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Coaches like to preach worrying about the things a team can control and setting aside all the rest, which is a good message — right up until the moment the skies open and lightning strikes in the middle of a football game.

Or before the game begins if you’re the New Mexico Lobos. While traveling to play Auburn for a date on Saturday, New Mexico’s plan was diverted from Montgomery to Mobile. From Mobile, the Lobos used buses borrowed from the University of South Alabama. The Jaguars even sent food.

“[New Mexico] just said they needed some help, and so [South Alabama deputy athletics director Daniel McCarthy] was able to rally the troops quickly,” South Alabama athletics director Joel Erdmann told AL.com. “And it’s pretty admirable that people responded in the manner that they did. [Football chief of staff] John Clark … got them some pizzas for the road. They landed at [Mobile’s] Brookley [Field], got on four South Alabama buses and had pizzas waiting for them.”

On Saturday, the start of the Miami Hurricanes game against the visiting Ball State Cardinals was delayed more than two hours due to weather. North of Florida’s Coral Gables, in Gainesville, the Texas A&M Aggies led the Florida Gators 10-0 when the contest was paused at the end of the first quarter due to lightning.

Every program has a plan. During the offseason, operations managers crisscross the country for site visits then meticulously piece together flow charts for any conceivable contingency, including bad weather. But when the rain or lightning or remnants of a hurricane blow through, all those best-laid plans are still at the mercy of Mother Nature and, more practically, the often miserable conditions of the visitors locker room.

“You’re stuck in this crappy locker room,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, “and you don’t want to be in a crappy locker room more than you have to be.”

So, what do teams do when they’re squeezed into tight quarters for an indeterminate delay, sweaty and exhausted and hungry? Players try to sleep. Coaches attempt to refine the game plan. Operations staffers might even head to the concourse in search of a few dozen pizzas. In other words, it’s an all-hands-on-deck effort to keep 80-some players happy and comfortable in an utterly unpleasant situation. NCAA guidelines stipulate a 30-minute delay if there is a lightning delay within an eight-mile radius of a stadium; if there is another lightning strike during that time period, the clock restarts.

In 2024, we’ve seen other extended delays in Minnesota, West Virginia and Virginia during the early weeks of the season, and more interruptions are all but guaranteed.

“It does take its toll because players and coaches are used to a rhythm and a routine of a game day,” said Paul Federici, football operations director at the University of Iowa, “and this is one that is part of that disruption of rhythm that can’t be controlled. You talk through and plan for contingencies, most of which you may never use, but it’s good planning.”

There’s no perfect blueprint for handling the inevitable, but teams that have endured it at least leave with a good story to tell.

Chris LaSala remembers standing in the press box at Stillwater’s Boone Pickens Stadium in February 2016, looking out at the sprawling expanse of land that seemed to stretch endlessly outward toward an unreachable horizon.

LaSala, University of Pittsburgh’s associate athletics director for football administration, looked at his counterpart from Oklahoma State in amazement.

“It’s really flat out there,” he said.

“Oh, yeah,” the Cowboys operations manager responded. “When it storms, you can see it coming from miles away.”

Seven months later, with Pitt and Oklahoma State tied at 38 entering the fourth quarter of their Week 3 showdown, LaSala stared out toward that same horizon.

It was a wall of black, interrupted regularly by immense flashes of lightning — “dark and scary,” LaSala said.

Scary enough for the game to be delayed, with officials sending both teams off the field — the Cowboys to the cozy confines of the home team’s locker room, and the Panthers to a broom closet.

“I just remember crawling over people,” Pitt coach Narduzzi said. “Guys laying on the ground. There’s nowhere to walk. You’re crawling between people’s legs just to get to the next player.”

Pitt’s coaches were trying to go over plays and keep the players focused for the resumption of play, but that’s an impossible task in such cramped conditions.

“Most athletes during those times get completely cold and lose adrenaline,” said former Pitt wideout Tre Tipton, who was a freshman on that 2016 team. “And when your adrenaline goes down, you really understand what your teammates and you smell like.”

