Spanos to become defensive coordinator
Lou Spanos, a 24-year coaching veteran who’s spent time in both the NFL and at major Division I programs, was announced as the UConn football team’s new defensive coordinator Wednesday.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to join Coach [Randy] Edsall’s staff at UConn,” Spanos said in a statement. “I can’t wait to get up to Storrs and meet the student-athletes on the team and hit the recruiting trail.”
Spanos, 47, of Dormont, Pa., spent last season as an analyst at Alabama. He was the defensive coordinator at UCLA from 2012-13 and has spent time as a linebackers coach in the NFL, with the Tennessee Titans and the Washington Redskins. He won two Super Bowl rings with his native Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom he served as a defensive quality control coach and later an assistant linebackers coach during a stint that lasted from 1995-2009. He is a graduate of Tulsa where he played center on the football team.
“Lou was exactly what I was looking for when I started the search for a new defensive coordinator,” Edsall said in the statement. “I wanted someone who had NFL and college experience, someone who has coordinated a defense previously with success and someone who knows how to develop players and will be aggressive with the scheme that we will be running.”
“When you look at who Lou worked for and with throughout his career, it is very impressive," Edsall continued. Talking with the coaches that Lou has worked for and with during his career, it was very apparent to me that we were able to attract an outstanding coach, person and recruiter to our staff and someone that will relate very well with our student athletes and take us to where we want to go defensively.”
While Spanos was at UCLA, the Bruin defense was known for accumulating sacks, ranking eighth in the nation in 2012. There, he coached All-America linebacker Anthony Barr and defensive end Datone Jones, both of whom became first-round NFL picks. In 2013, the Bruin defense ranked 17th overall in the country under Spanos.
Spanos’ contract will be for two years and he will be paid $300,000 annually.
The post had been vacant since Dec. 21, when Billy Crocker was fired after two tumultuous seasons. Last year’s Huskies went1-11 and surrendered a staggering 619.1 yards per game to set an FBS record.
Crocker was hired in 2017 after 12 seasons at Villanova, where his unconventional methods made the Wildcats the best defense in the FCS ranks in 2016. His quirky 3-3-5 alignment proved unsuccessful after one season in Storrs, but the switch to a more traditional 4-3 for the 2018 season yielded even worse results.
Edsall hired Darrell Perkins as defensive backs coach earlier this month. The former co-defensive coordinator at Fordham fills the role vacated by Curome Cox who was fired after last season. Perkins previously served as UConn’s defensive backs coach from 2010-13 under Edsall and Paul Pasqualoni before being hired in the same role by Edsall at Maryland.
PHILADELPHIA — Sean Couturier had a hat trick, Carter Hart stopped 39 shots and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Bruins 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Couturier scored twice within 90 seconds in the second period and sealed the win with his 19th goal late in the third for his first career regular-season hat trick (two in the playoffs). He gave the Flyers hat tricks in consecutive games after James van Riemsdyk kicked it off in Monday’s win.
The Flyers entered in 30th place in the NHL and got a rare comeback victory in front of another sparse crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. The fans that showed up caught a slice of franchise history: Claude Giroux got his 500th career assist and joined Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke (852) as the only Flyers to hit that milestone.
Hart, the 20-year-old rookie goalie, had another solid game. Hart may not get the Flyers to the playoffs, but he at least helped them win consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 18-20.
Peter Cehlarik scored in his first game of the season and David Pastrnak scored in the first period to stake Boston to a 2-0 lead. Pastrnak scored on the power play just 4:29 into the game. Cehlarik made it a 2-0 on a slapper on a shot where no Flyer was anywhere near him.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association have given up on the possibility of staging the next World Cup of Hockey in September 2020.
The league and PA announced that conclusion in separate statements Wednesday. The sides met earlier in the day in Toronto to discuss the World Cup as part of collective bargaining talks after meeting last week in Las Vegas.
Not holding the World Cup in September 2020 is consequential because it was tied to the potential of labor peace in hockey. Owners or players could choose this September to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement and end it Sept. 15, 2020.
The current CBA runs until 2022 unless one side chooses to terminate it early.
In the statements, the NHL and NHLPA each said dialogue would continue and the hope is to hold another World Cup at some point.
Canadiens F Paul Byron was suspended for three games without pay by the NHL on Wednesday for charging Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar during Tuesday night’s game. The suspension will cost Byron $18,817.