Harbaugh keeps mere 3 from old Chargers staff
Coach Jim Harbaugh made sweeping changes to the Chargers' staff, announcing the additions and subtractions Wednesday. Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken and his assistant, Chris Gould, and defensive quality control coach Robert Muschamp are the only holdovers from the 2023 season.
Giff Smith, the Chargers outside linebackers coach who became their interim coach after Brandon Staley was fired along with general manager Tom Telesco on Dec. 15, wasn't retained. Smith had been with the Chargers for the past eight seasons, coaching their linebackers and defensive linemen.
Harbaugh was hired Jan. 24, after leading the University of Michigan to the national championship earlier in the month.
Andy Bischoff was named the coordinator of the run game and tight ends, joining the Chargers from the New York Giants after two seasons. NaVorro Bowman, a former All-Pro linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers while Harbaugh was the coach, was hired as the new linebackers coach.
Steve Clinkscale will be the new coach of the defensive backs after spending the past three seasons with Harbaugh at Michigan. Shane Day returns to the Chargers as their quarterbacks coach, reunited with Justin Herbert after spending this past season with the Houston Texans.
Mike Devlin will coach the offensive line after spending the past two seasons as an assistant line coach with the Baltimore Ravens under Harbaugh's older brother, John. Mike Elston will coach the defensive line after spending the past two seasons with Michigan, his alma mater.
Sanjay Lal will coach the wide receivers after he was the Seattle Seahawks' passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach for the past two seasons. Rick Minter joins the Chargers as their senior defensive analyst from Michigan. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is his son.
Chris O'Leary was hired to coach the safeties after six seasons at Notre Dame, including the past two as the Fighting Irish's defensive backs coach. Dylan Roney, a graduate assistant coach at Michigan for three seasons, will be a defensive assistant coach with the Chargers.
Marc Trestman, a former coach of the Chicago Bears and two CFL teams who most recently was the offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens in 2016, was named the Chargers' senior offensive assistant. Harbaugh's first coaching job was as an assistant on Trestman's staff with the Bears.
• The San Francisco 49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, three days after losing the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Coach Kyle Shanahan announced the decision to move on after one season with Wilks in charge of the defense. Shanahan called it a “really tough decision” but said he wants to find a coordinator who was a better scheme fit for the talent on San Francisco's defense.
Shanahan hired Wilks after losing DeMeco Ryans, who was hired as head coach in Houston after helping San Francisco field the top defense in the league in 2022.
Shanahan wanted to keep the same system that had been successful, and Wilks had the difficult task of trying to add his own wrinkles to an unfamiliar scheme.
The results were mixed during the regular season. Wilks was forced to move from the booth to the field following a three-game losing streak in October, and San Francisco's production on defense dropped marginally in the regular season.
But issues came up in the playoffs, with the run defense getting gashed by Green Bay and Detroit in
San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was fired after just one season in the position.
the first two playoff games, when coaches and players questioned the effort given. The Niners then came up short defensively down the stretch against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
After holding Kansas City to six points on the first nine possessions in the Super Bowl, the Niners allowed two touchdowns and two field goals on the final four drives to lose 25-22 in overtime.
Defensive end Nick Bosa said after the game that the team was unprepared for Mahomes to keep the ball on key runs that led to first downs on the game-winning drive.
• Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said he went too far when he bumped into coach Andy Reid and screamed at him during the Super Bowl.
Kelce addressed the situation on New Heights, his podcast with his brother, longtime Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
“Big Red, sorry if I caught you with that cheap shot, baby,” Travis Kelce said.
During the second quarter of the game on Sunday, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed a long pass to Mecole Hardman and Reid took Kelce out of the game for the next play. The play resulted in a fumble by Isiah Pacheco that San Francisco recovered. After the play, a fuming Kelce caused Reid to stumble.
