Raiders fire Mayock; seek new GM, coach
The Las Vegas Raiders fired general manager Mike Mayock after three seasons and will begin a search for a coach and GM following their second playoff berth in the last 19 seasons.
The Raiders announced the move to get rid of Mayock on Monday, two days after losing their wild-card playoff game to Cincinnati 26-19.
The Raiders have already made a request to interview New England director of player personnel Dave Ziegler for the general manager job as well as Patriots assistant Jerod Mayo for head coach, according to a person familiar with the request. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team didn’t make the requests public.
Interim coach Rich Bisaccia led the Raiders (10-8) to the playoffs with four straight wins to end the regular season, but his status going forward remains unknown.
He has met with owner Mark Davis, and the Raiders must conduct a full search before deciding on a new coach to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
Onetime Clemson quarterback Hunter Johnson is returning to the Tigers, becoming coach Dabo Swinney’s first player taken from the NCAA transfer portal. Johnson had been with Northwestern the last four seasons . ... Former Florida State quarterback Chubba Purdy announced his decision to transfer to Nebraska.
Only “selected” spectators will be permitted at next month’s Beijing Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers said. Beijing had already announced no fans from outside the country would be permitted at the events and had not offered tickets to the general public . ... Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Humphries are headed to their fourth Olympics. They lead a 12-person U.S. bobsled team, including nine new sliders . ... Richard “Rink” Babka, a former world-record holder who was part of a U.S. medals sweep in the discus at the 1960 Rome Olympics, has died. He was 85.
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving insists an injury to teammate Kevin Durant won’t change his stance on not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Irving, who only recently returned to action after a drawn-out stalemate over getting vaccinated, said following a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers that he has no intention of getting the shot — and nothing will sway him.
“That’s my decision already, and I’m standing on it,” Irving said.
Assistant coach Joseph Blair coached the Washington Wizards against the Philadelphia 76ers after acting head coach Pat Delany entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Coach Wes Unseld Jr. entered health and safety protocols last week, leaving Delany to coach the team against Portland on Saturday . ... Magic Johnson and Larry Bird headline the 1980s alldecade team for the NBA, as voted on by AP sports staffers.
Les Grobstein, a longtime Chicago sports radio reporter and talk-show host who recorded Lee Elia’s famous profanity-laced postgame rant about Cubs fans, has died. He was 69.