Mayfield makes Lombardi finals

Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield leads a list of seven finalists for the Lombardi Award, which will be presented Saturday at Lone Star College.

Along with Mayfield, Oklahoma’s quarterback, the other finalists are Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, Central Florida linebacker Shaquem Griffin, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, Iowa State linebacker/ quarterback Joel Lanning and Stanford running back Bryce Love.

This is the second year the award has been expanded to include all players and not just linemen and linebackers. In other news: • University of Houston football coach Major Applewhite hired Paul Williams as cornerbacks coach and LaMar Morgan as safeties coach. Williams spent the last two seasons as defensive backs coach at Illinois. Morgan spent the last two seasons at Louisiana-Monroe.

• Former Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell is returning to the Spartans’ staff. The school announced that Treadwell will help coach defensive backs and special teams while serving as an offensive consultant. He also will be the team’s freshman head coach — a new role created to support the growth and development of first-year players. Treadwell was Michigan State’s offensive coordinator from 2007-10, and he took over the team when coach Mark Dantonio missed time early in the 2010 season after a heart attack.