Interim Raiders coach names O’Connell as QB

Changes kept coming to the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 1, and it’s up to interim coach Antonio Pierce to make sense of it all and try to salvage the season.

A day after the club fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler, offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi was let go, quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree was promoted to offensive coordinator and Aidan O’Connell replaced starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo.

Pierce’s first game will be Nov. 5 at home against the New York Giants, where he played from 2005-09 and started all 16 games on the 2007 team that won the Super Bowl.

Pierce, 45, deflected any personal meaning of facing the Giants, saying the game was too important for the Raiders (35) to be concerned about that.

NEW FALCONS QB >> Taylor Heinicke has moved past turnover-plagued Desmond Ridder as the Atlanta Falcons’ starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Coach Arthur Smith says the decision to start Heinicke was made “with all the variables considering everything.”

College football

CMU COACH: STALIONS

NOT ON PASS LIST >> Central Michigan football coach Jim McElwain said now-suspended Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions ’ name was not on his team’s pass list to have sideline access and scout Michigan State during a season-opening game in

September.

Photos circulating on the internet suggest that Stalions was on the Chippewas’ sideline during the Sept. 1 game. The Wolverines played and beat rival Michigan State 49-0 last month.

McElwain said Oct. 31 that Central Michigan is aware of the photo with “the sign-stealer guy,” and is investigating.

“I certainly don’t condone it in any way, shape or form,” said McElwain, a former Florida coach who was on Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan in 2018. “I do know that his name was on none of the passes that were let out. We keep tracing it back to try to figure it out. It’s in good hands with our people.

“There’s no place in football for that.”

MLB

REDS, MAILE HAVE DEAL

Catcher Luke Maile is guaranteed $3.5 million under his one-year contract with the Reds, which prevents him from becoming a free agent after the World Series. Maile gets $3 million next year, and the Reds have a $3.5 million option for 2025 with a $500,000 buyout under the deal announced Oct. 19.

NHL

NEW SENATORS GM >> The Ottawa Senators made an abrupt change at general manager after the NHL decided to dock the team a first-round draft pick for its role in a trade that was invalidated last year. Owner Michael Andlauer announced that longtime GM Pierre Dorion had resigned and would be replaced on an interim basis by Steve Staios.