Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
In winning the 2024 NBA title with the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla has become the sixth youngest head coach to accomplish that in league history. Mazzulla is actually the youngest to win it since Bill Russell captured the title at 34 years old in 1968. …
In winning the 2024 NBA title with the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla has become the sixth youngest head coach to accomplish that in league history. Mazzulla is actually the youngest to win it since Bill Russell captured the title at 34 years old in 1968.
Take a look at the all-time ranking below.
Former Iowa OC Brian Ferentz finds new Big Ten coaching role
Former Iowa Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz did not take long before finding another coaching job in the Big Ten. The Maryland Terrapins hired him as an analyst.
The role is not quite at the level of his offensive coordinator position with the Hawkeyes. But the often-criticized OC has a strong record as an offensive line coach and lower-level assistant.
Related: Wisconsin football 2024 spring transfer portal window tracker
Ferentz was in the headlines throughout 2023 after Iowa forced him to average 25 points per game to keep his job. The Hawkeyes averaged 15.4 points per game, one of the nation’s worst offensive units once again. Iowa announced the son of head coach Kirk Ferentz would not return for the following season at the end of October.
For clarity: We at Badgers Wire wrote on Nov. 2 that every Big Ten West offensive coordinator would’ve been fired with the 25 points-per-game baseline. It was not a great year for Big Ten West offenses, as is usually the case.
SOURCE: Maryland is expected to hire Brian Ferentz as an analyst for the Terps. The 41-year-old, a former Patriots assistant, spent a decade at Iowa working as the Hawkeyes OL coach and later OC. He’d also coached TEs, RBs and QBs there. Pat Harty first reported the move.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) April 26, 2024
Either way, Ferentz didn’t have trouble finding a new landing spot in the Big Ten. He’ll work to rise back up the coaching ranks, this time without his father in charge of the program.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.
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Talk about a hands on approach…
There are coaches that are hands on and then there is flat-out hands coaching.
Notre Dame linebackers coach [autotag]Max Bullough[/autotag] is clearly part of the later.
Bullough, who was on the Cleveland Browns roster as recently as 2018, has climbed the coaching ladder since getting into the profession. After being a graduate assistant at Cincinnati and Alabama from 2019-2022, Bullough came to Notre Dame in 2023 in the same role.
This past off-season he was promoted to linebackers coach in a reshuffling of assistants after safeties coach Chris O’Leary left for a job with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Bullough was mic’d up at a recent Notre Dame spring practice. It wasn’t as much as what he had to say while coaching that gets your attention, instead it’s about how he does it and that’s by being as hands-on as one possibly can.
See for yourself below:
Bullough was listed at 6-3, 249-pounds during his playing days and it’s safe to say the former Michigan State standout hardly appears to look any different than his playing days.
Not that it doesn’t happen on plenty of other staffs across the country but this approach absolutely has to be a selling point if you’re a star high school linebacker trying to make your college choice.
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The UNC football team will be getting some much-needed coaching help on the special teams staff. Who did the Tar Heels hire on Monday?
We’re still over five months away from the start of college football season, but on Monday, the North Carolina Tar Heels have added another staff member.
And it addresses a unit that struggled in 2023 for the Tar Heels.
Per Inside Carolina, the Tar Heels are adding Eric Mele as a special teams analyst. Mele comes from Mississippi State, where he was the special teams coordinator in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
In terms of kickoffs and punts, North Carolina was among the ACC’s worst in 2023. They ranked 13th in kickoffs, second-worst among all programs, plus dead-last in punting.
“Put a good gameplan in, hope we can execute, and change the game in a positive fashion,” Mele said about the impact of special teams in an interview last year with 247Sports. “Get us on the board and get that momentum. Special teams is all about momentum, so if we can it in our favor that would be a good deal.”
Mele has a solid kicker to work with in Noah Burnette, who made 19 field goals and all 43 of his extra-point attempts. If Ben Kiernan is healthy for Week 0, Mele will likely spend more time coaching him than Tom Maginness.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
4-year-old Christopher “Coach CB” Bess is going viral for his coaching styles of Tarboro High School boys basketball in North Carolina.
