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2 years ago

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  • Pete ThamelESPN

USC enters the 2023 season with the returning Heisman Trophy winner, the sport’s buzziest analyst hire and College Football Playoff aspirations based on recent production rather than reputation.

As Lincoln Riley enters his second season at USC, he has led a turnaround that appears to be waking the echoes of the Pete Carroll glory years. After going from 4-8 in 2021 to 11-3 in 2022, there’s a surge of relevance that has again helped the program capture Los Angeles and the country.

Beyond quarterback Caleb Williams walking the runway in fashion shows and Kliff Kingsbury’s splashy return to college football, there has been a rare recruiting overhaul that has upgraded the roster and reaffirmed to Riley what USC can become in this new era of college football.

USC brought in a star-studded top 10 recruiting class in 2023 to create a base for the future, all while transforming the top part of the roster with 36 transfers — so far, anyway — in the past two classes.

“It speaks to this place and what it’s capable of,” Riley told ESPN in a recent phone interview. “If you could bring in that type of class with all the uncertainty and still rebuild the rest of the roster. I don’t know other places that could have gone through that overhaul and still done that.

“Any lingering question out there, ‘Does USC still have the firepower it had in other great eras?’ This is as good an indication as you could look at.”

By the time USC kicks off next year, at least 55 of the 85 scholarship players will be additions since Riley’s hire following the 2021 regular season. (There are at least 60 total players, as that number doesn’t include the five players like receiver Jordan Addison and tailback Travis Dye who have come through and departed already.)

Riley’s burgeoning recruiting juggernaut at USC includes luaus doubling as recruiting dinners at his Palos Verdes mansion, Pacific Ocean beach trips for out-of-town recruits and courtside breakfasts at Crypto.com Arena to remind everyone of legends like Kobe and Shaq who’ve played in town.

Beyond the flash, USC’s quintessential modern roster overhaul may end up being remembered as the archetype of how to flip a program in the new age of college football. With the transfer portal, one-time transfer rules and waiver of annual counter limits, roster remakes have changed seismically in the past five years. At USC, the changes have come thanks to a 17-month sprint that’s included his staff learning a new school and city with the unexpected twist of recruiting to a new league after USC’s sudden jump to the Big Ten last summer.

USC’s roster refurbishment came from two directions. Riley began last spring with what he referred to as the “most unique roster” in USC history. The 25 transfers broke down this way — 20 from a four-year university, four from junior college and one international player, according to the school. They added just 13 high school recruits.

This year, those numbers were essentially reversed. USC brought in 22 high school players and 11 transfers — again, so far — in Riley’s first full recruiting class.

The No. 10 recruiting class in ESPN’s 2023 rankings is highlighted by offensive skill, starting with ESPN’s No. 1 overall recruit, local quarterback Malachi Nelson (Los Alamitos). They also bring in the country’s top two wide receivers — the No. 7 player in Zachariah Branch (Las Vegas) and the No. 13 player in local star Makai Lemon (Los Alamitos). The recent addition of the top tight end in the class, No. 40 recruit Duce Robinson, gives the class a final critical bedrock from high school.

USC football general manager Dave Emerick pointed out that Riley’s commitment to recruiting includes getting involved early in the players’ careers and building deep relationships with them and their families. Branch’s first listed power offer came from Oklahoma during Riley’s tenure there in February 2020, and both Nelson (July 2021) and Lemon (August 2021) were verbal commitments to Riley at Oklahoma before flipping to USC soon after he left Norman.

Riley said what he has appreciated most about his staff’s recruiting effort is that with all the energy geared toward portal players, they still found the time for the phone calls, road hours and rapport building for the first full recruiting class.

“This 2023 class, to bring in that quality of a class,” he said. “And, oh by the way, you’re also rebuilding half or, honestly more, of the older part of your roster. I think that’s gotten lost in translation a little bit.

“For us to sit back 1½ years later having rebuilt the upper part of our roster in the way we did and bring in the quality of high school players on top of that, it was a monumental effort and a testament to this place.”

Perhaps only TCU (5-7 to 13-2), Washington (4-8 to 11-2) and LSU (6-7 to 10-4) executed comparable on-field turnarounds with a first-year coach at a program with national title aspirations. (Only LSU had similar recruiting success.) Traditional strong brands like Florida (6-7), Miami (5-7) and Oklahoma (6-7) all endured transition years, which are normal when head coaches depart.

If USC is going to build on the momentum, they’ll need to beef up on the defensive side of the ball. The Trojans finished outside the top 100 nationally last season in total defense (423.9), passing yards allowed (264.1) and third-down defense (43.2%). There’s a reason that USC brought in six defensive transfers in the 2023 class.

