2 fired, 1 retired on ‘Black Monday’
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Jake Bentley threw for 239 yards and two TDs to help South Carolina overcome a 16-point second-half deficit and beat Michigan 26-19 in the Outback Bowl at Tampa, Fla . ... McKenzie Milton threw two TD passes and ran for 116 yards with another TD, leading No. 12 Central Florida to a 34-27 win over No. 7 Auburn in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. UCF finished 13-0 . ... Myles Boykin scored on a 55-yard TD pass with 1:28 left and No. 14 Notre Dame got its first win in a New Year’s Day bowl since 1994 with a 21-17 win over No. 17 LSU in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
HOCKEY: Winger Brian Gionta, who played in the NHL from 2001 to 2017, will serve as captain of the U.S. team at the Pyeongchang Olympics. It will be the first games without NHL players since 1994. USA Hockey announced its roster at the Winter Classic in New York. Tony Granato, who played in the 1988 Olympics and coaches at Wisconsin, will be behind the bench in Pyeongchang, South Korea, as the U.S. seeks its first Olympic gold medal since the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” team . ... The U.S. women’s team will be led by captain Meghan Duggan, one of six two-time silver medalists, on a roster that features four other silver medalists from 2014.
SOCCER: Jesse Lingard scored in Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Everton in the English Premier League. Lingard has scored seven goals in his last nine games . ... Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus sustained ligament damage in his left leg in the Premier League game against Crystal Palace. TENNIS: Maria Sharapova and topranked Simona Halep opened their 2018 seasons with wins in straight sets at the Shenzhen Open in China. Sharapova finished off a 6-3, 6-0 win over Mihaela Buzarnescu with a powerful forehand winner, and Halep started her bid for a second Shenzhen title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Nicole Gibbs. ... Johanna Konta opened her season with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys at the Brisbane International . ... Top-seeded Dominic Thiem posted a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Evgeny Donskoy in the first round of the Qatar Open . ... Angelique Kerber won both of her matches as Germany beat Belgium 2-1 in their opener at the mixedteam Hopman Cup at the Perth Arena in Australia . ... Sachia Vickery defeated fellow American and defending champion Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
WINTER SPORTS: Mikaela Shiffrin won a parallel slalom city event in Oslo, Norway, to match her childhood idol, Marlies Schild, with her 37th World Cup victory. Shiffrin, the 22-year-old American standout, and Schild, the retired Austrian slalom specialist, are tied for sixth on the list of all-time winners that Lindsey Vonn tops with 78 victories . ... Dario Cologna and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg won crosscountry Tour de Ski distance races in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, for the second straight day and both lead the overall standings after three of seven stages . ... Defending champion Kamil Stoch won his second straight ski jumping World Cup to extend his lead in the Four Hills Tournament.
The Lions and Bears showed their coaches the door. Bruce Arians of the Cardinals found it himself. And Vance Joseph of the Broncos remained employed despite enduring the sort of season that doesn’t go down well in Denver.
What is traditionally the NFL’s biggest day for firings, “Black Monday,” started when the Lions canned Jim Caldwell and the Bears did the same to John Fox.
“Today is the tough part of our results-oriented business,” said Fox, whose team went 14-34 and finished last in all three of his seasons in Chicago.
He and Caldwell, who went 36-28 in four seasons but didn’t win a playoff game, joined Jack Del Rio of the Raiders and Chuck Pagano of the Colts, whose owners didn’t even wait until the calendar turned, choosing to sack them after their games Sunday.
Arians, who has been dealing with health problems, including a bout with kidney cancer, announced he was leaving the Cardinals, though that was widely expected.
In a teary news conference, the 65-year-old Arians called his stay in Arizona, which included 49 victories over five seasons “a great ride.”
Joseph, a rookie head coach who oversaw a 5-11 season that included an eight-game losing streak, was on the hot seat. But his boss, John Elway, slept on it and decided to keep Joseph and not begin a search for the team’s fourth coach in five years.
“We believe in Vance as our head coach,” Elway tweeted. “Together, we’ll put in the work to improve in all areas and win in 2018.”
The Marvin Lewis situation with the Bengals — well, it’s complicated. Lewis completed his 15th season with the Bengals, and conventional wisdom held that he might not be asked to return. He met with owner Mike Brown on Monday, but no conclusions were reached.
The five vacancies (six counting the Giants, who fired Ben McAdoo earlier in December) naturally triggered a flurry of speculation about which assistant coaches might be moving on to take over the teams.
Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks confirmed that the Colts, Lions and Giants had asked him to interview. Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia were, as usual, on a number of lists, and Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was considered one of the Giants’ top candidates.
Maybe most intriguing was the prospect of Jon Gruden leaving the broadcasting booth and returning to the Raiders. ESPN reported that Raiders owner Mark Davis was trying to lure Gruden back to the sideline with an offer that could include an ownership stake.
In Houston, Texans general manager Rick Smith said he would leave the team for at least a year while his wife, Tiffany, fights breast cancer.
The Packers fired defensive coordinator Dom Capers after nine seasons with the team, NFL Network reported . ... Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees announced his retirement. The Ravens won the 2012 Super Bowl with Pees guiding the defense.