The Jim Harbaugh derby for NFL teams is about to heat up.
The Los Angeles Chargers are set to be the first NFL team to meet with Harbaugh about their head-coaching vacancy and will interview the Michigan coach Monday, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Neither Harbaugh nor the Chargers are expected to make a decision imminently, sources told Schefter. Harbaugh will be deliberate with any decision he makes about his future, while he Chargers still have other candidates that they plan to interview.
Harbaugh, who previously coached in the NFL, has a prior relationship with the Chargers and the Spanos family that owns the team. He played for the Bolts in 1999 and 2000 before retiring after the 2001 season.
The Chargers are looking for a new coach and general manager after Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco were fired on Dec. 15, a day after a 63-21 loss in Las Vegas to the Raiders.
Asked about possible interest in the NFL and then about the Chargers during an availability at Disneyland before the Rose Bowl on Dec. 27, Harbaugh gave the same answer to both questions.
“Such a one-track mind. That’s the way we’re going about things. Literally, whatever day we’re in, looking to get the most out of it, dominate the day, then we’re going to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and see if we can’t dominate that day,” he said. “It’s a single-minded group. Just very focused on taking care of business today and see if we can’t do the same tomorrow.”
Harbaugh has spent the last week decompressing after the Wolverines beat Washington 34-13 in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship. Michigan held a parade and ceremony to celebrate its national title Saturday.
Harbaugh, 60, has been at Michigan for nine seasons and has an 86-25 record. His tenure at his alma mater has been longer than most people expected when he was hired in 2015. He was at the University of San Diego for three seasons (2004-06), Stanford for four (2007-2010) and the San Francisco 49ers for four (2011-14).
To prepare for a possible NFL return, Harbaugh recently hired Don Yee as his new agent. Yee is known for his representation of another famous Michigan quarterback — seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady — but the Pasadena-based agent also represents Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, who was the most sought-after coaching free agent last year.
Harbaugh has not hidden his interest in a potential return to the NFL. He led the 49ers to a 44-19-1 record and an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII, where the Niners lost to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by his brother, John.
Jim Harbaugh has had NFL flirtations the past two years. He interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings two years ago and had discussions with the Broncos and Carolina Panthers last year.
Despite leading Michigan to its first national title since 1997, it was a frustrating year for Harbaugh. He was suspended for the first three games by the NCAA for a Level I violation because the association concluded he misled investigators. Harbaugh then was suspended for the final three regular-season games by the Big Ten for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy over alleged sign stealing.
Michigan has received a notice of allegations for Level II NCAA violations over recruiting during the pandemic.
The Chargers have conducted seven interviews about their vacancy. They interviewed interim coach Giff Smith and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore on Tuesday, Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham on Thursday and Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken on Friday. On Saturday, they interviewed two defensive coordinators: San Francisco’s Steve Wilks and Baltimore’s Mike Macdonald. And on Sunday, they interviewed former Minnesota Vikings coach and Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Even though Monken, Wilks and Macdonald are working for playoff teams, they were allowed to interview virtually under the league’s revised policy for head-coaching interviews, since their teams are off this week because they are the top seeds in their respective conferences.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone after a hard fall in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.
After his series-leading sixth victory, Zilisch was climbing onto the roof of his No. 88 Chevrolet to celebrate. He slipped after apparently getting his left foot caught in the driver’s side window netting and tumbled awkwardly onto the asphalt.
Zilisch, 19, was taken on a backboard to the trackside medical center and then transported to a hospital for further evaluation. He posted on X about two hours later that he had a broken collarbone and that CT scans showed no head injury.
“Thank you everybody for reaching out today,” Zilisch posted. “I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.”
Thank you everybody for reaching out today. I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankfully, CT scans for my head are clear, I just have a broken collarbone. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.❤️
Zilisch will not be available for the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen. After racing in the Truck and Xfinity Series the past two days at the road course, he was scheduled to complete a tripleheader by making his fourth Cup start this season for Trackhouse Racing.
The scary incident capped an eventful day for Zilisch, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team.
After starting from the pole position, Zilisch wrecked teammate Shane van Gisbergen’s car while battling for the lead on Lap 65. After being bumped from the lead to fifth on a restart, Zilisch retook first and led the final four laps.
“He did such a great job of getting back through the field and getting the lead,” crew chief Mardy Lindley told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race. “Praying for Connor right now that he’s OK. I think he’s going to be fine.”
Zilisch missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He has 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return.
NEW YORK — Roger Clemens came back to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, and so did the questions about his bat-throwing incident with Mike Piazza in the World Series 25 years earlier.
