MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Michael Annett, a former race car driver who made 436 combined starts in NASCAR’s three national touring series, has died. He was 39.

JR Motorsports, one of Annett’s former teams, posted the news on social media Friday. No cause of death was announced.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Annett family with the passing of our friend Michael Annett,” the team wrote. “Michael was a key member of JRM from 2017 until he retired in 2021 and was an important part in turning us into the four-car organization we remain today.”

According to NASCAR, Annett made 321 starts in the Xfinity Series, 158 of which came with JRM.

In 2019, Annett won the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet for his only win at the national level.

Annett, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, was also a two-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series. He won at Talladega Superspeedway in 2007 and took the series opener at Daytona in 2008.

“NASCAR is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former NASCAR driver Michael Annett,” the racing body said in a statement. “Michael was a respected competitor whose determination, professionalism, and positive spirit were felt by everyone in the garage. Throughout his career, he represented our sport with integrity and the passion of a true racer. NASCAR extends its condolences to Michael’s family and many friends.”

Penn State named Iowa State‘s Matt Campbell as its head football coach, the school announced Friday.

The deal, which will go before the compensation committee of the school’s board of trustees for final approval Monday, is for eight years, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

“Coach Campbell is, without a doubt, the right leader at the right time for Penn State Football,” athletic director Patrick Kraft said in a statement. “He is a stellar coach with a proven track record of success and his values, character and approach to leading student-athletes to success on and off the field align perfectly with the traditions and values of Penn State.”

Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history, met with Penn State officials Thursday night before negotiating a deal Friday. Iowa State quickly moved to hire Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers to replace Campbell.

In its search to replace longtime coach James Franklin, who was fired Oct. 12, Penn State shifted its focus to Campbell after BYU coach Kalani Sitake agreed to a long-term extension Tuesday to remain with the Cougars.

Campbell, a three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, led the Cyclones for 10 seasons and achieved eight winning seasons, two Big 12 championship game appearances and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oregon in 2020 for the school’s first top-10 finish.

Campbell, 46, went 72-55 during his decade at Iowa State, becoming its winningest coach last season, and went 35-15 as coach at Toledo from 2011 to 2015.

He will bring strong Midwest ties to the job as a Massillon, Ohio, native who began his college playing career at Pitt before winning three national championships as a player at Division III Mount Union.

This season, Iowa State started 5-0 and climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP poll before a four-game losing streak knocked the team out of the Big 12 title race. The Cyclones rallied with a three-game winning streak in November to go 8-4.

Last year, Iowa State went 11-3 and would have advanced to the College Football Playoff with a victory over Arizona State in the Big 12 title game. The program finished No. 15 in the AP poll after defeating Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Campbell and his coaching staff have developed 15 NFL draft picks over the past seven years, including NFL stars Brock Purdy, Breece Hall and David Montgomery. Defensive end Will McDonald IV became the first Cyclones player to be selected in the first round since 1973.

Before Campbell’s arrival, Iowa State hadn’t had a winning season since 2009 and hadn’t played in a Big 12 championship game. The Cyclones won 14 games against AP Top 25 opponents during his tenure.

Campbell had been a serious candidate for high-profile coaching jobs throughout his decade at Iowa State, including the Detroit Lions and USC, but preferred to stay in Ames and continue building a program that had never achieved a 10-win season until last year.

He was earning $5 million per year in total compensation at Iowa State after agreeing to a contract extension through 2032 with the school earlier this year.

Penn State ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 and was expected to compete for a national championship in 2025 after reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. Franklin was fired during a three-game losing streak to open Big Ten play that dropped the Nittany Lions out of the Top 25 at 3-3.

Franklin agreed to a five-year deal to become the coach at Virginia Tech on Nov. 17 and took a $9 million settlement with Penn State on the $49 million buyout that he was originally owed upon his firing.

Former Penn State interim coach Terry Smith agreed to a four-year deal to stay on staff and work with Campbell, sources told Thamel, confirming a report by Inside the Lions. Smith is a Penn State graduate who has been a linchpin on the school’s staff for the past 12 seasons. The Nittany Lions won their final three Big Ten games this year to become bowl-eligible at 6-6 under Smith.

UConn is finalizing a six-year deal with Toledo‘s Jason Candle to replace Jim Mora, who left to coach Colorado State, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Saturday.

Candle went 81-44 in 10 seasons at Toledo, with two MAC titles. He also coached the Rockets to a win in his debut as head coach, the Boca Raton Bowl in the 2015 season. Toledo was 8-4 this season and is awaiting a bowl assignment.

The 46-year-old Candle has been the top target of UConn’s search since the beginning, sources told Thamel. He visited campus Thursday, and the sides are expected to formalize the deal soon.

Mora is coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons at UConn, which hadn’t had one since 2007. Mora led UConn to three bowl seasons in his four years there; the school had been to only one bowl game in the previous 11 seasons.

UConn’s 2025 season (9-3) included a 2-1 mark against ACC schools, with wins over Duke and Boston College. UConn also had the distinction of not having any losses in regulation, as all three of its defeats came in overtime.