Tag: breaking

Promising freshman safety Peyton Waters enters transfer portal

Washington saw an exciting talent in Peyton Waters enter the transfer portal on Tuesday.

The Washington Huskies suffered one of their biggest losses in the transfer portal on Tuesday night when freshman safety Peyton Waters announced his intentions to look for a new home. A former four-star recruit from Birmingham High School in Los Angeles, Waters was one of the biggest prizes in coach Kalen DeBoer’s 2024 class.

He chose to stay on once Jedd Fisch’s coaching staff arrived and established himself as a name to watch during both spring and fall camp. Position coach Vinnie Sunseri seemed very excited about Waters’ upside and he took reps with both the first and second-team defenses throughout camp.

Once the season came along, Waters was mainly utilized on special teams during his first year on campus, where he played in every game and recorded 5 tackles.

Waters becomes the third safety to enter the portal this offseason, joining Tristan Dunn, who has since committed to Cal, and Justin Harrington. With his departure, Washington is expected to rely on Makell Esteen as one starter, with transfers CJ Christian and Alex McLaughlin battling for the other spot.

Behind them is a young, inexperienced group with plenty of upside that should battle for the final spot on the depth chart during spring practice, highlighted by former four-star recruits Rahshawn Clark and Rylon Dillard-Allen. Sophomore Vincent Holmes and redshirt freshmen Rahim Wright and Paul Mencke Jr. will also be in the mix.

Waters’ departure also marks what will be Washington’s last winter transfer, as the window for Huskies to enter following the Sun Bowl is now closed. Teams that played in a bowl game after the official portal window closed on December 28 were given a five-day window after the conclusion of their season for players to enter the portal, and schools have 48 hours on the backend of that window to process transfer paperwork.

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Titans fire four more in front office overhaul

Hours after firing general manager Ran Carthon, the Tennessee Titans made more changes to their front office on Tuesday.

It was a busy day in Nashville on Tuesday. Hours after announcing the firing of general manager Ran Carthon, the Tennessee Titans continued their front office shake-up. 

The Titans made four more changes to their organization and appear to be in the midst of a complete overhaul of their administrative staff. The team parted ways with vice president of team operations Brent Akers, vice president of football technology Anthony Pastrana, assistant general manager Anthony Robinson and senior director of security John Albertson.

Akers and Pastrana have long ties to the organization, with Akers coming in during the 1998 season and Pastrana a year earlier in 1997. 

Robinson was brought into the organization by Carthon last season alongside Chad Brinker, who will now run the search for a new general manager. Brinker has quickly moved up the ranks in the front office and is the new president of football operations with final decision-making authority for the whole football operation.

Stay tuned to Titans Wire as we continue to track all the moves in this eventful offseason.

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49ers fire defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen after 1 season

Another new DC for the 49ers…

The San Francisco 49ers have made another major move on their coaching staff.

The Athletic’s Matt Barrows on Tuesday reported the 49ers fired defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen after one season. It’s the second time in as many offseasons San Francisco has parted ways with a defensive coordinator.

NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reported the team will try to retain Sorensen on its defensive coaching staff. Sorensen joined the 49ers in 2022 as a defensive assistant. He was promoted to defensive passing game specialist and nickel cornerbacks coach in 2023 before being named defensive coordinator ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed confidence in Sorensen and the 49ers’ defense multiple times during the season despite the team’s struggles on that side of the ball.

“I think Nick has done a good job as a coach,” said Shanahan on December 28 before the team’s Week 17 matchup with the Detroit Lions. “No one’s happy with our results by any means. I think he’s been thrown in a number of situations that I think will make him better going forward. I’ve watched him adjust to a bunch of different situations, kind of be in a couple situations on a couple games when there wasn’t much of an answer, and he still had to try to find one. So, I think this year was good for him. I know he is going to be a good coach and better for it going forward.”

While injuries and player absences had an impact, it was clear there were regular communication issues and schematic errors. Ultimately Shanahan determined the team needed to find someone new at that spot.

Sorensen addressed the communication problems in what would be his final press conference leading up to Week 18.

“Yeah, we just, it’s frustrating,” said Sorensen. “And then that’s why those veteran guys say that, we’re all frustrated with it. It shows up and it’s, sometimes it’s different people, but it’s immediately they know that they shouldn’t have done that. So a lot of it is, the continue to push is the pre-snap communication is everything because most guys, if he’s off the ball, he’s probably going to move. So there’s got to be, we just have to keep being better at it. And it’s, you can’t do it after the play. It’s got to happen before. And then when it happens, someone starts moving during the play then you’ve already expected it, you’ve already pre-thought it. It’s just something we’ve got to keep getting better at. And it hasn’t, it’s kind of shown up in critical parts of critical games.”