LaSala said his job was largely about keeping players comfortable — finding snacks and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches leftover from halftime or simply clearing enough space so it’s possible to stretch out and rest.

In this case, however, LaSala said matters were made worse because of how late in the game the delay occurred. Staff members already had started packing up the locker room for a quick postgame exit, and now equipment managers were busy unpacking the truck again to get players fresh undershirts and socks.

For Oklahoma State, the experience was a bit better.

Before the delay, Pitt had been red hot, erasing a 31-17 deficit with two long touchdown runs and a scoop-and-score on defense. But when the game resumed after a nearly two-hour delay, the Cowboys had a little extra spring in their step as compared with the downtrodden Panthers, who had four straight drives end in a punt before a late interception.

Rennie Childs scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Cowboys up 45-38 with 1:28 to play, and after securing the victory, coach Mike Gundy credited the delay with sparking Oklahoma State.

“I’ll be real honest with you: The delay saved us,” Gundy said in his postgame news conference. “We got a lot of coaching out of it. When the delay happened, I was OK with it, because I felt like we needed it to make some corrections. I felt like this was a good thing for us.”

That’s a summation Narduzzi agrees with, though he remembers it a little differently.

“It’s against the rules, but from everything I heard, Oklahoma State was sitting in their team room watching the first, second and third quarter of the game,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t want to throw Gundy under the bus. But Gundy knows.” — David Hale

The scene inside Iowa City’s Kinnick Stadium after midnight on Sept. 18, 2022, was strange in several ways.

First, a football game was still being played between Iowa and Nevada, after three lightning delays that totaled 3 hours, 56 minutes. The game began on Sept. 17 and concluded at 1:39 the following morning with the Hawkeyes prevailing 27-0. Iowa had been prepared for delays, but as the night went on, some stadium security staffers went home and some new fans showed up.

Paul Federici, University of Iowa’s longtime director of football operations, saw students walking in with 12-packs of Twisted Tea. Another student brought his dog into the stadium and sat behind the Iowa bench. A fan found a massive bag of popcorn that concession workers normally divide into smaller portions.

“This young fella had the full-size clear plastic bag of popcorn on the seat next to him behind the bench,” Federici recalled. “It had to be like a cubic yard of popcorn, but he was just crushing it in the last part of the game.”

The food rations for the teams were a bit less accessible, especially as the evening dragged on. Both Iowa and Nevada had “burned through” their in-game and postgame food, Federici said, due to the repeated delays, so they partnered up and used the vendor Aramark to restock both locker rooms. Iowa also contacted a Hy-Vee grocery store for ready-made sandwiches and wraps.

Any delay interrupts routines for teams, but multiple delays can add stress, especially for players debating whether to remove their pads and for those going through multiple warmup sessions, only to be called back.

“We came back out at one point and maybe ran a play or two, and we’re sent right back in again,” Federici said. “That on again, off again is not desirable, for sure, but we’re dealing with weather, so it’s not a great certainty.”

Iowa worked with the National Weather Service and game operations staff to keep both coaching staffs informed as the night went along.

“It’s tough being on the road, and selfishly, I get a good feeling making sure that teams we host have the information and service and attention they need to get in and out, keep all their kids safe and have a good, competitive game,” Federici said. “Everybody, step by step, was kept really well-informed.

“That was a long evening.” — Adam Rittenberg

The state highway patrol in Iowa is called upon to clear congested routes for VIPs, including college teams traveling to and from games. On this afternoon, troopers were given a different assignment: getting the University of Iowa’s student managers from Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium in Ames to a local Hy-Vee grocery store and other eateries and back again as quickly and as safely as possible.

The Hawkeyes needed food after players ate their post-game meal during the first of two lightning delays at rival Iowa State. When the second delay arrived, during the second quarter, Iowa launched its food plan. Every week, Iowa’s Federici begins tracking weather six days before kickoff then takes a closer look 48 hours beforehand. The Hawkeyes knew bad weather was possible and had contingency plans, but they didn’t reach out to Hy-Vee and other places until the delay hit.

