Auburn, Clemson finish spring work

AUBURN, Ala. — T.J. Finley once again spent a spring football season battling for a starting job he’d previously held as an injury fill-in. The Auburn quarterback and former LSU starter faces challenges after his team brought in three potential contenders during the offseason, including two transfers from other Power Five conference programs: former Texas A&M starter Zach Calzada and Oregon’s Robby Ashford. Holden Geriner, a four-star freshman, also joined the mix. The starting job opened up when three-year starter Bo Nix transferred to Oregon, and it appears to still be wide open after the spring practices, which concluded with Saturday’s A-Day intrasquad game. Finley insists there’s no sense of deja vu for him from his LSU days, but the reality is he has been there and done that. It didn’t go his way two years ago. “Life is all about competition,” Finley said. “You’re always competing for a job. Bringing those guys in only lit a fire in me to get better, which I needed, especially after a season like last year. We’re all supportive of each other and we understand what’s going on. We’re competing for one job, so may the best man win.” Finley replaced an injured Nix for the final three games last season, but the Tigers extended their losing streak to five games. He had directed a 98-yard, game-winning drive against Georgia State. Finley started five games for LSU as a freshman after an injury to Myles Brennan, but Finley was replaced in the final two by Max Johnson, then finished the following spring behind both of them — so he headed to Auburn. Coach Bryan Harsin made it clear the job remained up for grabs in this offseason by hitting the transfer portal both for depth and competition. Calzada, still recovering from a shoulder injury and limited in the spring, didn’t participate in Saturday’s scrimmage but has thrown passes in 7-on-7 drills. Ashford, who is from Hoover, Alabama, is a former fourstar recruit who spent the past two seasons at Oregon but didn’t play. The former baseball player took off running several times Saturday, though quarterbacks were off limits for tacklers and down on first contact. The running ability could still net him playing time, however the competition ends up. Redshirt freshman Dematrius Davis has entered the transfer portal, taking one quarterback out of the mix.

› CLEMSON, S.C. — Change can bring chaos. It can also bring excitement. And new Clemson offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter believes it’s a hungry, energized team that has embraced the Tigers’ new leaders. “Anytime you have a new starter, a fresh start with new people, new faces, it’s something different,” said Streeter, who takes control of the offense after Tony Elliott left to become Virginia’s head coach. “When there’s something different, there’s usually some excitement to it, too.” The Tigers wrapped up spring workouts with their annual Orange-White game on a cold, windy Saturday at Death Valley. It was the first chance for Clemson’s new leadership and staff to showcase their ability to guide the Tigers, who have had 10 or more wins for 11 consecutive seasons. Former analyst Wes Goodwin and safeties coach Mickey Conn are now co-defensive coordinators after longtime leader Brent Venables became Oklahoma’s head coach. Former Clemson center Thomas Austin, an offensive analyst last year, is now the offensive line coach after Robbie Caldwell moved to an offfield position in the program. Kyle Richardson took over Clemson’s tight ends, a position Elliott coached last season. And former Tigers defensive end Nick Eason was hired to coach defensive tackles in place of Todd Bates, who followed Venables to Oklahoma. Staff stability has been a large part of the team’s success, with six Atlantic Coast Conference titles and national championships to cap the 2016 and 2018 seasons.

SOCCER

› ATLANTA — Atlanta United FC striker Josef Martinez, the MVP of Major League Soccer’s 2018 season, is expected to miss six to eight weeks as he recovers from surgery. The team announced Friday that Martinez had arthroscopic surgery Wednesday to clean out debris in his right knee. The procedure was scheduled after Martinez, bothered by recent discomfort, was examined Monday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Martinez had surgery to repair the ACL in the same knee in March 2020, then needed three follow-up surgeries that year to clean out scar tissue. Martinez scored 19 goals in 2017, a single-season record 31 in 2018 as Atlanta won the MLS title in its second season, 27 in 2019 and 12 in 2021. He has two goals and two assists this season. Atlanta, which is 3-1-1 going into Sunday’s match at Charlotte FC (2-4-0), will take a break from its MLS schedule on April 20 for a third-round match in the U.S. Open Cup against the Chattanooga Football Club. Kennesaw State University’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium will host the 7:30 p.m. match. Chattanooga FC, which drew Atlanta after advancing with Thursday’s 3-1 home win against Memphis 901 FC, has faced United once before — in February 2017 in the first match for the MLS expansion team and when CFC was still an amateur club. Atlanta won 4-0 that day at Finley Stadium. CFC joined the professional ranks and the National Independent Soccer Association in 2020.

BASEBALL

› DENVER — The Colorado Rockies are adding a new member to their baseball operations who just so happens to be their career leader in games played, hits and pretty much every other hitting category. Retired first baseman Todd Helton joined the team as a special assistant to general manager Bill Schmidt. Helton’s role includes pitching in with some draft preparation and scouting but mostly focusing on assisting at the minor league level. “I’m glad Todd is jumping back in,” Rockies manager Bud Black said Saturday before his team played the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I think it’s good for Todd to get reconnected to our organization.” Helton spent 17 seasons with the Rockies, who selected him out of the University of Tennessee with the No. 8 pick in the 1995 draft. All Helton did was go on to become the franchise’s leader in runs (1,401), hits (2,519), doubles (592), home runs (369) and RBIs (1,406), to name a few. He had his No. 17 retired by the team on Aug. 17, 2014.