Sorensen’s defense in his first year as a coordinator finished 29th in points allowed in part because they gave up 87 in the final two weeks. They also finished eighth in yards allowed, but the biggest issue may have been their inability to generate takeaways. San Francisco was 20th in takeaways and created only two in the final eight weeks.

This is the second-consecutive offseason the 49ers will need to search for a new DC. Steve Wilks was let go after just one season, setting the table for a high standard at that spot on the coaching staff.

It’s unclear who the 49ers have in mind to replace him. Most notably, former 49ers DC Robert Saleh is available after being fired as the Jets head coach mid-season. The Cincinnati Bengals also let go of DC Lou Anarumo. They’re both experienced with strong track records, and it stands to reason the 49ers will be looking to check those two boxes with their new lead defensive coach.

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Florida defeats No. 1 Tennessee in top 10 matchup

Tennessee suffers first loss of the 2024-25 basketball season.

No. 8 Florida (14-1, 1-1 SEC) hosted No. 1 Tennessee (14-1, 1-1 SEC) on Tuesday for a top 10 matchup at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Florida.

Rankings reflect the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

The Vols suffered their first defeat of the season, losing at Florida, 73-43.

Florida started the contest with a 12-0 lead over the Vols. Tennessee first scored with 13 minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

Tennessee converted 12-of-56 field goal attempts, 4-of-29 three-point attempts and 15-of-25 free throw attempts.

The Vols totaled 12 turnovers in 63 possessions. Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee in scoring with 10 points each.

Rick Barnes is 9-4 against the Gators as Tennessee’s head coach. Tennessee leads the all time basketball series against Florida, 81-60, dating to 1927.

The Vols will next play on Saturday at Texas. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. EST and will be televised by ESPN.

Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Texas A&M will be without star guard on the road against Oklahoma on Wednesday

Wade Taylor IV will miss his second game of the season with a lower-body injury against Oklahoma

No. 10 Texas A&M (12-2) will travel to Norman on Wednesday night for a midweek showdown against No. 17 Oklahoma. Both teams are coming off polar opposite Saturday games.

After defeating rival Texas 80-60, the Aggies shot up the AP rankings, while the Sooners’ blowout loss to Alabama resulted in the program’s first defeat of the year.

However, Oklahoma returns home wholly healthy and looking for a rebound win, while Texas A&M will reportedly be without senior guard Wade Taylor IV for just the second time this season. According to the latest SEC Availability report, Taylor has a lower-body injury.

During Texas A&M’s win over the Longhorns, Taylor briefly left the game before returning and finishing with 13 points and four assists. At the same time, senior guard Zhuric Phelps and forward Pharrel Payne took over the scoring efforts in the second half, combining 33 points.

After missing his first game of the year after injuring his groin in A&M’s big road win over Purdue, it looks like the Aggie star is still dealing with a strain that will keep him sidelined on Wednesday night.

While Taylor leads the team with 15.7 points per game, Phelps and fellow senior guard Manny Obaseki will need to step up against the Sooners in his absence.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.

Danny Sprinkle offers injury update on center Franck Kepnang

Danny Sprinkle is hoping to get Franck Kepnang back soon.

Danny Sprinkle went into his first season with the Washington Huskies hoping to have one of the nation’s top frontcourt pairings in forward Great Osobor and center Franck Kepnang.

But Kepnang, a former Oregon transfer, has played in just two games this season. His presence was undeniable, as he averaged 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game in his two appearances, but hasn’t been seen since.

At first, Sprinkle said it was just precautionary load management, which then turned into a minor knee procedure to clean things up. Sprinkle said at the end of November that he expected him to miss a few weeks, which has turned into over a month, and with five straight matchups against ranked teams staring the Huskies in the face, he’s still waiting for one of his most impactful defenders and rebounders to return to the lineup.

“Hopefully,” Sprinkle said when asked if Kepnang would be able to return for any of those games. “I don’t think he’ll be back this week, but hopefully soon. We were expecting to have him back a couple of weeks ago to be honest, so hopefully we can get him back.”

Kepnang’s tenacious energy on the defensive end and ability to finish around the rim would act as a big boost for Great Osobor on offense. Washington’s star saw plenty of attention from Illinois’ defense in an 81-77 loss, and could free up some scoring opportunities for the touted Utah State transfer.

Key things to know about Texans’ wild-card opponent: Chargers

Here’s some quick hits to know about the Los Angeles Chargers entering the wild-card round showdown on Saturday.

The Houston Texans return to NRG Stadium to face off against the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round on Saturday afternoon at NRG Stadium.

To preview the matchup, here are some key things to know about Houston.

