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The Marshall football team opted out of the playing Army in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28 because of losing players in the transfer portal, according to multiple media reports on Saturday.
The Thundering Herd went 10-3 and defeated Louisiana 31-3 in the Sun Belt Conference championship game on Dec. 7. Head coach Charles Huff left the program one day later to accept the same position at Southern Miss, a fellow league member.
At least 29 Marshall players have entered the transfer portal since Dec. 8, according to 247Sports.
No. 19 Army, the American Athletic Conference champion, was 11-1 going into Saturday's annual rivalry game against Navy, followed by the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
As no other six-win teams are available to replace Marshall, teams with five wins are eligible based on their Academic Progress Rate.
Thundering Herd associate head coach Telly Lockette was designated to lead the team in the bowl game, with the university hiring North Carolina State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson as the new head coach.
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Steve Spurrier has two endorsements for next Florida HC
Steve Spurrier is a legend for the Florida Gators. Known as "the head ball coach" down in SEC-land, Spurrier was a star both as a player and as a coach for Florida. Heck, the dang field in Gainesville is named after him. That means what he says about the Florida program carries a lot of weight, and he recently revealed that he believes there are only two people who would live up to the expectations and be a great fit for the Gators as they look to replace fired head coach Billy Napier sooner rather than later. “I know Lane Kiffin and I know Eli Drinkwitz,” Spurrier recently said, according to Daniel Hager of On3. “Obviously, either one of those guys would be super if it works out. But, it’s a long way from whoever we’re going to get as our coach right now.” The Gators are currently making a full-court press for Lane Kiffin, but they're not alone in their pursuit of the Ole Miss head coach. While the Gators reportedly flew members of Kiffin's family down to Gainesville to check things out recently, the LSU Tigers also pulled the same trick — hoping to get Kiffin to ultimately come down to Baton Rouge. LSU is probably Florida's biggest competitor for Kiffin right now, but there's also Ole Miss to consider. It's not like the Rebels are going to let a coach who has led them to a 54-19 record over the past six seasons go without a fight. Kiffin would absolutely be a home-run hire for the Gators, though. He's a high-level recruiter and a high-level offensive mind in the SEC. Those are two things that the Gators desperately need in the wake of the middling Napier era. Not only that, but Kiffin has ties to the state. He was the head coach at Florida Atlantic from 2017-19. Eli Drinkwitz an interesting option for Florida if it can't land Lane Kiffin Drinkwitz is another interesting option, though. You'll also notice that there's a trend here for Florida, and that's going after established SEC head coaches. Napier had come from the Sun Belt conference. Drinkwitz has made Missouri a tough out in the SEC, and he's won a ton of football games. His overall record at Mizzou is 45-27, though his record in big games does leave a little to be desired. He's 7-14 against ranked opponents and 0-7 against top-10 teams. Still, Drinkwitz is a young coach at just 42, so the upside is there. He's a big personality who does well on the recruiting trail, and he could do a lot of good things with the firepower of the Florida Gators behind him. There are other options out there for Florida. Washington head coach Jedd Fisch is a Florida alumnus, for instance. If Spurrier has narrowed it down to Kiffin and Drinkwitz in his mind, though, you can bet those in power at Florida are likely thinking the same thing.
Shedeur Sanders makes promise to Browns fans ahead of first regular-season start
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Wednesday that rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders will make the first regular-season start of his career when the 2-8 Browns play at the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) this Sunday. Later on Wednesday, Sanders offered somewhat of a promise to Cleveland supporters who are hoping the fifth-round draft pick could potentially become a savior for the franchise. Shedeur Sanders wants to be "the guy" for the Browns "I know our fans have a lot of expectations and hope," Sanders acknowledged, per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. "And I would be doing a disservice to myself and a disservice to the organization if I didn't feel like I am the guy. ...I'm doing everything I need to prepare to be the best version of myself as possible. With the circumstances, everything got to be sped up, and that's great. I like pressure in life. I'm just excited for everything. So, I feel like I'm the guy. I know I'm the guy, but you just have to be able to see." Sanders made his regular-season debut against the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. In total, Sanders completed 4-of-16 passes for 47 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in what became a 23-16 defeat. He was also sacked twice for a loss of 27 yards. Why Shedeur Sanders is confident he'll be better in second appearance Earlier in the week, Stefanski suggested the coaching staff is confident Sanders will play better after the 23-year-old gets first-team practice reps that were previously reserved for Gabriel. During his Wednesday media availability, Sanders echoed Stefanski's take. "I'm truly excited for that, knowing that I have a piece of [the] offense and a say so and how things fit my eye and place the players exactly where they need to be," Sanders added. "Seeing how they come in and out of routes, seeing the structure of the O-linemen, seeing their set, just having a feeling. I'm more of a feel type of person, so that's how I learn. That's how I do everything. I'm not just, 'Imma just watch it, it's just going to happen.' No, I got to be out there, feel it. I got to move around. It's like so many details that it takes for me to feel my best and play my best, and I'm doing everything in my power and the team's doing everything to help me get prepared." It remains to be seen if a more prepared version of Sanders will be able to relegate a healthy Gabriel to backup duties beyond Week 12. As of Wednesday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Browns as four-point underdogs against the Raiders.
