “I won’t be long-winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year, so really thank you guys so much to every single one of you for supporting me.”
Brady informed the Buccaneers of his decision at 6 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington. The Buccaneers tweeted their appreciation to Brady later Wednesday, along with a #ThankYouTom caption.
The Glazer family, which owns the Buccaneers, said in a statement that Brady “set an exceptional standard that elevated our entire organization to new heights and created some of the most iconic moments in our history.
“Tom’s impact will be felt within our community for many years to come and we will forever be grateful for those unforgettable memories that he provided during these final seasons of his legendary career,” the Glazer family said.
Brady, who won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and one with the Buccaneers, ends his career as the NFL’s leader in career passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes (649). The three-time league MVP passed for 4,694 yards — third most in the NFL — and 25 touchdowns this past season, his third with Tampa Bay.
“I don’t ever believe in the 100-year-old history of the NFL there’s been a quarterback of Tom’s ilk,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft told ESPN’s Mike Reiss on Wednesday. “I don’t know, but I would have trouble ever believing there would be another one.”
Brady is the only player to win more than five Super Bowls and has been named Super Bowl MVP five times.
“My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors — I could go on forever, there’s too many,” Brady said in the video. “Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
Brady can immediately begin working as an analyst for Fox Sports, which signed him to a 10-year, $375 million contract this past summer. He also launched a Brady brand clothing line one year ago, has a successful health and wellness brand called TB12 Sports and founded his own production company, 199 Productions.
Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen finalized their divorce this past fall, during the Bucs’ season. It ended a 13-year marriage between two superstars who respectively reached the pinnacles of football and fashion.
Famously underrated coming into the NFL — he was picked 199th in the 2000 draft by the Patriots, behind six other quarterbacks, three kickers and a punter — Brady played in one game as a rookie, completing one of three passes for 6 yards.
The next year, it all changed.
Brady took over as the starter, the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl that capped the 2001 season, and he and New England coach Bill Belichick were well on their way to becoming the most successful quarterback-coach duo in football history.
“Tom Brady was the ultimate winner,” Belichick said in a statement. “He entered the NFL with little to no fanfare and leaves as the most successful player in league history. His relentless pursuit of excellence drove him on a daily basis. His work ethic and desire to win were both motivational and inspirational to teammates and coaches alike. Tom was a true professional who carried himself with class and integrity throughout his career. I thank Tom for the positive impact he had on me and on the Patriots and congratulate him on his amazing career.”
Brady also holds all-time NFL records for regular-season wins (251), Super Bowl appearances (10), playoff games and wins (48, 35), as well as playoff yards (13,400) and TDs (88).
“You think about it — for all the young people out there who dream big dreams — things didn’t go his way at Michigan,” Kraft told Reiss. “He should have been the starter, but thank goodness he wasn’t, because that allowed us to get him late in the sixth round. He defied the odds. I think having that chip on his shoulder … truly one of a kind.”
More Super Bowl wins came after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The Patriots returned to football’s mountaintop for a fourth time in Brady’s era a decade later to cap the 2014 season, the start of three more titles in a span of five years.
“I have a flashback,” Kraft told Reiss. “I think of him walking down the steps at the old Foxboro Stadium, looking like a skinny beanpole with a pizza under his arm — it’s late at night. He walks over to me and says, ‘Hi Mr. Kraft, I’m Tom Brady, your sixth-round draft pick.’ I said, ‘I know who you are.’ He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘And I’m the best decision your football team has ever made.’ You know, he was right.”
In 2020, Brady joined the Buccaneers and won his seventh Super Bowl. He spent his past three years with Tampa Bay, getting the Buccaneers to the playoffs in each of those seasons.
Former Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians told ESPN’s Jenna Laine that his fondest memory with Brady was “holding that Lombardi with him.”
“His imprint on this organization helped take us to the mountaintop,” Bucs GM Jason Licht said in a statement. “We will certainly miss him as our quarterback, but I will also miss him as a leader and friend. Our entire organization is indebted to him for what he provided us over the past three years. We won’t ever forget the wins or the accolades and his influence will be felt for years to come.”
ESPN’s Jenna Laine and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
{{ timeAgo(‘2023-02-01 17:54:39 -0600’) }} football Edit
Clint Cosgrove
• Rivals.com
National Recruiting Analyst
The Louisville trenches received a major boost today with the addition of high three-star defensive lineman William Spencer. Spencer is officially headed home after spending his senior season at New Albany, Ind., and Louisville fans are in for a treat because this is a versatile lineman with some major upside.