But there are early signs of improvement on defense, which looms as the biggest impediment to USC’s CFP aspirations. Riley’s excitement about early enrollee inside linebacker Tackett Curtis was clear, as he said he hasn’t been around a player at that position who has had a better spring after arriving to college early. “We’ve been thrilled with him,” Riley said.

Anyone who watched USC give up the most yards per game and per play (6.5) in program history last year realized the Trojans were deficient on the front seven. That’s why Riley said they’ve remained aggressive in those areas in the transfer portal, as five of the six defensive transfers are in the front seven. Those include interior defensive lineman Kyon Barrs (Arizona) and linebacker Mason Cobb (Oklahoma State), who were both second-team all-league performers at their prior schools.

“The talent base on the front seven, just watching us now in the spring, there’s a giant difference now,” Riley said. “We’ve got a few guys to get here in June. We’re getting closer to getting the talent base to where we want it.”

It’s difficult to discern how much of USC’s recruiting success can be attributed to name, image and likeness. Riley said upon the new staff’s arrival that USC’s NIL required a similar jump-start to the roster. He compares the leap in the effectiveness of the NIL program to the “radical” progress the roster has taken, calling USC’s NIL availability “very good and rapidly getting better.”

The next class USC brings in will play exclusively in the Big Ten, and it’s something Riley and Emerick say has been greeted well on the recruiting trail. Riley said some of the games USC will play are essentially Rose Bowl matchups, only now they’ll happen every year — think Ohio State or Penn State.

Riley expects questions about the league switch to pick up in the coming year. He’s frequently asked about travel and referenced a study that USC did to counter one of the biggest arguments against the move. After UCLA, the closest conference game is at Nebraska, which is nearly 1,300 miles away.

Riley said that compared to normal years in the Pac-12, the Trojans will end up on planes four to six more hours, perhaps an hour longer per trip. He called the travel questions a “nonissue” for football and added that they are fortunate flying east to west on the way home, as they’ll gain hours coming back.

“We’re selling that you’re going to have an opportunity to build your brand across the country — from New York to Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles,” Emerick said. “All those markets. In this day and age of NIL, the opportunity to build a nationwide brand is something that’s unique.”

There’s still a lot of work to be done for USC to catch the ghosts of its championship past. But 17 months into Riley’s tenure, he’s confident in both the foundation that’s been put in place and USC’s ability to continue to attract top talent.

“It wasn’t as if we won some games so the roster was fixed,” he said. “[The number of transfers] will taper down as time goes down, as there’s a few less immediate needs. As the portal recruiting tapers down, the high school recruiting will go up.”

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Beloved Brewers broadcaster Uecker dies at 90

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January 16, 2025

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Beloved Brewers broadcaster Uecker dies at 90

  • ESPN News Services

Jan 16, 2025, 11:00 AM ET

MILWAUKEE — Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a short playing career earned the moniker “Mr. Baseball” and honors from the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 90.

The team announced Uecker died Thursday morning, calling it “one of the most difficult days in Milwaukee Brewers history.” In a statement released by the club, Uecker’s family said he had battled small cell lung cancer since early 2023.

“Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, never allowing his spirit to falter,” the family said.

“Bob was the genuine item: always the funniest person in any room he was in, and always an outstanding ambassador for our National Pastime,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We are grateful for this baseball life like no other, and we will never forget him. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest sympathy to Bob’s family, his many friends across the game, Brewers fans, and the countless baseball fans who admired him.”

Uecker was best known as a colorful comedian and broadcaster who earned his nickname during one of his numerous appearances on Johnny Carson’s late-night show.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Uecker was a beloved member of the baseball community and a pillar of the sport in Wisconsin.

When the Brewers clinched the NL Central title in 2024, manager Pat Murphy threw an arm around Uecker in the locker room, pulling him in tight as players white-knuckled their corks, ready to shower him in champagne.

“There is no one — there is no one — who epitomizes a champion the way this man does right here,” Murphy proclaimed as the players chanted “UUUUUECK.”

“What an example for us to be with every single day — Bob Uecker.”

Uecker signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the majors in 1962. He’d last six seasons in the big leagues as a backup catcher, finishing with a .200 average and 14 homers.

He won a World Series ring with St. Louis in 1964 and also played for Atlanta and Philadelphia.

“Career highlights? I had two,” he often joked. “I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax, and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.”

Uecker also befriended former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who initially hired him as a scout. Selig liked to joke about how Uecker’s initial scouting report was stained with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Selig eventually brought Uecker to the broadcast booth. Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971, in the second year after the team moved from Seattle.

Uecker remained with the club from that point on and became one of the Brewers’ most indelible figures. Brewers manager Craig Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area and remembered spending summer days throwing a baseball against the roof and catching it while listening to Uecker’s broadcasts.

“There’s no single person in this franchise’s history who has been as iconic and as important as Bob Uecker,” said Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers’ broadcast team since 2015.

