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Georgia‘s Kirby Smart has received a new 10-year, $130 million deal that was approved by university officials Thursday in its annual athletics board of directors meeting. The deal makes Smart the highest-paid college football coach in the country and its first $13 million coach.

Smart, who was scheduled to earn $10.75 million this year under his old contract, will see his salary increase to $13 million annually, and that money is guaranteed for at least the first half of his contract. His new deal runs through the 2033 season. Smart could also earn up to $1.55 million in bonuses. He is entering his ninth season as Georgia’s coach. His Bulldogs captured back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and won an SEC-record 29 straight games before losing to Alabama last season in the SEC championship game.

“I continue to be grateful and humbled by our administration’s commitment to our football program,” Smart said in a statement. “The current culture in collegiate athletics is everchanging and as challenging as it has ever been, so I truly appreciate the leadership that our team is continually provided. I have an immense pride for representing my alma mater and look forward to that relationship continuing for many years to come.”

Alabama’s Nick Saban had previously been the country’s highest-paid college football coach until retiring in January. Smart passes Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who makes an average annual salary of $11.5 million. USC’s Lincoln Riley is also in the $11 million range in average salary, according to industry sources. Others making more than $10 million in average annual salary include Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer ($10.875 million), Texas’ Steve Sarkisian ($10.64 million) and Florida State’s Mike Norvell ($10.52 million). Sarkisian and Norvell both agreed to new deals taking them over the $10 million mark in January about the time of DeBoer’s hiring.

Since returning to his alma mater in 2016, Smart has guided the Bulldogs to two national championships, played for a third and won 13 or more games in each of the past three seasons. Georgia is the only team to have finished in the top seven of the final AP poll in each of the past seven seasons. With Saban retired, Smart is unbeaten against all active head coaches over the past five years.

Smart told ESPN last month: “I was brought here to win championships, but the thing I’m proudest of has been the consistency. I look back on Year 1 [when Georgia went 8-5] as a failure and not the standard, but every year after that we’ve been right there. Nobody else over that span can say they’ve finished in the top seven at the very end for seven straight years.”

Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks also received a raise and extension Thursday, taking his contract through 2030. He will make $1.275 million annually with $100,000 increases each year of the agreement.

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Irish jockey O’Sullivan, 24, dies after Thurles fall

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Irish jockey O'Sullivan, 24, dies after Thurles fall

Irish jockey Michael O’Sullivan died on Sunday, 10 days after sustaining injuries in a fall at Thurles Racecourse in Ireland, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) said.

O’Sullivan, aged 24, who has ridden 90 winners in Ireland and five in Britain, and his mount Wee Charlie were one of three fallers at the final fence in the second race on the Feb. 6 card.

O’Sullivan was treated on the course before being airlifted to hospital, where he was placed in intensive care.

“Michael sadly passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning surrounded by his loving family in Cork University Hospital,” Dr Jennifer Pugh, Chief Medical Officer of the IHRB, said in a statement.

His family took the decision to donate his organs, Pugh said.

“I have had the privilege of knowing Michael through his amateur and professional career and his dedication, modesty and kind nature always made him a pleasure to be around,” Pugh added.

“The O’Sullivan family have asked for privacy at this time.”

O’Sullivan turned professional in 2022 and he won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Fred Winter at Cheltenham the following year.

“Michael was an exceptionally talented young rider who was always popular in the weighroom and will be deeply missed by everyone in racing who had the pleasure of knowing him,” Darragh O’Loughlin, chief executive of the IHRB, said.

As a mark of respect, Sunday’s fixture at Punchestown and the point-to-point fixtures in Ireland have been cancelled.

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Granlund OT goal gives Finland 1st 4 Nations win

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Granlund OT goal gives Finland 1st 4 Nations win

MONTREAL — Mikael Granlund scored the overtime winner, and Finland beat Sweden 4-3 Saturday in an instant classic, back-and-forth game between the bitter rivals at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Granlund scored 1:49 into 3-on-3 OT, sending fans in Finland’s blue and white at Bell Centre to the exits cheering and chanting, “Suomi!”