WHAT LOUISVILLE IS GETTING…
Size, athleticism and versatility are what Spencer brings to the table, and as good as he may be at this sage of his career, he is only scratching the surface of what he can eventually become as a football player. There aren’t many 6-foot-5 lineman with Spencer’s level of twitch, physicality and position versatility. He has the ability to be a disruptive force on the defensive line and is equally capable of developing into a difference maker on the offensive line as well. His ability to play either side of the ball adds a ton of value to the Louisville roster and it will be interesting to see where he ends up playing in the long-term. Spencer is a high motor player who plays a physical brand of football and his love for the game shines through when watching his film.
WHY IT’S BIG FOR THE CARDINALS…
Big and athletic body types come at a premium the closer you get to the late signing period and the fact that the Louisville coaching staff was able to bring in one of the best available big men on the late signing day is pretty remarkable. Louisville has wow’d with their skill players on the field for years, and with today’s addition to their line, the Cardinals are now in position to match their skill talent with an equal caliber of talent in the trenches. This is the ultimate way for Louisville to close out the 2023 recruiting cycle and the Cardinal faithful have to be proud of the way this staff finished.
Perhaps the best-known ballpark musicians played from the late 1930s until 1957 at Ebbets Field, for the Brooklyn Dodgers — a band called “the Sym-Phony” (emphasis on the “phony”), a ragtag group of amateur drummers, trumpeters, trombonists and washboard players.
John Joseph Adams was born on Oct. 9, 1951, in Cleveland to John and Eva (Friedman) Adams.
He attended his first Indians game in 1954 and began playing the drums when he was 9. In high school, he performed in the marching band and the orchestra and led cheers; he graduated from Cleveland State University in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in English.
On Aug. 24, 1973, Mr. Adams asked for permission from the Indians to bring his drum to Municipal Stadium. Oddly, he was told not to disturb anyone with his drumming.
“The first time, I got a lot of stares and a few comments like ‘You’re not going to play that thing, are you?’” he told The Beacon Journal, adding that an inebriated fan during that game grabbed his arm and said: “You gonna bang on that drum? Well, then start hitting it.”
He did.
“Suddenly, I saw people clapping to the beat,” he recalled. “When the game was over, people stopped me outside the stadium. They told me I had the opposing pitcher so rattled that guys from the other team were looking all over for me.” The Indians beat the Texas Rangers that day, 11-5.
Mr. Adams continued to bang his drum — through many a losing season at the old Municipal Stadium and in mostly better times at Progressive Field — while working at AT&T in several positions, including systems analyst and quality manager, for 40 years, until 2016.
Robert King Beathard Jr. was born on Jan. 24, 1937, in Zanesville, Ohio, to Robert and Dorothy Falconer Beathard. His father managed a tile company.
A few years after Bobby was born, the family moved to El Segundo, Calif., where his brother was born. Bobby played single-wing tailback on his high school football team. He turned down a chance to attend Louisiana State University and instead went to Cal Poly, where he was a quarterback and defensive back on teams that won 18 of their 20 games. One of his teammates was John Madden, the future Hall of Fame coach and television announcer, who blocked for him.
“I loved football,” he later recalled. “I couldn’t get enough of it. John was the same way.”
Bobby Beathard had tryouts with several teams but failed to earn a spot on a roster. In 1963, he became a part-time scout for the Chiefs. He left to scout for the American Football League, then returned to Kansas City full time in 1966. While he was away, in 1964, the Chiefs drafted his brother, a quarterback at Southern California. Peter Beathard was Len Dawson’s backup in Kansas City for parts of four seasons.
In 1968, Bobby was hired as a scout by the struggling Falcons, who had joined the N.F.L. two seasons before. In his last year with the team, 1971, Atlanta finished 7-6-1, their first winning season. The next year, he was hired as the director of player personnel for the Dolphins, who went 17-0, the N.F.L.’s only perfect season.
After a falling-out with Gibbs ended his long run in Washington in 1988, Mr. Beathard returned to California to surf near his home in San Diego. He worked for a year as a television analyst for NBC but found that he missed being around a team.
In January 1990, he was hired as general manager of the Chargers. In his third season with them, the Chargers won their first division title in more than a decade. Two years later, San Diego made its first and only Super Bowl appearance, losing to the San Francisco 49ers, 49-26. (The Chargers are now based in Los Angeles.)
Mr. Beathard’s first marriage, to Larae Rich, ended in divorce. He married Christine Van Handel in 1978. In addition to his brother, his survivors include his wife; a daughter, Jaime, from his first marriage; three sons, also from that marriage, Kurt, Jeff and Casey, a country music songwriter; and many grandchildren, including C.J. Beathard, a backup quarterback on the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tucker Beathard, a recording artist.
“Bobby not only built winning teams throughout his career, but he also built winning cultures that lasted beyond his years with an organization,” Jim Porter, the president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said in a statement on Wednesday. “He combined an eye for talent with a special gift for working with other people. The results speak for themselves. Bobby’s legacy will be forever preserved in Canton.”
Pundits stopped bloviating about how great Brady was for his age and insisting he could play into his 50s, as they did when he retired the first time, and began begging him to quit.