Even as his celebrity status grew nationwide, Uecker savored the opportunity to continue calling games to fans in his hometown.

“To be able to do a game each and every day throughout the summer and talk to people every day at 6:30 for a night game, you become part of people’s families,” Uecker once said. “I know that because I get mail from people that tell me that. That’s part of the reward for being here, just to be recognized by the way you talk, the way you describe a game, whatever.”

Uecker was honored by the Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003 and spent nearly 20 minutes keeping the Cooperstown, New York, crowd of about 18,000 in stitches.

“I still — and this is not sour grapes by any means — still think I should have gone in as a player,” he quipped.

“Ueck” got his big break off the field after opening for Don Rickles at Al Hirt’s nightclub in Atlanta in 1969. That performance caught Hirt’s attention, and the musician set him up to appear on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson. He became one of Carson’s favorite guests, making more than 100 appearances.

Carson was the one who dubbed Uecker “Mr. Baseball.” And the name stuck.

But Uecker’s comedy was just a part of his abilities. His warm storytelling and delivery made him a natural to become one of the first color commentators on network TV broadcasts in the 1970s with ABC. In the ’90s, he teamed up with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan for the World Series.

From there, Uecker reached most households as one of the Miller Lite All-Stars in popular commercials for the beer brand based out of Milwaukee and he later launched his TV acting career in 1985 on the ABC sitcom, “Mr. Belvedere.”

Uecker played George Owens during the successful 122-episode run of the series that lasted six years, as the head of the family and sportswriter in a home that brings in a butler who struggles to adapt to an American household.

In a bit of casting that kept things pretty close to home, Uecker also played a prominent role in the movies “Major League” (1989) and “Major League II” (1994) as crass announcer Harry Doyle for a down-and-out Cleveland franchise that finds a way to become playoff contenders.

“I’m part of American folklore, I guess,” Uecker told The Associated Press in 2003. “But I’m not a Hollywood guy. Baseball and broadcasting are in my blood.”

His wry description of a badly wayward pitch — “Juuuust a bit outside!” — in the movie is still often-repeated by announcers and fans at ballparks all over.

Uecker’s acting left some to believe he was more about being funny than a serious baseball announcer, but his tenure and observations with the Brewers were spot on, especially when games were tight. Equally enjoyable were games that weren’t, when Uecker would tell stories about other major leaguers, his own career and his hobbies as an avid fisherman and golfer.

“I don’t think anyone wants to hear somebody screwing around when you got a good game going,” Uecker said. “I think people see ‘Major League’ and they think Harry Doyle and figure that’s what Bob Uecker does. I do that sometimes, I do. But when we’ve got a good game going, I don’t mess around.”

In his later years, he took a serious approach to his health, swimming daily leading up to heart surgery in April 2010. Very soon after the procedures, doctors said Uecker returned to walking several miles and was ahead in recovery.

Uecker pushed to return to the booth and began calling games again in July, saying he bribed the doctors by allowing them to throw out the first pitch.

“You talk about all the things Bob has done, he never wanted to leave Milwaukee,” Selig said. “Above all, he made himself into a great play-by-play announcer. That’s what he did. He’s everything to this franchise and loves every minute of it.”

Uecker’s own career provided him most of his material. His former teammates said Uecker would do impressions of other broadcasters on the bus, but Uecker turned the spotlight on himself after his playing career was over.

“I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for $3,000. That bothered my dad at the time because he didn’t have that kind of dough,” he said. “But he eventually scraped it up.”

Another classic: “When I came up to bat with three men on and two outs in the ninth, I looked in the other team’s dugout and they were already in street clothes.”

Uecker also presided over the stirring ceremony that closed Milwaukee County Stadium in 2000. When the Brewers’ new stadium opened as Miller Park in 2001, the team began selling “Uecker Seats” high in the upper deck and obstructed for a $1.

The stadium, now known as American Family Field, has two statues in Uecker’s honor. There’s a statue outside the stadium and another one in the back of Section 422, a nod to the Miller Lite commercial in which he famously said, “I must be in the front row!” while getting taken to one of the worst seats in the ballpark.

After the Brewers were eliminated from the playoffs in 2024, Uecker’s last season, he made sure to visit the locker room and offer support to players in a way only he could.

“That was kind of tough. All the other stuff, it is what it is. … Talking to Ukie, one on one, was tough,” outfielder Christian Yelich said at the time. “He means a lot. He means a lot. I’ve gotten to know him pretty good over the last seven years. … He’s right over there. Just a great guy, a great guy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sources: Belichick adds 2 veteran coaches to staff

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January 16, 2025

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Sources: Belichick adds 2 veteran coaches to staff

  • Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports InsiderJan 15, 2025, 06:16 PM ET

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      College Football Senior Writer for ESPN. Insider for College Gameday.

