14+ hour, 47+ min ago (395+ words) Michigan State capped the two-year Jonathan Smith era with a win over Maryland, then replaced Smith with Pat Fitzgerald. Mike Mulholland / Getty Images In college football, you never really know whether a coaching hire is going to work " just take a peek at all those A's for Brian Kelly and Billy Napier four years ago. But you also don't need to wait around to evaluate whether a school hired the right fit. As the 2025-26 coaching carousel heats up, we're handing out initial grades to the hires as head coach openings are filled around the country, focusing on how much the hire makes sense and whether it satisfies what a team identified it needed going into a coaching search. Check back as more jobs get filled. (Hired on Dec. 1) (Hired on Nov. 30) A lot to unpack here. Fitzgerald won a bunch…...

2+ week, 5+ hour ago (586+ words) Scoot Henderson is in a pivotal season of evaluation from the Blazers. Chris Coduto / Getty Images PORTLAND, Ore. " The return of Scoot Henderson to the Portland Trail Blazers is not imminent, as it appears his torn hamstring will fall into the longer forecasts of his being sidelined. Entering his eighth week since tearing his left hamstring, the third-year point guard told The Athletic he has "made a lot of progress," but he said his return to basketball activity remains "week to week." Henderson said he is scheduled to meet this week with Dr. Courtney Watson, the Blazers" director of health and performance, who will outline a course of action. Henderson, who tore his hamstring a week before training camp while scrimmaging at the team"s facility, said he can walk without pain but has been limited to stationary shooting and…...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago (518+ words) Jordan Henderson has revealed he felt unable to watch Liverpool games on television after leaving the club in 2023. Former Liverpool captain Henderson opened up about how he struggled to come to terms with leaving Anfield after 12 years, describing his departure to Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia as "the most difficult time" in his career. After a subsequent spell at Ajax, Henderson is back in the Premier League with Brentford and back in the England squad. Speaking at St George's Park, Henderson explained leaving Liverpool after making 492 appearances, lifting the Champions League in 2019 and Premier League in 2020, was his hardest moment in football. "It was a really tough period when I left Liverpool," Henderson said. "I was there for a long period of time, 12 years. Leaving Liverpool itself was huge and really difficult. At any point it was going to be…...

3+ mon, 6+ day ago (272+ words) Henderson may be the king of 2025 preseason puffery. He's been steamed up to the mid-30s in late-August fantasy drafts thanks to some scintillating demonstrations of his talent during preseason games and the accompanying adulation of the fantasy community about said performances. In Michael Salfino's recent article on the biggest preseason ADP risers, he had this to say about Henderson: Honestly, I've shared Salfino's sentiment for most of the summer. But, the more and more I've contemplated Henderson, passing his latest ADP through the logic lens, I've actually become more of a buyer than a seller. Salfino's big question, and mine, is "Does Henderson have to be a bell cow to deliver a commensurate ROI at his current positional price (RB15)?" As you can see, there's a few ways to skin this RB15 cat, but the average numbers for the backs who managed this…...

3+ mon, 3+ week ago (1032+ words) FOXBORO, Mass. " The New England Patriots hadn't scored more than 25 points since Christmas Eve of 2023, when they beat the Denver Broncos 26-23. They hadn't scored 30 or more since October of 2022. Sure, the preseason games don't count, but a 48-18 trouncing of the Washington Commanders' backups was a step in the right direction for a Patriots team coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons. Mike Vrabel's unofficial debut was exceptional across the board. The team built on an impressive day of joint practices with the Commanders on Wednesday in a thorough and nearly mistake-free performance. It capped a fun and energetic day here that was kicked off by the unveiling of the Tom Brady statue. Thanks to those positive moments, there were more risers than fallers in the preseason opener. Still, it wasn't ideal for everyone. Here's a look at who helped and hurt their stock…...

4+ mon, 2+ week ago (1015+ words) Two years after his controversial move from Liverpool to Saudi Arabia's Al Ettifaq, Jordan Henderson is back in the Premier League. On Tuesday, Brentford announced the 35-year-old England international midfielder had joined them as a free agent, signing a two-year contract after Dutch side Ajax let him out early from a deal that ran until next summer. It has been a strange journey back to his homeland for Henderson, while this all feels slightly out of character for Brentford. They do have a track record of signing experienced players who are out of contract or available on loan, including Winston Reid, Mathias "Zanka' Jorgensen and Ben Mee, but none of them were older than 32 " or had the profile of the former Liverpool and England captain. Henderson, who won eight trophies in 12 seasons at Anfield, including the Premier League and Champions…...

5+ mon, 2+ week ago (883+ words) Editor's note: This is the second story in a 10-part series looking at the most intriguing New England Patriots players ahead of training camp. The Patriots' biggest needs entering the NFL Draft were well known. They needed a left tackle, which they got with No. 4 pick Will Campbell. They also needed a wide receiver, which many around the league assumed they'd take in the second round. But the Pats threw a bit of a curveball with the 38th pick. Instead of a wideout for Drake Maye, they went with running back TreVeyon Henderson, even after signing veteran Rhamondre Stevenson to an extension less than one year earlier. So, is the move going to work? Was it wise to grab a back so early? And how much can Henderson help jump-start a sluggish offense? Let's dive in. " NFL (@NFL) June 3, 2025 Henderson grew…...

6+ mon, 6+ day ago (271+ words) French Open Day 3 PL Tactical Trends 2024-25 Club World Cup Transfer Window Colt Keith (DET, 2B) is 12% rostered. He's a strong-side platoon option who has not hit lefties. But he's getting more plate appearances against lefties than in 2024, so this doesn't account for his 17.4% boost in expected performance compared to last year. He was viewed as a top college hitter and, as a top 20% MLB bat in these expected stats, he's beginning to realize that potential. These players are slumping badly, but no one seems to believe it. Should w,e though? All are very young players in MLB experience. Lawrence Butler (ATH, OF) is delivering homers and steals at the rates we wanted, but he's been an unexceptional hitter overall " actual OPS of .729 vs. .807 last year and an almost identical 9% decline in xwOBA. His whiff rate on breaking balls is 48.2%, compared…...

6+ mon, 2+ week ago (518+ words) In the first half of Saturday's FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson escaped a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO), despite his ... 'The Beast' Draft Guide NBA Draft Entry Tracker Crystal Palace Soar to FA Cup Victory Inside FIFA's Dramatic Congress First Big Summer Signing PGA Championship Round 3 Live Fantasy Analysis of the 2025 NFL Draft Crystal Palace goalkeeper was not shown a red card in the first half of Saturday's FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, despite his hand appearing to make contact with the ball outside the box. Henderson's hand pushed the ball away from the path of onrushing City striker Erling Haaland when he was not inside his penalty area, but was not sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO). On-field referee Stuart Attwell initially…...

6+ mon, 2+ week ago (886+ words) John Laghezza highlights the hot bat of Colt Keith as he puts the best fantasy baseball free-agent candidates of the week on display. We're deep enough into the fantasy baseball season that most of us are looking at rosters only partially resembling the team we originally drafted. Since roster churn is the name of the game, I'm running it back all season with your favorite speculator piece implementing my patented data-backed, formulaic approach to discover next week's waiver wire headliners " today. Advertisement Going position by position, I mine my favorite player stat combinations regarding control, batted ball quality and swing-and-miss ability. Then I mash them together to identify some cheap gems to grab before the squares figure it out next week. At the bottom, I rank my favorite available players around the diamond, two-start pitchers and speculative adds. Access for…...