Texas gives coach Sarkisian a 4-year contract extension
Texas' first Big 12 championship since 2009 and the program's first appearance in the College Football Playoff earned Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian a four-year contract extension through 2030, the school announced Saturday.
Financial terms of the deal, which must be approved by the school's Board of Regents, were not released. Sarkisian's initial contract paid him nearly $6 million in 2023, and it's expected his new deal will push him closer to $10 million annually and among the top-paid coaches in the country.
“Coach Sark is an incredible coach, a first-class person and tremendous leader of men,” Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said. “Coach Sark has brought the pride and passion back in our program. We're so fortunate to have him and we're looking forward to many more exciting years ahead.”
Texas finished 12-2 and ranked No. 3 after a 37-31 loss to Washington in a national semifinal that came down to the final play. The Longhorns won the Big 12 in their final season in the league. Texas moves into the Southeastern Conference next season.
Sarkisian, 49, is 25-14 in his three seasons at Texas.
• Cam Ward, who finished fourth among all FBS quarterbacks in passing yards per game this past season, announced his commitment to Miami. Ward is transferring in from Washington State, making that decision almost two weeks after saying he would forgo his final year of eligibility for the NFL Draft. But he visited the Hurricanes last month and they evidently remained on his radar throughout the process.
He threw for 311 yards per game in 2023, behind only Washington's Michael Penix Jr., Oregon's Bo Nix and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU in the national rankings. Ward has thrown for 13,876 yards and 119 touchdowns in his four college seasons — the first two at FCS member Incarnate Word, the last two at Washington State.
• Former Alabama cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson has been named Georgia's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Robinson will assume the role formerly held by Will Muschamp, who will move into a defensive analyst position in order to spend more time with his family. tough, though Bradley and Murray at least got a little.
Bradley hit a cut 6-iron to a back pin to 6 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th, and then his tee shot on the par-5 closing hole avoided the bunker. He had a good enough lie to get it on the green for a two-putt birdie.
That put him at 14-under 196. Murray soon joined him, getting up-and-down from the bunker left of the 18th green for his 64.
They led by one shot over Sam Stevens, who had a 63.
• Tommy Fleetwood surged into the lead of the Dubai Invitational after shooting an 8-under 63 in the third round to overtake Rory McIlroy by one stroke. Fleetwood made eight birdies in a flawless round, including four on his first six holes, to move to a 15-under total of 198.
McIlroy had been out in front since opening with a 62 on Thursday and led by two strokes going into the third round. But he settled for a 67 that left him in sole possession of second place.
Thorbjorn Olesen was another two shots back in third after a 66.
Madonna's “Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)”. Hendrickx won Belgium's first European figure skating gold in 77 years in a close contest with defending champion Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia and another Belgian, 17-year-old Nina Pinzarrone, as all three medalists skated near-flawless free skates. both 0.34 behind Goggia.
Only ski greats Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Renate Götschl have more women's downhill wins in the World Cup circuit's 67-year history. Vonn leads with 43.
• Marco Odermatt won another duel with Cyprien Sarrazin in a World Cup downhill that was marred by a serious crash for their biggest rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was airlifted to a hospital.
Odermatt and Sarrazin were much faster than any other racer, starting back-to-back just minutes before Kilde crashed within sight of the finish of the longest downhill on the World Cup circuit at Wengen, Switzerland.
Kilde, the overall World Cup champion in 2020 and long-time partner of American star Mikaela Shiffrin, had lengthy treatment on his right leg while laying flat next to the finish line.