Bill Belichick’s first coaching staff at North Carolina continues to come together.

Longtime NFL special teams coach Mike Priefer and veteran SEC offensive line coach Will Friend are expected to finalize deals to join Belichick’s staff, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

After coaching for nearly a decade in college, Priefer moved to the NFL in 2002 and was a special teams coordinator from 2006 to 2022. He is noted in Cleveland Browns history as serving as the head coach in a January 2021 wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is the franchise’s only postseason win since the 1994 season. Priefer stepped in for Kevin Stefanski, who watched the game at home with COVID.

Priefer was the special teams coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs (2006-08), Denver Broncos (2009-10), Minnesota Vikings (2011-18) and Browns (2019-22). He brings ties to the Naval Academy, something he shares with Belichick and his family. Priefer is a Navy graduate and served as a graduate assistant there.

Friend worked last season as Western Kentucky‘s offensive coordinator. He brings strong recruiting ties in the South, having worked at Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State as the offensive line coach. He has also worked as the offensive coordinator at Colorado State and WKU.

Friend has a long history of developing linemen for the NFL.

With Priefer and Friend, there are six known members of Belichick’s staff, which includes longtime NFL coach Freddie Kitchens as the offensive coordinator and veteran NFL coach Stephen Belichick as the defensive coordinator.

The hires line up the objectives of Belichick, who has stressed that he wants to run the Tar Heels like a NFL program.

Before taking the UNC job, Belichick told ESPN’s Pat McAfee that if he were to run a college program, it would be a “pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL.”

He added: “It would be a professional program. Training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at a college level and an education that would get the players ready for their career after football.”

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Longhorns QB Ewers declares for ’25 NFL draft

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January 16, 2025

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Longhorns QB Ewers declares for '25 NFL draft

  • Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports InsiderJan 15, 2025, 11:42 AM ET

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      College Football Senior Writer for ESPN. Insider for College Gameday.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is declaring for the NFL draft, he announced in a video on social media.

The decision ends a career at Texas that saw him help revive the program from a 5-7 season in 2021 and lead the Longhorns to their only two College Football Playoff appearances, in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Ewers went 21-5 as a starter the past two years and to two CFP semifinal appearances. In his career, he led Texas to wins at Alabama and at Michigan, led it to the Big 12 title in 2023 and to consecutive College Football Playoff wins over Clemson and Arizona State this season. Those are Texas’ only College Football Playoff victories since that format began in 2014.

Ewers played in 36 total games for the Longhorns after transferring from Ohio State. He threw for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns in his three seasons in Austin, completing 64.9% of his passes.

Ewers’ decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He told ESPN’s “College GameDay” in an interview that aired before the Cotton Bowl on Friday that he did not expect to return to college football next year.

When asked about what he hoped his Texas legacy would be, Ewers said: “A great teammate that pushed his teammates to be the best that they could be, but pushed himself to be the best that he could be, so he’s able to say things like that. And, you know, one of the best to ever do it here.”

Ewers finished tied for fourth all time for wins by a Texas quarterback with 27, tying Sam Ehlinger and training only Colt McCoy (45), Vince Young (30) and Bobby Layne (28), per ESPN Research.

When asked what it’s like to be in the conversation with those Longhorns legends, Ewers told ESPN before the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: “It’s definitely special. I mean, growing up, you know, seeing Colt McCoy play, you know, watching highlights of Vince Young, you know, obviously I was really young whenever he was playing but just hearing all the stories and, you know, the legacy that they left behind. It’s unreal to even be in the conversation with those guys.”

Ewers will be a fascinating draft prospect, as one general manager told ESPN that among his scouts there was a “wild variance” of opinions. His three years in the offensive system with Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, pure arm talent and consistent production will be positives. He’s expected to perform well in the workout and interview portions of the draft process, with time in a sophisticated offense a positive in the eyes of the NFL.

Ewers was the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, per ESPN’s rankings, and came out of high school a year early in the Class of 2021 and attended Ohio State for a semester. Part of the allure of that decision was opportunities for name, image and likeness that wouldn’t have been available if he’d stayed in Texas for his senior year of high school at Southlake Carroll High School in the Dallas area.

That trailblazing decision began a college career that played out in a fishbowl. He transferred to Texas in December, with Texas in the wake of a 5-7 season. For Sarkisian, Ewers’ decision loomed large.

“For him to come back home, I think sent a little bit of a message to everybody that we’re trying to recruit the best players, not only around the country, but in the state of Texas,” Sarkisian told ESPN before the Cotton Bowl. “And for him to come home, I think then rallied a few other guys to want to stay home. It kind of started that process of us signing a great class and we built on it from there.”

Ewers’ departure puts the program in Arch Manning‘s hands as the starter in 2025. The son of Cooper Manning, grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning passed for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for four TDs this season.

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