Many youngsters dream of being on the hardwood. To score game-winning baskets. To carry teammates to a championship. To be elected into the Hall of Fame.
This young child looks like he has a different sort of plan for his basketball career.
Over the weekend, 4-year-old Christopher Bess went viral for a video serving as a coach on the sidelines of a Tarboro High School game in North Carolina. The son of head coach Reggie Bess, little “Coach CB” has all the right moves as he paces the sideline, tosses a drink to a player on the bench, and takes a knee just like his father. Take a look:
View this post on Instagram
The elder Bess told WNCT that he first noticed last year when who he called his mother-in-love showed him a picture of CB kneeling behind him in a similar pose. Bess said now when he’s watching game film, he’ll be “captivated by him walking up and down the sidelines.”
Other cute things Coach CB does, according to Bess and WNCT:
Just four days after posting the first video, Coach CB’s Instagram account reached 50,000 followers.
Wisconsin legend appears ready for his next coaching move
Longtime Wisconsin defensive coordinator and program legend Jim Leonhard has flown under the radar since leaving the program after the 2022 season.
Leonhard spent the 2023 season as an analyst on Bret Beilema’s staff at Illinois. An immediate jump back into the head coach or defensive coordinator ranks wasn’t in the cards; his name was seldom mentioned among hot candidates during the latest coaching carousel.
Related: Win totals released for Wisconsin, every Big Ten team in 2024 football season
A recent comment by Bielema gives clarity to Leonhard’s status entering the 2024 season. 247Sports’ Jeremy Werner posted to X that Leonhard is still on the Fighting Illini staff, and he could stay there entering the season if he doesn’t get a job elsewhere. The disclaimer: Leonhard is looking for a job not in college.
#illini Bret Bielema said Jim Leonhard is still on his staff. Leonhard has an opportunity to come back to Illinois if he doesn't get a job he wants elsewhere. Bielema said he wants a job "not in college," so likely the NFL.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 7, 2024
Connecting the dots, Leonhard is looking to jump to an NFL coaching staff and work his way up the ranks at that level. The league doesn’t require year-round recruiting or name, image and likeness licensing related headaches so it’s easy to see why it’s an attractive next step for his coaching career.
Related: Former NFL Coach Of The Year will ‘be around Wisconsin football in some capacity’ this year
Here’s Bielema’s full quote on Leonhard’s future:
“In theory, he is (on our staff), but we signed him with the idea that if he wants to do this then it would be open to come back to him,” Bielema said. “If he doesn’t have the things that he wants … not in college, I think we would be back at it. He literally sent a report a couple weeks ago that was unbelievably detailed and great ideas and thoughts. I reached out to him Tuesday night. I know he’s got some irons in the fire. That’s his business. Jimmy has been awesome. A very gifted coach in a lot of ways.”
The NFL is getting to the later stages of its coaching carousel. Most coaching staffs are in the process of being filled out after the head coaching carousel stopped.
Bielema said Leonhard has “some irons on the fire,” though. So maybe we should expect some news on the matter.
Up next in our “15 Most Impactful Texans of 2023” series is Bobby Slowik, who helped unlock rookie C.J. Stroud.
The Houston Texans had an extremely successful 2023 campaign.
They cruised to a 10-7 record under new head coach DeMeco Ryans and captured several accolades along the way. They won the AFC South and won a playoff game for the first time since the 2019 season. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud won PFWA’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, rookie edge rusher Will Anderson won PFWA’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, and even Ryans took home hardware with PFWA’s Coach of the Year.
With a revamped team effort that led to dramatic improvements compared to both the 2021 and 2022 Texans, it’s worth examining who created that impact this past season and what their future projects moving forward.
This series has taken a look at defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, running back Devin Singletary, rookie receiver Tank Dell, and veteran tackle George Fant, and upstart linebacker Blake Cashman.
