Patriots’ Mayo to replace Belichick
Jerod Mayo spent his entire professional football career learning from Bill Belichick, first as a player and then as an assistant coach.
He now has the weighty task of succeeding the future Hall of Famer and leading a New England Patriots team as its first new voice in more than two decades.
The Patriots selected Mayo to succeed Belichick as the franchise’s 15th coach on Friday. Mayo is the first Black coach in team history.
Mayo played eight NFL seasons and won a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots during the 2014 season. He has been an assistant under Belichick since 2019, serving primarily as the Patriots linebackers coach. He’ll become the NFL’s youngest coach at age 37.
The Chargers interviewed Todd Monken for their coaching job. Monken, who turns 58 next month and has been in coaching for 31⁄2 decades, is in his first season as Baltimore’s offensive coordinator. He held the same job with Tampa Bay (2016-18), Cleveland (2019) and the University of Georgia (2020-22). He was coach at Southern Mississippi (2013-15) and went 13-25. — Jeff Miller Detroit receiver Kalif
Raymond, the only player who has returned a punt for the Lions this season, was ruled out of Sunday’s playoff game against the Rams because of a a knee injury . ... Baltimore tight end Mark
Andrews was back at practice after sitting out the last six games because of an ankle injury . ... Buffalo wide receiver Gabe Davis (knee) and safety Taylor Rapp
(calf ) will not be available for Sunday’s playoff game against Pittsburgh . ... Washington is hiring San Francisco executive Adam Peters as general manager, the Associated Press reported. Florida State coach Mike Nor vell agreed to a new eight-year contract that will pay him more than $10 million per year, AP reported. Also, the school agreed to two years of probation, the loss of five scholarships over the next two seasons and other restrictions as part of an NCAA penalty for recruiting violations . ... Casey Thompson, who has played quarterback at Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic, will transfer to Oklahoma.
UCLA coach Chip Kelly filled the vacancies on his staff by hiring Billy Fessler as quarterbacks coach and
Tony Washington Jr. as defensive line and outside linebackers coach.
Washington replaces
Ikaika Malloe, who was promoted to defensive coordinator, and Fessler fills the role previously held by Ryan Gunderson, who left to become Oregon State’s offensive coordinator.
Washington played linebacker for Kelly during the coach’s final three seasons at Oregon before going to the NFL. He returned to his alma mater in 2021 as director of player development.
Fessler spent the last two seasons at Akron and was promoted to offensive coordinator after starting as quarterbacks coach. He was quarterback at Penn State. — Ben Bolch
The Dodgers finalized a $23.5-million contract with outfielder Teoscar Hernández and hired former AllStar outfielder Raúl Ibañez as vice president of baseball development and special projects . ... Pitcher Jordan Hicks and San Francisco agreed on a $44-million, four-year deal, AP reported.
Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball returned from a 20-game injury absence against San Antonio.
Ally Sentor of North Carolina was the No. 1 pick in the NWSL draft in Anaheim, going to expansion team Utah, and teammate Savy King was second, by another expansion team, Bay FC . ... Angel City FC acquired midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard from San Diego.
Jiri Lehecka beat Sebastian Korda 6-2, 6-1 to reach the Adelaide International final. Jelena Ostapenko beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 7-6 (3) to reach the women’s final . ... Top-seeded Elise Mertens reached the Hobart International final.
Carl Yuan shot a fiveunder 65 for the Sony Open second-round lead.
Jason Fontenet converted a three-point play with two seconds left Thursday, Ajay Mitchell scored 22 points and UC Santa Barbara beat Cal State Bakersfield 66-64 in overtime. Also Thursday: Jevon Porter had 26 points as Pepperdine beat Pacific 93-78; Kane Milling had 27 points, and UC Davis beat Cal State Northridge 95-75; Dominique Daniels Jr.’s 17 points helped Cal Baptist beat Tarleton State 77-63; Pierre Crockrell II had 16 points in UC Irvine’s 60-50 win over Hawaii; Isaiah Moses had 15 points as UC Riverside beat Cal Poly 71-56; and Bryce Pope had 26 points in UC San Diego’s 88-74 win over Long Beach State.