Ex-Browns coach Crennel retires

Romeo Crennel announced his retirement Monday, ending a 39year NFL coaching career highlighted by five Super Bowl titles.

He was Browns coach from 2005 to 2008.

Crennel spent the past eight seasons with the Houston Texans. He was the team’s defensive coordinator from 2014-16 and assistant head coach from 2017-19. In 2020 he was the associate head coach before becoming the interim head coach following coach Bill O’Brien firing after just four games.

Crennel, who will turn 75 on June 18, worked as Houston’s senior adviser for football performance last season.

He spent 11 years as a college coach before beginning his NFL career as an assistant with the New York Giants in 1981.

“Football has been my entire life and it’s been a dream come true to coach for 50 years,” Crennel said in a statement. “I’ll miss everything about coaching and teaching, but the thing I’ll miss the most is being around the guys every day. My goal was to put every player and coach in the best position to succeed and I consider every guy I coached or worked with a part of my family.”

RAMS’ DONALD GETS RAISE » All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald is getting a big raise to stay with the Los Angeles Rams under a reworked contract through 2024. The Super Bowl champion Rams announced Donald’s return. The team didn’t disclose terms of the new deal, but the NFL Network reported Donald is getting a $40 million raise that will make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.

Golf

MICKELSON JOINS LIV ROSTER » Phil Mickelson, a chief recruiter for a Saudi-funded rival league to the PGA Tour, is ending his fourmonth hiatus by adding his name to the 48-man field for the LIV Golf Invitational that starts

June 10 outside London.

Mickelson will be joining Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and three other former major champions in a 54-hole tournament at Centurion Golf Club with $25 million in prize money and $4 million going to the individual winner.

“I am ready to come back to play the game I love but after 32 years this new path is a fresh start, one that is exciting for me at this stage of my career,” Mickelson said in a statement posted on social media.

Mickelson also said he would be playing the last two majors, starting June 16 at the U.S. Open.

MLB ASTROS, ALVAREZ AGREE TO DEAL »

Yordan Álvarez already has brought so much to the Astros.

On the day he and the team finalized a $115 million, six-year contract, general manager James Click spoke about how much more they expect the slugger to do for this franchise.

“A cornerstone player,” Click said. “It allows us to build the roster around him, build a lineup around him. And that sort of security, both for him and for us as we continue to try to compete for World Series championships is huge, knowing that we’re going to have a player of that caliber anchoring our lineup for the foreseeable future.”

NBA AINGE: JAZZ WANTED SNYDER TO STAY »

The Jazz face an unexpected search for a new coach.

Utah was prepared to enter next season with Quin Snyder at the helm until the head coach unexpectedly stepped down after eight seasons. The two sides had recently discussed an extension with Snyder, who still had two years left on his contract. They did not reach an agreement before Snyder decided to step away.

“We have spent the last few weeks talking, Quin and I, a lot about a lot of different things. And I think it’s pretty clear, we desperately wanted him to stay,” team CEO Danny Ainge said.