“We knew which stores were closest to campus,” Federici said. “We did not preorder anything. That’s a balance between making a purchase and committing to something that you don’t need and then having a lot of waste versus having a solid contingency plan.”

Federici contacted a “short list” of options, targeting places that had ready-made cold sandwiches or wraps.

“We made the calls and quickly figured out who could help us and who couldn’t,” Federici said. “Then we put people in the car and sent them along their way, with the university credit card.”

They returned with about 60 sandwiches or wraps, which helped Iowa players refuel during the long delay. There were other adjustments, including a shortened halftime. Federici had no complaints about the visitors locker room at Jack Trice Stadium, which was climate-controlled and allowed Hawkeyes players to remain “relaxed, hydrated and fueled.”

The game took 5 hours, 53 minutes to complete, but Iowa came away with an 18-17 triumph, making the wait worthwhile.

“It’s minute by minute,” Federici said. “We’re all improvising as we go.” — Rittenberg

As the season opener neared, Penn State football chief of staff Kevin Threlkel and Patrick Johnston, West Virginia’s assistant athletic director for football operations, tracked an ominous weather pattern.

There were projections ranging from a quarter of an inch of rain to two inches. They concluded that an afternoon storm was likely in Morgantown, and they began preparations for a moderate delay.

“What made this one different is we didn’t know how long it was going to be,” Johnston said. “If it’s going to be an hour, two hours or longer, have them take off pads, get off their feet and stay semi-locked in.”

Penn State, the visiting team, faced more obstacles. Threlkel made sure to stock up on socks, pants and other dry clothes if the players got drenched. The team placed a sandwich order at a local restaurant, which would deliver boxes during the first half. The visitors locker room at Milan Puskar Stadium is tight, and the Nittany Lions put benches and chairs in a covered tunnel just outside so that players could stretch and review film on tablets — which is permitted during games for the first time this season.

“We had a good game plan,” Threlkel said.

The storm came just after halftime, an ideal spot for a delay. Penn State didn’t even need its dry clothes.

When the delay began, West Virginia spread out, putting its offensive players in the weight room and the defense in the locker room. Haley Bishop, WVU’s director of sports nutrition, sprang into action, making sure players loaded up on protein and carbs, especially those prone to cramping. Bishop worked with a caterer to order sandwiches and had smoothies, beef jerky, fruit and even some junk food available for the pickier in-game eaters.

“Once [the delay] was announced, I told them it would be a while, ‘Here are three options, pick two,'” Bishop said. “I have a couple guys who really like Sour Patch Kids and Pop-Tarts. That’s not something I would normally give them, but I was definitely passing those out. They’re quick carbs and make it a little more fun.”

Players and others huddled around Johnston’s laptop, tracking the radar. At one point, staff from both teams and game operations officials met and outlined the logistics around a restart, but a nearby lightning strike pushed things back 30 minutes.

“That’s what makes it miserable, thinking that you’re going but then you’re not,” Johnston said. “I had a pretty good feeling it would be out between 3:50 and 4 [p.m.], based on what we were seeing on the radar, unless we caught one random [strike].”

After 2 hours, 19 minutes, the second half finally kicked off. Penn State maintained a comfortable lead and won 34-12, as the game ended at 5:59 p.m.

“We were really happy with how the players handled the situation, how we responded after it,” Threlkel said. “In those situations, we try to stay positive, instead of getting down.” — Rittenberg

When severe weather stopped the game in the second quarter, Cavaliers director of football operations Lindsey Morris knew exactly what to do.

The previous year, against James Madison, Virginia had learned a hard lesson during a weather delay that lasted more than an hour. The Cavaliers had Uncrustables sandwiches and pretzels to feed their players during the break but eventually ran out of snacks. When it returned to play, Virginia blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost. Coach Tony Elliott was adamant that the next time Virginia faced a weather delay, he wanted to be prepared with much more food.