Entering the top 10, we took a closer look at cornerback Steven Nelson and linebacker Christian Harris. Now, rookie offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik takes the spotlight.
Former Alabama national champion winning quarterback Greg McElroy weighs in on Kalen DeBoer
After 17 years as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] called it a wrap on his legendary career.
Saban guided the Tide to nine SEC titles, six national championships and four Heisman Trophies. One of those national championships came in 2009 with starting quarterback [autotag]Greg McElroy[/autotag], who is now ESPN college football analyst.
McElroy never found the right opportunity in the NFL, but he found his calling as a broadcaster and analyst. He signed on with ESPN in 2014 before beginning to call games in 2016. Despite his obvious love and ties to the University of Alabama, he usually does a great job removing any sort of bias from his commentary — almost to the point where it makes ‘Bama fans mad.
As someone who has spent time at Alabama and knows what it takes to win in Tuscaloosa combined with his knowledge of the current college football landscape, there probably aren’t many people better positioned to weigh in on the hire. McElroy is a big believer in [autotag]Kalen DeBoer[/autotag] and what he brings to the table for the Crimson Tide.
“I think this is a terrific hire for the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the 36 hours I got to spend with the Washington Huskies, I felt like I was a part of the team. We sat down with Kalen Deboer and his staff for the better part of three to three-and-a-half hours. I found that DeBoer is as approachable and as personably a guy as I’ve been around in the profession. … You talk to his players about him, and he’s willing to go the extra mile.”
Former Alabama QB Greg McElroy reacts to Kalen DeBoer being named the next Alabama head coach:
(via @AlwaysCFB) pic.twitter.com/VkhKCMeTtc— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) January 13, 2024
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.
Alabama football set to lose first coach from 2023 coaching staff
The season isn’t even over yet, but the annual Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff purge has already begun. That is the gift and the curse of Nick Saban’s greatness. He elevates coaches and gets the absolute most out of them just to have opposing schools come in and snipe his hires.
The first member of the 2023 Crimson Tide staff to depart will be OLB and Special Teams coach Coleman Hutzler as Mississippi State is currently in the process of finalizing Hutlzer as their new defensive coordinator. Hopefully, Coleman is the only one we lose, but that’s just never how it goes.
It has been a difficult year in Starkville after the passing of Mike Leach on Dec. 12, 2022 and they are yet to find stability in the program. After Leach’s passing, the Bulldogs promoted DC Zach Arnett to become the programs 35th coach. Arnett was ultimately fired after a 4-6 start this season so the Bulldogs will be rolling into 2024 as a brand new regime.
Mississippi State hired Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby as their next head coach earlier in the week to help turn the program around. Hutzler is one of the first hires Lebby has made, and it is a massive one at that. People around the Alabama program speak and think very highly of Hutzler so it’s a loss that I’m sure stings Saban a bit.
Mississippi State is finalizing the hire of Alabama OLB coach/special teams coordinator Coleman Hutzler as defensive coordinator, sources tell @YahooSports.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 6, 2023
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Alabama basketball falls six spots in Week 4 AP Poll
After losing all three assistant coaches from the 2022-2023 season and Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney to the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, Nate Oats had his work cut out for him this off season. Replacing three coaches as well as almost an entire roster is a tall ask for any coach, but what Oats did this summer was outstanding.
Despite all of the turnover and moving parts from being the No. 1 team in the country a season ago, Alabama is in a very promising position to start the year. The Crimson Tide are 5-1 to start the year with a really nice win over Oregon. The Tide’s lone loss came at the hand of the Ohio State Buckeyes who will be a tournament team when it is all said and done.
Offensively, the Tide has been outstanding this year behind Mark Sears and Grant Nelson, but there is still much to clean up on the defensive end. In fact, the Tide have the No. 1 ranked offense in the country according to KenPom, but the No. 61 ranked defense. The Week 4 NCAAM AP Poll has the Tide ranked as the No. 23 team in the country for their hot 5-1 start to the season.
Alabama will be back in action this evening as they take on the Clemson Tigers on ESPN in Coleman Coliseum.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.