After the game, Kelce joked that he was just telling Reid how much he loves him. But the criticism rolled in, so the brothers talked through it on the podcast as they discussed Kansas City's 25-22 overtime win over the 49ers.
“People are all over this, and I mean, I get it,” Travis Kelce said.
“You crossed a line,” Jason Kelce said. “I think we can both agree on that.”
“I can't get to the point where I'm that fired up that I'm bumping coach and it's getting him off balance and stuff. When he stumbled, I was like `Oh (expletive)' in my head,” Travis Kelce said.
“Or even, let's be honest, the yelling in his face, too,” Jason Kelce said. “I think there's better ways to handle this retrospectively.”
“Yeah. I know,” Travis Kelce said. “I'm a passionate guy. I love coach Reid. Coach Reid knows how much I love to play for him, how much I love to be a product of his coaching career.”
Travis Kelce said he and Reid have discussed it and “chuckled” about it.
• The New Orleans Saints named Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator, marking a new direction for a unit that has been overseen by either former coach Sean Payton or his protege, Pete Carmichael Jr., since 2006.
Kubiak, 36, was he passing game coordinator for the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers last season.
Hendrick drivers had won the pole at Daytona in eight last nine year years, but the team's highest qualifier was Kyle Larson in third.
The entire night, in which only the front row for Sunday's season-opening race was set, belonged to Ford. Four drivers in the manufacturer's new Dark Horse advanced to the final roundof-10 qualifying portion with Logano and McDowell sweeping the front row.
Logano turned a lap of 181.947 mph as the 2015 Daytona 500 winner earned his first pole since Atlanta last year. It was also Logano's first pole on a superspeedway. McDowell, the 2021 winner, qualified second at 181.686 for Front Row Motorsports.
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
NBA
Favorite
Milwaukee at Utah Minnesota
NHL
Favorite
at New Jersey at Ottawa Florida at Toronto at NY Rangers at Boston at Tampa Bay Edmonton Dallas Pittsburgh at Calgary at Vancouver
Line (O/U)
Line
-125/+104 -200/+164 -156/+130 -162/+134 -275/+220 -192/+158 -114/-105 -182/+150 -134/+112 -230/+188 -350/+275 -178/+146
Kings Ducks at Buffalo Philadelphia Montreal
Seattle Colorado at St. Louis at Nashville at Chicago San Jose
Detroit
NASCAR CUP SERIES - DAYTONA 500 LINEUP
After qualifying; race Sunday
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lap length: 2.5 miles
(Car number in parentheses)
Underdog
101/2 (2261/2) at Memphis 1 (2381/2) Golden St 10 (2151/2) at Portland
College Basketball
Favorite
Line
Utah 11/2 Colorado 11/2 at Binghamton 41/2 at Appalachian St 101/2 at Stony Brook 121/2 at Rutgers 21/2 at Vermont 81/2 at Florida Atl 181/2 at Charlotte 131/2 SMU 21/2 at Lou. Tech 101/2 at W Kentucky 41/2 Towson 61/2 at Drexel 31/2 Charleston (SC) 31/2 Louisiana 41/2 at E Carolina 11/2 at Sam Houston 61/2 at Mid Tenn 21/2 at N Texas 11/2 Morehead St 41/2 at Oral Roberts 31/2 at James Madison 131/2 at Troy 51/2 at Purdue 161/2 at Washington 41/2 Gonzaga 131/2 at Grand Canyon 181/2 at CSU Fullerton 21/2 at Washington St 91/2 N Colorado 11/2 at San Diego 71/2 at Santa Clara 171/2 Hawaii 71/2 at UCSD 51/2 at St. Mary's (CA) 191/2
Underdog
at USC at UCLA