How Houston finished the regular season

The Chargers finished with an 11-6 record, winning three of their last four games, including two by 14-plus points. Against playoff teams, Los Angeles posted a 3-4 record, including a 0-2 record against No. 1 seed Kansas City.

Luck Ladd

Justin Herbert is the headliner out west, but he’s had a reliable weapon in Ladd McConkey. The second-round pick out of Georgia has been a consistent target in the slot, averaging 5.2 catches per game and 14.0 yards a reception. He also has three 100-yard outings, including a career-best 123-yard performance against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Win on third down

The Chargers enter Saturday not only boasting the NFL’s top-scoring defense, but also featuring a top-five defense on third-down efficiency. Headlined by All-Pro safety Derwin James, Los Angeles is allowing opponents to convert on 35.7% of drives.

Houston, which is coming off a 23-14 win over the Tennessee Titans, ranked 20th in conversion rating at 37.6% per outing.

Red zone dominance

Bobby Slowik’s play-calling must be elite inside the 20. Los Angeles’ defense not only leads the league in scoring but also opposing red-zone touchdown percentage. Teams are scoring at a 44.6% success rate.

Slowing down Nick Bosa and Khalil Mack might be the key for Houston if it plans on scoring. The Bolts duo under new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter finished with 11 total sacks. Bud Dupree, the No. 3 rotational specialist, also recorded six sacks in 15 games.

Other notes

  • The Chargers are 10th  in third-down conversion rate and 3rd in turnover margin.
  • Herbert leads the NFL in touchdown-to-interception ratio with 23 passing TDs against 3 INTs
  • The Chargers have the second-fewest giveaways (14)
  • Los Angeles has allowed 44 sacks this season, 23 of which have come up from up the middle.
  • While a balanced offense, the Chargers are averaging 213.5 passing yards per game. Eight different players have caught a touchdown pass from Herbert.

Transfer portal WR target predicted to land with Iowa football

On the heels of the Mark Gronowski news, Iowa football is projected to land a transfer portal WR.

The Iowa Hawkeyes may not be done adding via the NCAA transfer portal quite yet.

On the heels of landing Mark Gronowski, one of the top transfer portal quarterbacks, Iowa could see its offensive firepower grow. Gronowski comes from South Dakota State, with which he won two national championships. Soon after news broke of Gronowski’s commitment to Iowa, On3 predicted Iowa would be the landing spot for one of its transfer portal wide receiver targets.

On3’s Pete Nakos logged Iowa as the prediction for Chattanooga transfer wide receiver Sam Phillips.

Phillips, a graduate of Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Georgia, spent three seasons with the Chattanooga Mocs.

He reeled in 153 receptions for 2,088 yards and nine touchdowns in his three years with Chattanooga. In the 2024 season, Phillips finished with 49 receptions for 803 yards and three touchdowns.

His best game of the season came against Georgia State: eight receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown. In his lone contest against a Power Five program, Phillips registered five receptions for 54 yards against the Tennessee Volunteers.

Phillips, who is listed at 5 feet, 9 inches and 185 pounds, has a three-star transfer portal rating after only being offered by Chattanooga out of high school.

Phillips will carry one year of eligibility with him.

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Texans vs. Chargers injury report: Latest updates, news for Tuesday

Here’s the injury report for both the Texans and Chargers following Tuesday’s practice.

Here are the full injury reports from Tuesday’s practice for the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers ahead of their wild-card round showdown on Saturday at NRG Stadium.

Houston Texans (10-7)

DID NOT PRACTICE

Former Texas A&M WR Noah Thomas has announced his transfer destination

Noah Thomas is headed to Georgia for the 2025 season

Texas A&M wide receiver Noah Thomas entered the transfer portal last week. Among the over 20 players to depart from the program this offseason, the junior was by far the most surprising addition after three seasons in Aggieland.

Thomas’s high ceiling as a member of Texas A&M’s historic 2022 recruiting class was always a talking point every offseason, as injuries combined with inconsistent play led to his decision to leave the program and compete for a No. 1 receiver spot in 2025.

Following his trip to Georgia last weekend, Thomas’s 6-foot-6 stature and impressive catch radius impressed Bulldogs’ coach Kirby Smart. This was particularly notable after Thomas scored eight touchdowns lastcoaches are gene season, as SEC rally well-informed about all the playmakers in the conference each season.

On Tuesday afternoon, On3 reported that Thomas has committed to Georgia despite the Aggies adding a commitment from USC transfer WR Zachariah Branch.

Noah Thomas finished his Texas A&M career just 16 yards shy of the century mark, recording 73 receptions, 984 yards, and 15 touchdowns.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.