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Good morning! We are still riding the carousel. Someone press stop.
NFL Coaching Carousel: Tick, tock
Lulls can still be pressure-packed, with both their beginnings and ends featuring especially high-stakes drama. Right now, the NFL coaching market is somewhere between those points. Some quick updates, plus simmering questions (and predictions) as we wait on more to happen:
- Is this when Jim Harbaugh actually returns to the NFL?
He interviewed for the Falcons coaching vacancy yesterday, one day after he talked to Chargers officials. Yes, Harbaugh has interviewed in previous offseasons while coaching Michigan, but there is a new finality here. He finally won Michigan its national championship. What more could he hope to achieve at the college level, unless he wants to stay there forever? It certainly doesn’t seem like he does. Pulse prediction: Harbaugh takes the Chargers gig.
- Are the NFC East firing candidates going to wait much longer?
A little peek behind the Pulse curtain: I was ready to write about McCarthy getting fired Sunday night, just hours after the Cowboys flopped against the Packers. We have no resolution there yet, or in Philadelphia, where Nick Sirianni awaits a meeting with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to determine his fate after his own playoff disaster. It took eight days for Lurie to decide on firing Doug Pederson in January 2021; Jerry Jones took six days to fire Jason Garrett in January 2020. This could take a minute. Pulse prediction: McCarthy goes, Sirianni stays.
- Is Las Vegas even looking at anyone else?
Yesterday, the Raiders interviewed longtime NFL coaches Leslie Frazier and Kris Richard, who are both Black, which would satisfy the organization’s Rooney Rule obligation in its coaching search. As our Raiders writer Tashan Reed posted in the coaching carousel live blog, it’s clear which way Las Vegas is leaning: keeping 5-4 interim coach Antonio Pierce. Players have been extremely vocal about keeping him, with star lineman Maxx Crosby even threatening a trade request if anyone else is hired. Pulse prediction: It’s Pierce’s job.
Let’s hope the lull doesn’t last much longer.
News to Know
Dolan accused of sexual misconduct
A Tennessee woman accused New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan of pressuring her into sex, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday. The woman, Kellye Croft, was a massage therapist working on a tour with Dolan’s band during the alleged incidents. In the suit, she also claims movie producer Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her while she was on tour with Dolan. Full details on the suit here.
Tomlin to return
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told players he plans to coach the team in 2024, multiple players told The Athletic. Tomlin told them that his response on Monday to a question about his future — ignoring the query by simply walking away from a press conference — had been an effort to avoid giving an unfounded notion credibility. 🤔
Siakam’s market warming?
We still have three weeks until the NBA trade deadline, but according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, suitors are progressing in trade talks with the Toronto Raptors for All-Star forward Pascal Siakam. Our report lists Indiana as a frontrunner, with a package centered around Bruce Brown Jr. and three first-round picks.
More news
Circling Back: Maybe this is the WR draft
The entire talk of this year’s NFL Draft will be focused on one person, who happens to already be employed in the league: Chicago quarterback Justin Fields.
For the second year in a row, the Bears have the No. 1 overall pick and must choose whether Fields is their chosen QB of the future. Last year, he was … or there wasn’t a QB worthy (in the Bears’ eyes) enough to replace him. This year could be different.
But plenty of other things caught my eye in Dane Brugler’s mock draft 2.0 yesterday: namely, an absolutely stacked wide receiver class. Consider:
- Dane has three wide receivers — Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 3 to New England, LSU’s Malik Nabers at No. 4 to Arizona and Washington’s Rome Odunze at No. 6 to the Giants — going almost right away. Widen the range, and five go in the first round, counting LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. and Florida State’s Keon Coleman.
- We’ve had five receivers selected in the first round plenty of times in recent history, but not quite so highly concentrated. Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith went 5-6-10 in 2021. Corey Davis, Mike Williams and John Ross went 5-7-9 in 2017. Outside of that, there isn’t a comparable stretch since 2004, when Larry Fitzgerald, Roy Williams and Reggie Williams went 3-7-9.
And yes, we do have that QB update: Dane has the Bears trading Fields and picking Caleb Williams at No. 1. See all the picks here.
Watch This Game
NCAAM: No. 18 Creighton at No. 1 UConn
7 p.m. ET on FS1
The defending national champs are the new top-ranked team in the AP poll, but our C.J. Moore disagreed. It’s a great time to check in on college hoops because, well, lots of upsets are happening.
NHL: Blackhawks at Sabres
7:30 p.m. ET on TNT
Neither of these teams is particularly good, but watch to see what the NHL’s most interesting rebuild looks like in Chicago. Connor Bedard is still out, but the Blackhawks have so many assets. The trade deadline could be interesting.
Pulse Picks
I loved this from Justin Williams today on the two most famous podcasters with day jobs as NFL football players: a teammates-tell-all about the Kelce brothers at Cincinnati, which truly sounded like a sitcom. Will be the most fun read of your day.
Dave Lombardi has a great feature this morning on the Stanford professor who helped lay the foundation for this era of 49ers football, which has achieved everything but a Super Bowl win.
The talk will be about the Eagles’ loss, but don’t count out the Buccaneers going forward, writes Mike Jones. They have some juice.
Important read from the basketball world via Sam Amick, who chatted with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal about why Phoenix’s future is still bright. That 32-8 run in last night’s win over Sacramento only helped their argument.
Meet James Hagens, the 2025 NHL Draft’s top prospect and hockey’s next American star.
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(Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
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