“You out here looking like somebody that’s stealing money,” Marcus Spears, a former N.F.L. defensive lineman who is now an ESPN personality, said on a podcast. He added: “Bro, go home, bro. Go home. Figure out something else to do. I know it’s Tom Brady. I know it’s the G.O.A.T. You scared to get hit, and you play football. Those two things don’t align.”
Many debated whether Brady, who was a free agent after the 2022 season, would sign with another team. The San Francisco 49ers, his favorite team as a child in the Bay Area, seem to be a good quarterback away from a Super Bowl appearance. The Las Vegas Raiders have Brady’s longtime offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, as their head coach and many talented offensive players.
“Honestly, after watching tonight’s game, who would want Tom Brady starting on their team next year?” Ryan Clark, a former N.F.L. defensive back who works as an ESPN personality, wrote on Twitter after the Buccaneers’ loss to the Cowboys.
So was coming back in 2022 worth it for Brady? He will likely answer that one day on his podcast or on a Fox broadcast, where he will be a commentator. Brady wasn’t terrible in his final season; he threw for the third-most passing yards in the league and the sixth-highest total of his career. But he was clearly not the player he once was, nor did he have a championship-level team around him. So Brady’s career, which had played out like the perfect Hollywood movie, came to what seemed to be an unsettling end.
“All of us have to go out on our terms, or we won’t be happy, and most of us don’t get to leave on our own terms,” said Smith, who retired after the 2021 season, his 11th in the N.F.L. “They make that decision for you. So I think that it was worth it because he gets to have the closure that he walked away when he was supposed to.”
Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Three days after leaving his position as the Dallas Cowboys‘ offensive coordinator and less than 48 hours after accepting the same post with the Los Angeles Chargers, Kellen Moore emphasized in an introductory news conference Wednesday that sometimes change can serve everybody well.
“Felt like I was kind of in that space,” Moore said about his decision to mutually part ways with Dallas, where he spent eight years, including three as a player and five as an assistant. “It works for both sides.”
After two days of discussions, the Cowboys announced Sunday that Moore, 34, would move on, and by Monday morning, the Chargers announced they had found a replacement for Joe Lombardi, who was fired after the season.
Moore said the deal was able to come together quickly in part because of the relationship he had established with coach Brandon Staley when the Chargers and Cowboys held joint practices during training camp.
“It was a very fast process in very unique circumstances,” Moore said. “Enjoyed my time with Brandon during those couple days, and so naturally we kind of had a relationship that extended through the season, mostly through text messages. … We kind of stayed in contact, and then, over the weekend, this thing obviously happened pretty fast.”
Before parting ways with Dallas, Moore also was interviewed for the head-coaching vacancy with the Carolina Panthers, but that position was eventually filled by former Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich.
During the last four seasons under Moore, the Cowboys’ offense ranked in the top four in points per game (27.7) yards per game (391) and third-down conversion percentage (44%).
In L.A., Moore joins an organization that finished 10-7 and made its first playoff appearance in four years. He inherits an offense that demonstrated great potential under quarterback Justin Herbert but that also proved inconsistent and unable to run the football — traits that were widely displayed in a historic 27-point collapse that resulted in a 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a wild-card playoff game.
Herbert, who last season passed Andrew Luck for the most passing yards through a player’s first three NFL seasons, and Moore have been acquainted since shooting a commercial together last offseason.
“It’s amazing how life can come full circle,” Moore said. “I hadn’t spent a ton of time with him outside of those couple days, but I’ve always watched him from afar, loved watching him play at Oregon and certainly what he has done in the NFL … just really, really excited.”
Finding a quarterbacks coach will remain a priority, Moore said, after the Chargers also fired Shane Day following the season.
Along with Herbert, the Bolts’ also are scheduled to return receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and running back Austin Ekeler, who led the NFL in 2022 with 18 touchdowns.
“I’m just really excited to get to work with them,” Moore said. “The beauty of football and the beauty of systems — you want to build it around the players. I’m excited to figure out what they do best, how they’ve worked and work, and put them in the best situations to be successful.”
At the outset of the search for a new offensive coordinator, Staley said he would look for a candidate who possesses leadership and could run an offensive system similar to those of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan — which Staley further described as a marriage of the run and pass.
Last season, the Chargers called a designed pass on 68% of plays, the second-highest rate in the NFL behind only the Buccaneers (68.1%). The Cowboys called a designed pass on 54.6% of their plays in 2022, the sixth-lowest rate in the league. Moore said the options for his system would not be limited.
“We’re going to build a 2023 L.A. Chargers offense,” he said. “Will you be able to see the Air Coryell, Jason Garrett side? Absolutely. Will you see the West Coast and Mike McCarthy? Absolutely.
“We’ll keep things that are in place here that Justin feels really, really good about, and then we’re willing to explore.”