“It’s always great to beat Sweden,” Granlund said in his postgame media availability.

Anton Lundell and Mikko Rantanen also scored for Finland, and Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in his debut at the NHL-run international tournament, including a pad stop on Mika Zibanejad seconds into overtime. Coach Antti Pennanen switched from Juuse Saros to Lankinen after his team lost 6-1 to the United States on Thursday night.

“I don’t think we needed to do much, we knew that there was a lot of good things we did in the game against USA,” Finland captain Aleksander Barkov said in his postgame interview on SportsNet. “Obviously, the result, 6-1, was not great, it did not look good. But I thought we did a lot of good things. And same thing today.”

Knocking off Sweden puts the Finns right back in it with one game for them left in round-robin play. The top two teams among the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland meet in the championship game next week in Boston.

Despite goals from Zibanejad and Rasmus Dahlin, the Swedes are in trouble and now might need some help to make the final. Filip Gustavsson was pulled after allowing two goals on four shots in the first period, and Linus Ullmark allowed two on 17 the rest of the way.

Finland also has a potential injury situation to monitor after Barkov came up limping from blocking a shot late in the second. The reigning Stanley Cup champion from the Florida Panthers continued playing through it.

“We got a little better, and played for a full 60-something minutes,” Barkov said. “We knew, playing against Sweden, even if it’s 4 a.m., it doesn’t matter. Everyone is going to be fired up. We came out hard, and we played really well.”

The U.S. faces Canada on Saturday night in the most anticipated game in Montreal, but Sweden and Finland put on quite the show in the matinee. Facing off 19 years after Sweden defeated Finland in the 2006 Olympic gold medal game in Turin, this time the Finns were on the winning end of an entertaining game featuring a blend of speed, skill and physicality — and some pushing and shoving after the whistles, which was expected of players from countries that do not like each other.

The tournament shifts to Boston, where Finland faces Canada on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET and Sweden plays the United States at 8 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Finland sits Saros after giving up 6 in loss to U.S.

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Finland sits Saros after giving up 6 in loss to U.S.

MONTREAL — Kevin Lankinen will start in net for Finland against Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday after Juuse Saros allowed six goals on 32 shots in a 6-1 loss to the United States in each team’s tournament opener, coach Antti Pennanen said.

“We have three good goalies,” Pennanen said after practice Friday. “It’s a good situation for us. Juuse, I think he was really good the first 40 minutes, but 6-1, so we need to do something. And Kevin, he has played good games lately, so that was behind that decision.”

Saros’ struggles stretched into the 4 Nations from his rough half-season-plus in the NHL with the Nashville Predators. The 29-year-old has lost 29 of his 41 starts, ranks 38th among goalies in goals-against average with a 2.95 and is 33rd in save percentage with an .899.

Asked how he would evaluate his performance against the U.S., Saros said: “Obviously you always want to help your team even more on games like that.”

Saros’ new, eight-year, $61.92 million contract does not even kick in until next season.

Lankinen is 19-8-7 for the Vancouver Canucks with a 2.53 GAA and a .905 save percentage, making just above the league minimum at $875,000. A late bloomer who was never drafted, he grinded through minor leagues in Finland and North America before breaking through.

“I feel like there’s still more — a lot more — to accomplish, so many more levels to step up to, and I feel like every single season so far has been good progress,” Lankinen said. “Some of the pieces are coming together, but at the same time I recognize there is so much more to achieve.”

Pennanen hinted at making other lineup changes after scratching Kaapo Kakko and Juuso Valimaki on Thursday night but would not reveal much. Valimaki said he was not playing.

“Could be, but tomorrow you will know about those,” Pennanen said. “Again, 6-1, I think you need to do something but I know more exactly tomorrow, and those changes are public tomorrow.”

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