So, as Virginia headed to the locker room against Richmond, Morris and the team nutritionists figured they would hop in their cars and go pick something up. But they soon discovered all roads coming back to Charlottesville’s Scott Stadium were closed.

Morris quickly called Virginia deputy athletics director and chief financial officer Steve Pritzker, who phoned Aramark, the company that provides food for the stadium’s concessions stands. Morris said she would take anything they had. Within 30 minutes, Aramark delivered to the Cavaliers’ locker room pulled chicken, baked beans, French fries, hot dogs, buns and sauces — food that had already been made but would have been thrown out with the concession stands closed during the delay.

If that was not enough thinking on the fly to solve a problem, Morris quickly had another one to solve. The hallway where the Cavs generally set up the tables for their snacks and postgame meal was being used by the coaching staff to go over plays from the first half and discuss the game plan. The locker room itself was so crowded with players, cheerleaders, support staff and others taking shelter from the storms that there was only one available space to set up the meal.

The bathroom.

“Before you get into our locker room, you walk through the bathroom — not the stalls, per se, but right around the corner there are stalls,” Morris said. “So, you walk through and that’s where we set the food up, which was absolutely disgusting. But when you’re hungry, you’ll do it.”

Morris said one player made his plate of food and sat on a toilet to eat it.

“It was just a really crazy experience, and I wish that I would’ve gotten it on video because people won’t believe you when you say that you set up a meal outside of urinals to make sure that they’re getting fed for a rain delay,” Morris said with a laugh.

Aramark brought so much food, players were able to have seconds. Morris said the company is still calculating how much the Cavaliers owe. But the plan to feed the team during the 2 hour, 17-minute delay worked. Virginia won 34-13.

“Everybody was trying to make sure these guys were fed,” Elliot said in his postgame comments. “They stayed very upbeat, stayed very engaged. Many times, you don’t get a shot at redemption. Really proud of the staff and guys for finding a way to finish.” — Andrea Adelson

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Olney: Yankees must replace Gerrit Cole — but they’ll probably have to wait

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March 11, 2025

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Olney: Yankees must replace Gerrit Cole -- but they'll probably have to wait

  • Buster OlneyMar 10, 2025, 06:15 PM ET

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    • Senior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com
    • Analyst/reporter ESPN television
    • Author of “The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty”

Gerrit Cole‘s season is over, now that he is headed for Tommy John surgery, and the New York Yankees will have to find a way to replicate the production of a Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, someone who is likely to one day make a speech on induction day in Cooperstown.

But this is not a case of a team being blindsided by an injury. Past injuries are the most predictive indicators for future injuries, and after Cole missed nearly the first three months of last season with nerve inflammation in his right elbow, the Yankees knew the chances of losing him were heightened. Their handling of his contract situation last fall was a strong indicator of the uncertainty around Cole.

The pitcher and his agent, Scott Boras, opted out of the last four years of his contract, while asking that the Yankees exercise a $36 million option for the 2029 season, effectively adding a fifth year to his four-year, $144 million deal. Owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman declined to do so, firmly holding the line, and days later, Cole returned to the Yankees without any augmentation of his contract. While the Yankees hoped Cole’s elbow would remain functional, as Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow did following a diagnosis of a partially torn ligament in 2014, they weren’t willing to bet another $36 million on it.

But that doesn’t help them very much right now, when they have lost two starting pitchers to significant arm injuries: Before Cole went down, Luis Gil — the American League Rookie of the Year last season — suffered a lat strain this spring that will keep him sidelined for much of the 2025 season. Max Fried, signed to a $218 million contract over the winter to improve a good rotation, will now be the de facto ace, in front of right-handers Clarke Schmidt and left-hander Carlos Rodon. A month ago, there was a lot of speculation about whether Marcus Stroman would be traded, given his standing as the sixth starter behind a five-man rotation, and now Stroman is needed as the No. 4 starter.

