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Former NFL quarterback Mike Vick has accepted the head coaching job at Norfolk State, he announced on social media Tuesday night.

Sources confirmed to ESPN’s Pete Thamel earlier Tuesday that the Spartans were finalizing the deal with Vick, but Norfolk State officials declined to comment on Vick specifically when reached by ESPN. The officials said they would not release a statement Tuesday but planned to release one soon, indicating they were going through the formal steps of their hiring process.

Sources told ESPN that Vick, 44, informed Sacramento State officials that he was no longer in the mix for their open head coaching position and indicated to them he was taking a job closer to home at Norfolk State. Vick’s hometown of Newport News, Virginia, is about 20 miles from the Spartans’ campus.

In announcing his decision to join the Spartans, Vick wrote that he was “looking forward to coming back home.”

Norfolk State fired coach Dawson Odums in November after a 4-8 season. The historically Black school plays in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Spartans have made one appearance in the FCS playoffs, losing in the first round to in-state rival Old Dominion in 2011.

As a player, