Hall of Fame coach Majors dies at 85

College Football Hall of Famer Johnny Majors, the coach of Pittsburgh’s 1976 national championship team and a former coach and star player at Tennessee, died June 3. He was 85.

Majors died at his home in Knoxville, according to his wife, Mary Lynn Majors. “He spent his last hours doing something he dearly loved: looking out over his cherished Tennessee River,” she said in a statement first given to Sports Radio WNML.

Majors compiled a 185-137-10 record in 29 seasons as a head coach at Iowa State (1968-72), Pitt (1973-76, 1993-96) and Tennessee (1977-92). That followed a standout playing career at Tennessee during which he finished second to Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung in the 1956 Heisman Trophy balloting.

TWO PLAYERS TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 » Two more Oklahoma State football players have tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to campus for voluntary workouts, bringing the total to three.

Senior associate athletic director Kevin Klintworth wrote on his Twitter account that of the 150 staff, administrators and athletes tested, three athletes had asymptomatic positives.

MILLER LEAVING MEMPHIS » Mike Miller is leaving Memphis coach Penny Hardaway’s staff after two seasons, saying he needs to spend more time with his family.

Miller announced his decision on social media.

“As much as I’ve loved this job and had a blast being part of the special program Coach is building, the past few months have made me realize that it’s time for me to spend more time focused on family and wherever the journey will take me next,” Miller wrote. “I will find a way to stay in basketball and continue to make an impact on this city that I love so much!”.

MLB

FORMER CAPTAIN NEEDS SURGERY » Chris Archer won’t pitch for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020, and his time with the club may be over.

The 31-year-old righthander had surgery June 2 in St. Louis with Dr. Robert Thompson to relieve symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. Archer will not be available this season if Major League Baseball finds a way to put together a truncated schedule.

Pirates director of Sports Medicine Todd

Tomczyk said that Archer reported discomfort in the neck/shoulder area on his right side in March shortly before spring training was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Archer remained on a throwing program when he went home but symptoms continued to linger.

“What made it most challenging for Chris, he didn’t feel the symptoms immediately after throwing,” Tomczyk said. “It was hours afterward. It was the next day.”

Tomczyk estimated Archer will need six-toeight months of rehabilitation. Archer’s absence this season is another blow to a starting rotation already missing ace Jameson Taillon, who will miss all of 2020 while recovering from a second Tommy John surgery on his right elbow..

NFL

BRONCOS COACH APOLOGIZES » Denver Broncos coach Vic Fangio is apologizing for suggesting discrimination and racism aren’t problems in the NFL.

“After reflecting on my comments yesterday and listening to the players this morning, I realize what I said regarding racism and discrimination in the NFL was wrong,” Fangio said in an apology posted on the team’s Twitter account.

“While I have never personally experienced those terrible things first-hand during my 33 years in the NFL, I understand that many players, coaches and staff have different perspectives,” Fangio added. “I should have been more clear and I am sorry.”

Fangio said he only meant to convey that in his experience, those ills didn’t exist in locker rooms or on the playing field where teams rallied behind common goals. “Unfortunately, we don’t live or work only within those confines,” Fangio said. “Outside of those lines — both in the NFL and society — there is a lot of work to be done in the areas of diversity and providing opportunities across the board for minorities.”.

NBA

BROADCASTER OUT AFTER TWEET » Longtime Sacramento Kings TV broadcaster Grant Napear resigned June 2 after he tweeted “ALL LIVES MATTER” when asked by DeMarcus Cousins for his opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement. The 60-yearold Napear also was fired by KTHK Sports 1140 in Sacramento. He had cohosted a show on the AM radio station with former Kings player Doug Christie.