Cashman’s habit is to be patient — to weigh internal solutions before diving into another free agent signing or trade. When Cole was sidelined last spring, the Yankees thought Will Warren might step into his spot in the rotation, and instead, Gil surprisingly emerged to fill in for Cole and was one of the league’s best starting pitchers in the first half.

This year, Warren is having a very good spring, having allowed just two hits and a run in eight innings of work, with two walks and 11 strikeouts. Warren, an eighth-round pick out of Southeast Louisiana in 2021, is the front-runner to move into the Yankees’ rotation.

Just as the Yankees continue to weigh market options for hitting help while Giancarlo Stanton is attempting to work his way back from elbow trouble, they will consider free agent possibilities such as veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson. The Yankees paid for insurance on Cole’s contract, and so they will recoup some portion of the salary they owe him; typically, that rate is about 75%. His contract still counts against their competitive balance tax total, but the insurance money will significantly offset the luxury tax they will have to pay for the addition of any replacement: The Yankees are taxed dollar for dollar, 100%, for any additional player salaries they take on. A new $5 million player costs the Yankees $10 million.

Eventually, their best alternatives, if needed, could be through the trade market, and maybe that turns out to be the Miami Marlins‘ Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner who is back after an elbow reconstruction. Under the terms of a deal he signed with the Marlins early in his career, Alcantara is making $17.3 million this year and $17.3 million next season, and there is a $21 million option in his deal for 2027.

The Marlins are not expected to contend this year and have been in a cost-cutting mode since Peter Bendix took over the team’s baseball operations after the 2023 season. Last year, the Marlins demonstrated a willingness to deal very early in the season, when they swapped batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres in the first week of May.

But the price of a trade in April or May is usually set by the team dealing away a star, and the Yankees would have to pay a big price in prospects in the spring after a rough year for their farm system, which is generally regarded as thin by other teams and ranked No. 21 in Kiley McDaniel’s preseason system rankings. Additionally, the Yankees would presumably compete against other teams if and when the Marlins look to trade Alcantara, leaving them at the same disadvantage they faced when trying to pry Garrett Crochet away from the Chicago White Sox — before Chicago dealt him to the Boston Red Sox.

Over the course of the summer, Gil could return from the injured list, and other pitchers could emerge on the trade market as some teams drift out of contention. If the Toronto Blue Jays struggle in the first half, they could be a key source for all kinds of needs, including starting pitchers. Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer might all draw interest if Toronto ever looks to rebuild and, in the Yankees’ case, is willing to deal within the division.

One or more National League West teams could end up feeding the trade market. The Padres enter this season with high expectations after nearly knocking out the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer, but if San Diego drifts behind in the playoff race, it holds two of the best impending free agents, Dylan Cease and former Yankee Michael King. Similarly, the San Francisco Giants have veteran Robbie Ray, who is under contract for $25 million this year and next, and the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ Zac Gallen will become eligible for free agency in the fall.

Likewise, in the AL West, the Mariners have so far clung to their starting pitchers, like Luis Castillo, but that could change if Seattle sinks in the standings. The Astros demonstrated their willingness to be aggressive with players nearing free agency with their trade of outfielder Kyle Tucker, and if Houston hovers around .500, it could flip Framber Valdez into the market — with his years of postseason experience attractive to contenders.

The pitching market could be flush with options in a few months. And the Yankees might wait until then to make a move to cover for Cole’s absence.

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Yankees ace Cole will have Tommy John surgery

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Yankees ace Cole will have Tommy John surgery

  • Jorge CastilloMar 10, 2025, 06:08 PM ET

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      ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery, the team announced Monday, ending his 2025 season before it began and leaving the club staggering from another blow as it prepares to defend its American League pennant.

The decision to have the surgery, which will sideline Cole for the 2025 season and at least part of the 2026 season, was made after seeking a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday. Cole will undergo the procedure Tuesday at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. In a statement, the club said that “further updates will occur post surgery.”