UMBC Marshall Hampton N'western New Hampshire Temple
UTSA at Tulane Jacksonville
UTEP at William & Mary
Hofstra at N'eastern at Old Dominion Wichita St Florida Int New Mexico St
Memphis at Little Rock N Dakota St
Georgia St Arkansas St Minnesota
Stanford at Loyola Mrym
Utah Tech UC Riverside
Cal at Portland St Portland
Pacific at Cal Poly
UCSB Pepperdine
Underdog
At Daytona International Speedway
MEN
AP TOP 25
No. 13 Auburn 101, No. 11 South Carolina 61 No. 1 Connecticut 101, DePaulb 65
No. 8 Tennessee 92, Arkansas 63
FAR WEST
Arizona St. 79, Oregon St. 61
EAST
American 59, Navy 42
Army 65, Boston U. 50
Colgate 85, Holy Cross 55 Loyola (Md.) 79, Lafayette 64 Maryland 78, Iowa 66
Michigan St. 80, Penn St. 72 Seton Hall 88, Xavier 70
St. Bonaventure 85, Fordham 67
SOUTH
Auburn 101, South Carolina 61
Belmont 82, S. Illinois 68
Chattanooga 84, ETSU 71
Clemson 77, Miami 60
E. Kentucky 86, Chicago St. 73
Furman 75, VMI 62
Gardner-Webb 85, Charleston Southern 77 Kennesaw St. 66, Jacksonville 61 Murray St. 82, Missouri St. 72
North Florida 93, Queens (NC) 79 SC-Upstate 86, High Point 81, OT Samford 88, W. Carolina 62
South Florida 69, Tulsa 50
UMass 69, Richmond 59
UNC-Asheville 71, Presbyterian 69 UNC-Greensboro 76, The Citadel 61 Wofford 73, Mercer 60
MIDWEST
Bradley 85, Ill.-Chicago 73
Detroit 81, IUPUI 66
Loyola Chicago 64, Saint Joseph's 59 Milwaukee 71, Cleveland St. 68 N. Iowa 86, Valparaiso 67 N. Kentucky 58, Green Bay 57
Notre Dame 58, Georgia Tech 55 Oakland 71, Fort Wayne 63
UConn 101, DePaul 65
Youngstown St. 87, Robert Morris 77
SOUTHWEST
Tennessee 92, Arkansas 63
WOMEN
AP TOP 25
No. 2 Ohio St. 80, Nebraska 47
No. 5 Texas 82, Houston 66
Iowa St. 96, No. 7 Kansas St. 93, 2OT No. 14 Indiana 68, Wisconsin 54
No. 15 UConn 86, Xavier 40
No. 23 Oklahoma 84, No. 21 Baylor 73
FAR WEST
Boise St. 73, Utah St. 57
Fresno St. 74, Air Force 68 Nevada 72, San Diego St. 71 New Mexico 72, San Jose St. 51 UNLV 67, Colorado St. 64
At Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center
Delray Beach, Fla.
Surface:
Hardcourt outdoor
MEN'S SINGLES
Round of 16
Patrick Kypson, United States, def. Constant Lestienne, France, 6-4, 6-4.
Rinky Hijikata, Australia, def. Matteo Arnaldi (6), Italy, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Marcos Giron, United States, def. Adrian Mannarino (4), France, 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-1. re Goransson, Sweden, 7-5, 6-4.
ATP - ABN AMRO OPEN
At Ahoy Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands Surface:
Hardcourt indoor
MEN'S SINGLES
Round of 32
Gael Monfils, France, def. Denis Shapovalov, Canada, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
Emil Ruusuvuori, Finland, def. Ugo Humbert (7), France, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3.
Grigor Dimitrov (6), Bulgaria, def. Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Holger Rune (3), Denmark, def. Roman Safiullin, Russia, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Jannik Sinner (1), Italy, def. Botic Van de Zandschulp, Netherlands, 6-3, 6-3.
Round of 16
Milos Raonic, Canada, def. Alexander Bublik (8), Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-4.
Alex de Minaur (5), Australia, def. David Goffin, Belgium, 6-3, 6-1.
Andrey Rublev (2), Russia, def. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Canada, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5.