Piazza was batting against Clemens in the first inning of Game 2 of the 2000 World Series when his bat shattered along the first-base line. Clemens picked up part of it and fired it toward the Hall of Fame catcher.
Clemens made his debut in the Yankees’ Old-Timers’ Day game Saturday and faced four batters in the first exhibition game of the event since 2019. His manager on the 2000 championship team defended the pitcher’s actions in that at-bat against Piazza.
“There’s still a question with the broken bat, with Piazza and the whole thing in Game 2,” Joe Torre said at the podium right as Clemens walked in. “I think if Mike knew that the ball was foul, he wouldn’t have been starting to run to first base. That ball went over the first-base dugout, was foul right away. He didn’t know where it was, so he started running.”
Clemens made his first appearance as the Yankees honored the 2000 team, the last team to win three straight titles. Clemens heard a nice hand from the crowd as a montage of his highlights played on the center-field video board — omitting his notorious toss at Piazza.
“I didn’t know he was running, and Mike said that same thing, too,” Clemens said. “He didn’t know where the baseball was. So my first instinct when I shattered that bat in about four pieces, I thought it was a baseball coming at me.”
The Yankees went a combined 22-3 in the 1998 and 1999 postseasons but struggled at times in 2000, losing 15 of their final 18 regular-season games, before outlasting the A’s by winning a Game 5 on the road in their division series. After beating Seattle in a six-game ALCS, the Yankees beat the Mets in a five-game Fall Classic where every game was decided by two or fewer runs.
Clemens joined the Yankees in a trade with Toronto during spring training in 1999. He was 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA in 1999 and then 13-8 with a 3.70 ERA in 2000. During the postseason, Clemens won three games, including Game 2 against the Mets.
“When he was on the other team, you didn’t like him very much,” Torre said.
After two seasons of an on-field Q&A session with radio broadcaster Suzyn Waldman, the game has returned, and Johnny Damon hit an RBI single off Clemens.
Clemens was among several 2000 Yankees at the event, which did not feature former captain Derek Jeter. Jeter delivered a taped video message after Mariano Rivera was the final player introduced.
“He was in spring training,” fellow pitcher Andy Pettitte said of Clemens. “So it was good to see him in spring training and then of course here. A huge part of our 2000 team, and it was good.”
The only former player not introduced was current manager Aaron Boone, whose team entered Saturday with six losses in seven games.
A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens went 354-184 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts, third behind Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875). In two stints with the Yankees, Clemens was 83-42 with a 4.01 ERA and retired after the 2007 season.
He was named in the Mitchell report in December 2007 but has denied PED usage. In his final year on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot in 2022, Clemens received 257 votes (65.2%).
Besides members of the 2000 team, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Ron Guidry, Bucky Dent and Mickey Rivers were introduced as members of the 1977 and 1978 World Series teams.
The widows of five-time manager Billy Martin, captain Thurman Munson and player-then-broadcaster Bobby Murcer were also introduced as part of an event that began in 1947, when Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth first appeared.
CHICAGO –The White Sox threw a party that would have made Bill Veeck proud.
The club celebrated its quirky former owner with Bill Veeck Night on Saturday by bringing back some of the stunts, tricks and exhibitions that added to the lore of the legendary showman and Hall of Famer.
There was a pregame petting zoo and a roving circus with — what else? — a clown to entertain fans entering Rate Field. There was ice sculpting on the concourse in the outfield and a chance to get a photo taken with a 50-foot hot dog, along with an offer of free haircuts. The first 15,000 fans received a Veeck bobblehead, and postgame fireworks were planned.
Another highlight was what the team described as a “married in a minute” event, with two White Sox fans tying the knot in a 60-second ceremony officiated by 1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle.
Veeck’s son, Mike, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox took on the Cleveland Guardians.
The fun wasn’t limited to fans in the stands. White Sox players turned back the clock by wearing pinstriped shorts during pregame warmups and batting practice. The team wore those unusual shorts — along with collared uniform tops — for some games during the 1976 season.
Veeck was a two-time owner of the White Sox, first from 1959-61 and again from 1975-81. His tenure was marked by memorable and forgettable stunts to enhance the fans’ game-day experience through entertainment.
His stunts included an exploding scoreboard in 1960 and a disastrous disco demolition night in 1979, when a crate of disco records was blown up between games of a doubleheader. The playing surface at Comiskey Field was so damaged by the blast and fans who rushed the field after the stunt that Chicago was forced to forfeit the second game to Detroit.
Another of his famous acts was signing 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to be a pinch hitter in 1951, when Veeck owned the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel, who had a miniscule strike zone, walked on four pitches.
Veeck died in 1986 at 71 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
