Helfrich out at Oregon after one bad season
The Ducks went 4-8 in coach’s fourth season, two years after reaching the College Football Playoff championship game.
Oregon fired football Coach Mark Helfrich after a disappointing 4-8 season, and just two years after he got the Ducks within a victory of the program’s first national championship.
Helfrich was head coach of the Ducks for four seasons, leading the team to the first College Football Playoff championship game after the 2014 season. But Oregon faltered this year with a five-game losing streak, and finished at the bottom of the Pac-12 North with just two conference wins. Helfrich was 37-16 record after taking over from Chip Kelly in 2013.
Helfrich met with Athletic Director Rob Mullens on Tuesday night and was told he was being dismissed. Helfrich issued a statement saying he was honored to have served at Oregon. “Plain and simple — we didn’t win enough games this season,” Helfrich said.
The Ducks started this season ranked No. 24 in the preseason AP top 25, but lost 35-32 at Nebraska in Week 3, starting the team’s longest losing streak since 1996.
USC defensive tackle Noah Jefferson said he is leaving the program. Jefferson, a sophomore, played in the season opener against Alabama but has not played since. Coach Clay Helton cited a shoulder sprain, personal issues and, later, academic issues to explain Jefferson’s absence. — Zach Helfand
Griffin OK to play
Robert Griffin III has been cleared by doctors to play again this season. It’s up to Cleveland Browns Coach Hue Jackson whether he will get into a game. Griffin passed a final medical test on his injured left shoulder and can now take full contact, paving the way for the quarterback to play Dec. 11 against Cincinnati.
The NFL suspended Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson for 10 games for what the player’s agent said stems from his client using marijuana to relieve the effects of Crohn’s disease. ... Carolina placed center Ryan Kalil and his primary backup, Gino Gradkowski, on injured reserve, further weakening an offensive line that has been decimated by injuries.
Yoenis Cespedes is staying with the New York Mets — again.
After testing free agency for the second straight off-season, the slugging outfielder agreed to a $110million, four-year contract with New York, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press. A two-time All-Star, he gets $22.5 million in 2017, $29 million in each of the following two seasons and $29.5 million in 2020.
The 31-year-old receives a full no-trade provision as part of the agreement, the largest for a free agent thus far this off-season. The deal’s $27.5-million average annual value ties former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez for the second-highest among position players, trailing only Miguel Cabrera’s $29.2 million with Detroit.
Acquired by the Mets from the Tigers at the July 31 trade deadline in 2015, Cespedes had 17 home runs and 44 runs batted in in 57 games with the Mets, helping them reach the World Series for the first time since 2000.
Amid a slow market for free agents a year ago, Cespedes returned to the Mets when New York agreed in January to a $75-million, three-year deal that let him opt out after one season.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello won the AL comeback player of the year award. Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon won the NL honor.
Former Cal State Los Angeles Athletic Director Mike Garrett “treated all staff, faculty and students with respect and dignity, regardless of gender,” the school said in a court filing Monday in response to a lawsuit accusing Garrett of sexual harassment.
Sheila Hudson, Cal State L.A.’s senior associate athletic director, sued Garrett and the school in Los Angeles County Superior Court in August. Cal State L.A.’s response Monday denied Garrett engaged in sexual harassment and defended the school’s handling of the matter.
Hudson’s suit also alleges that Cal State L.A. paid her “thousands of dollars less a year” than the two men who previously held the job. — Nathan Fenno