Tennessee remains at No. 1, top 4 unchanged in AP Top 25
With wait over, Bengals hire Taylor from Rams as coach
CINCINNATI – After 16 years without a playoff win under Marvin Lewis, the Bengals decided to try something different. But they had to wait more than a month before hiring Zac Taylor as their next coach in hopes of ending a long streak of futility.
Taylor’s already been in town enough to know the history.
The Rams quarterbacks coach reached a deal Monday a few hours after LA’S 13-3 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl at Atlanta. Cincinnati had to wait until after the title game to make his hiring official. The Bengals and Dolphins were the last two teams to fill head coaching vacancies, with Miami getting the Patriots’ Brian Flores.
After three straight losing seasons and 28 years without a playoff victory, Cincinnati joined the latest wave – turning to a young, offensive-minded coach.
“Zach is a bright coach with an offensive mind and background, which is important to have in today’s NFL,” owner Mike Brown said in a statement. “And he’s young. He embraces new ideas and new ways to do things, which will be a good thing for us.”
Flores arrives at Dolphins HQ to seal deal as their coach
DAVIE, Fla. – Hours after his team won the Super Bowl, New England Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores arrived at the Miami Dolphins’ headquarters on Monday to seal a deal as their head coach.
The Dolphins scheduled a news conference and were expected to announce the hiring of Flores, who helped the Patriots shut down the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams with a 13-3 victory in the title game .
Flores was the first person the Dolphins interviewed after they fired coach Adam Gase on Dec. 31. They decided on Jan. 11 to offer the job to Flores, the Patriots’ defensive play-caller but had to wait until New England’s season ended to complete an agreement.
While preparing for the Super Bowl, Flores also began to hire a Miami staff. The group is expected to include former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell as assistant head coach, Patriots receivers coach Chad O’shea as offensive coordinator and Packers assistant Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator.
The 37-year-old Flores, the son of Honduran immigrants, grew up in Brooklyn and has spent his entire coaching career with the Patriots. He joined them in 2004 and became their de facto defensive coordinator a year ago after Matt Patricia left to join the Lions as their head coach.
Tennessee remains at No. 1 for the third straight week and the top four are unchanged in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Losses by Michigan and Michigan State led to a shake-up in the rest of the top 10.
The Volunteers received 48 of 64 first-place votes from a media panel in the poll released Monday. No. 2 Duke had 12 first-place votes and No. 3 Virginia four. Gonzaga and Kentucky rounded out the top 5.
Michigan dropped two spots to No. 7 after losing to Iowa. Michigan State fell three spots to No. 9 following a loss to Indiana, which had lost its previous seven games. No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Nevada and No. 8 North Carolina all moved up because of the losses.
No. 25 Cincinnati moved into the AP Top 25 for the first time this season.
Uconn falls to 5th in women’s AP Top 25; Louisville is No. 2
NEW YORK – Uconn has dropped to fifth in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll – its lowest ranking in nearly 12 years – after suffering its second loss of the season.
The Huskies (19-2) lost to then-no. 3 Louisville last week and fell to their worst ranking since Feb. 12, 2007. Uconn moved into the top five a week earlier and has remained there every poll since – a span of 232 consecutive weeks. That is more than double the next-longest streak, which is held by Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters had a 96-week run in the top five from 1979-84.
Louisville moved up to second behind top-ranked Baylor. The Lady Bears received 25 of 28 first-place votes from a national media panel on Monday. The Cardinals received the other three.
Oregon and Notre Dame rounded out the top five.
Mississippi State, Oregon State, Marquette, North Carolina State and Maryland were next in the rankings. The Wolfpack lost their first game of the season, falling to North Carolina on Sunday.
Miami entered the poll at No. 25 while BYU fell out a week after getting ranked.
Baseball Hall of Fame president Idelson retiring
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Baseball Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson plans to retire after the annual induction ceremony in July.
The Hall made the announcement Monday. The 54-year-old Idelson succeeded Dale Petroskey as Hall president in 2008. Idelson joined the staff in 1994 as director of public relations and promotions and was promoted to vice president of communications and education.
Idelson, a native of West Newton, Massachusetts, began his professional career with the Boston Red Sox in 1986, then was the New York Yankees’ director of media relations and publicity from 1989-93.
Hall of Fame Chairman Jane Forbes Clark says the board of directors has established a search committee.
Body visible in wreckage of plane carrying soccer player
LONDON – One body is visible in the seabed wreckage of a plane that went missing carrying Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala and his pilot two weeks ago over the English Channel, air accident investigators said Monday.
Britain’s Air Accident Investigation Branch did not say if the underwater camera identified Sala or pilot David Ibbotson, the only two people on board the small aircraft that disappeared from radar over the English Channel on Jan. 21 as it flew from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff, Wales.
Wreckage from the plane was located on Sunday after Sala’s family raised funds for a private search by American-born shipwreck-hunting specialist David Mearns because authorities called off the official search.
— Wire services