Aaron Rodgers explains his criteria for playing Sunday vs. Bears
Aaron Rodgers has always been a tough quarterback. He has dealt with several injuries throughout the course of his career, but he's always done everything he could to see the field. That's no different now that he's with the Pittsburgh Steelers and dealing with a fracture in his left (non-throwing) wrist. Rodgers injured himself against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, but he's already talking about trying to get back for Pittsburgh's Week 12 contest against the Chicago Bears. In fact, he revealed on Wednesday that he will try things out at practice before this week is over. "It feels better than it did Sunday, that's for sure," Rodgers said Wednesday afternoon, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "... Was thankful to get today to work with [head athletic trainer Gabe Amponsah] and just focus on rehab for today. Trying to get back on the field tomorrow and see what I can do." Aaron Rodgers going to test out his wrist injury on Thursday Rodgers wants to be able to play against the Bears, a team he has owned throughout the years, but he's also saying that he'll be cautious. Remember, he is just weeks away from turning 42. A fractured wrist would be tough to play with at 24. As anyone who has ever gotten older would attest, things tend to hurt even more as you age. Throw in the fact that Rodgers is playing perhaps the most physical sport on Earth, and it makes sense that he does have a very specific standard that he must meet before he decides if he can play — and it has nothing to do with pain. "It's a safety thing," Rodgers said. Rodgers has played in 29 regular-season games against the Bears in his NFL career. Including two playoff wins, he boasts a 26-5 record against them. Since he last squared off with Chicago as the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers in 2022, he had won nine games in a row against the Bears. If he feels he can keep himself safe on Sunday, you can bet he's going to try to play.
MLB’s new media deal may end up being a bad deal for consumers
Major League Baseball will have a new television deal heading into 2026, with NBC/Peacock getting the best portion of the pie. The network, which already hosts "Sunday Night Football," will now also host "Sunday Night Baseball" after spending 36 years on ESPN, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. NBC/Peacock will also play host to the first round of the playoffs. Marchand adds that the streaming platform Netflix will get the rights to broadcast the Home Run Derby, the Field of Dreams game and the standalone Opening Day game featured in prime time. NBC/Peacock is paying nearly $200 million per year (total of $600 million) for its broadcasting rights, while Netflix is paying $50 million (total of $150 million) for its portion. ESPN, meanwhile, was allowed to broadcast all out-of-market games for all 30 major league clubs, while also getting the right to broadcast in-market games for six teams. ESPN had opted out of its remaining three years of its deal with Major League Baseball back in March. How does MLB's new media deal affect baseball viewing moving forward? This new deal for Major League Baseball isn’t necessarily the best for consumers. Bringing three of the four major pro sports in the United States (baseball, football and basketball) under one umbrella (NBC/Peacock), Major League Baseball will now reach 42 million more people with this maneuver than it originally did. Peacock recently reached that many new subscribers this past October. However, with the U.S. population at 340.1 million people, that number is deceiving. Sports viewers don’t usually stream, with 17 percent of Americans not having streaming services, according to a Pew Research Center poll. There was a recent scandal between ESPN and YouTube TV, in which they were at odds over their deal, cutting off "Monday Night Football," college football and other sports like Formula 1 from 10 million viewers. After a two-week standoff, both sides finally agreed on a deal. NBC/Peacock had its own standoff with the streaming platform heading into October. However, both sides agreed at the final hour. The costs of streaming have gone up over the years, when the point was to be cheaper than cable. With Netflix costing $25 a month (premium), Peacock costing $14 a month ($140 a year) and the ESPN app costing $30 a month ($300 per year), fans' frustrations may continue to mount as the cost to watch sports rises.
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