The Commercial Appeal

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Tuberville resigns after coaching Cincinnati for 4 seasons: Tommy Tuberville resigned as Cincinnati’s coach on Sunday after his first losing season in four years with the Bearcats.

Cincinnati ended the season with five straight losses and a 4-8 record, missing out on a bowl appearance for the first time in Tuberville’s tenure. Before the season, the Bearcats gave Tuberville a two-year extension that took him through 2019.

“I am not done coaching, and I look forward to my next challenge,” he said in a statement.

It would have cost the school $2.4 million to fire Tuberville. The coaching change comes at the end of a season that was disappoint­ing in many ways, including the Big 12’s decision not to expand. The Bearcats are hoping to move out of the American Athletic Conference.

The 62-year-old Tuberville left Texas Tech in December 2012 to take over a Cincinnati program that had reached its high mark under previous coaches Brian Kelly and Butch Jones. Tuberville led Cincinnati to 9-4 finishes in each of his first two seasons, sharing the American Athletic championsh­ip with a 7-1 mark in 2014.

Tuberville also has been coach at Ole Miss and Auburn.

Michigan’s Harbaugh not backpedali­ng on criticism of officials: Jim Harbaugh said he’s ready to agree to disagree with the Big Ten. The conference reprimande­d the Michigan coach and fined his school $10,000 for violating the league sportsmans­hip policy by criticizin­g officials after a loss to Ohio State.

“I guess we can all just call it that we see it differentl­y and let it go at that,” Harbaugh said Sunday. “I still don’t accept it as a given that you can’t speak your mind and give your opinion on how you see things. If telling the truth is making things worse, then so be it.”

Harbaugh made his comments after the Wolverines were chosen to play Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30.

Harbaugh said he hasn’t talked with Big Ten Commission­er Jim Delaney since being reprimande­d. The punishment came after Harbaugh blasted the officiatin­g in a 30-27 double-overtime loss to Ohio State in Michigan’s regular-season finale.

Rams give Fisher, Snead contract extensions: The Los Angeles Rams have given coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead contract extensions.

Rams spokesman Artis Twyman confirmed the moves before Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. The deal for Fisher was first reported by the NFL Network, which said it was a twoyear extension through 2018.

In his fifth season with the Rams, the first four in St. Louis, Fisher has presided over a 31-43-1 record. They have yet to finish above .500 in his tenure and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2004.

Snead also became the Rams’ general manager in 2012, taking over a 2-14 team.

South Carolina’s Martin suspends Thornwell for violation: South Carolina has indefinite­ly suspended leading scorer and rebounder Sindarius Thornwell.

Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said in a statement Sunday that Thornwell was suspended for violating an athletic department policy, which he did not disclose. The move came an hour before the 23rd-ranked Gamecocks (No. 20 AP) face Florida Internatio­nal at Colonial Life Arena.

Thornwell is a 6-foot-5 senior guard who has led South Carolina with 18.7 points and 6.7 rebounds a game during its 7-0 start. He’s also led the Gamecocks in three-point shooting (14 of 29, 48.3 percent) and foul shooting (35 of 40, 87.5 percent).

Monday trial set for suspect in ex-Saint Will Smith's death: The trial for the man charged with second-degree murder in the April 9 shooting death of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith begins this week. Jury section starts Monday in the trial of Cardell Hayes.

The owner of a tow-truck company and the father of a 5-year-old son, Hayes is described by friends as soft-spoken, even-tempered — hardly the type to erupt into a lethal road rage. His attorney has been laying the groundwork for a selfdefens­e argument ahead of a trial that opens Monday, but he may face an added burden in Smith’s local popularity and national renown.

Hayes has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Smith’s death.

Braves agree to 1-year deal with left-hander Lindgren: The Atlanta Braves have agreed to a one-year deal with left-hander Jacob Lindgren, who is making a comeback from Tommy John surgery.

The 23-year-old Lindgren made his major league debut with the New York Yankees in 2015, when he had a 5.14 ERA in seven games in relief before having season-ending surgery to remove bone spurs from his left elbow. The Yankees selected Lindgren out of Mississipp­i State in the second round of the 2014 amateur draft.

Lindgren had elbow ligament-replacemen­t surgery in August after appearing in six games with Class A Tampa. He was released by the Yankees on Friday.

Report: Company sold turf product after learning of defects: A review of internal emails and interviews has found that the country’s leading maker of artificial sports turf sold more than 1,000 fields to towns, schools and teams across the country after its executives knew they were falling apart faster than expected and might not live up to lofty marketing claims.

Records obtained by NJ Advance Media show that FieldTurf executives became aware a year after beginning to sell the Duraspine turf in 2005 that it was breaking apart long before it should. The Montreal-based company said the product should last a decade.

FieldTurf rejected accusation­s that it misled or defrauded customers as “completely false.”

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