Cole started two games this spring, giving up seven runs across six innings. On Thursday, he gave up six runs on five hits, including two home runs, over 2⅔ innings to the Minnesota Twins. He said he felt an “alarming” amount of pain that night into Friday morning, prompting him to notify the team and undergo imaging tests, which revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Cole, 34, went through the same series of stressful events a year ago: Elbow pain in mid-March, tests and opinions from doctors. But the result was different. Cole was diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema and, instead of surgery, he rested and rehabbed. He made his season debut on June 19 and pitched through the World Series without a setback.

In a statement he posted on Instagram later Monday, Cole said the surgery was a “necessary next step for my career,” adding that he has “a lot left to give, and I’m fully committed to the work ahead. I’ll attack my rehab every day and support the 2025 Yankees each step of the way. I love this game, I love competing, and I can’t wait to be back on the mound — stronger than ever.”

The ace logged 124 innings over 22 starts between the regular season and playoffs, tossing at least six innings in three of his five postseason outings. He then opted to alter his offseason throwing program by starting it earlier to continue his positive momentum. He said he was “in a really good spot” compared to other years at the start of camp.

But less than a month later, his season has been declared over.

Cole’s injury is the second major blow to the Yankees’ starting rotation this spring after Luis Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, sustained a lat strain that was expected to sideline him for at least three months.

Without the two right-handers, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt will top the Yankees’ starting rotation. Marcus Stroman, who was notably not expected to make the Opening Day rotation, is projected to slide into the No. 4 spot with Will Warren, a rookie who made his debut last season, and Carlos Carrasco, a soon-to-be-38-year-old veteran in camp as a non-roster invite, as the leading internal candidates to round out the quintet.

Other options in camp include right-hander Allan Winans, who has eight career starts on his résumé, and left-hander Brent Headrick, a starter in the minors who has never started a game in the majors.

The Yankees could also opt to sign a free agent — veterans Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn are among those available — or swing a trade for an established starter.

Cole, a six-time All-Star, won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award and was the runner-up two other seasons. He has tallied at least 200 innings in six of his 10 full seasons (not including last year and the COVID-shortened 2020 season). He is as close to an old-school frontline workhorse in his prime that exists in baseball. It’s why the Yankees chose to sign Cole, a lifelong Yankees fan, to a nine-year, $324 million deal with a no-trade clause in December 2019 — the largest contract given to a pitcher at the time.

The agreement included a player opt-out after last season that the Yankees could’ve voided by attaching another year and $36 million to the four years and $144 million remaining on his contract. Cole exercised the opt out, but he never became a free agent and didn’t receive the extra year. Instead, the two sides agreed to continue as if Cole didn’t opt out two days later, keeping him under contract through the 2028 season at $36 million per year.

The Yankees have insurance on Cole’s contract, which will allow them to recoup some money for the time he’s out.

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Yamamoto gem, Ohtani laser 2B fuel Dodgers’ win

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March 11, 2025

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Yamamoto gem, Ohtani laser 2B fuel Dodgers' win

  • ESPN News Services

Mar 10, 2025, 07:34 PM ET

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out seven over five impressive innings and Shohei Ohtani ripped a 118.5 mph double during the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ penultimate game of the spring schedule on Monday.

Yamamoto threw 75 pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Camelback Ranch. His fastball touched 97 mph and four of the seven strikeouts came on his splitter. The Japanese right-hander gave up one run on four hits in his final spring training start, walking one as the Dodgers went on to win 6-2.

Yamamoto is scheduled to start the Dodgers’ regular-season opener against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18. Ohtani is expected to be the designated hitter.

Ohtani’s third extra-base hit of the spring came in the first inning and the reigning National League MVP jogged into second base for the easy double. He grounded out in the second and struck out in the fourth.

Ohtani is 6 of 17 this spring (.353) with two doubles and a homer. The 30-year-old is trying to bounce back from offseason shoulder surgery.

Rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki is scheduled to start the final spring training game for the Dodgers on Tuesday. He’s expected to start the second Dodgers-Cubs game in Japan on March 19.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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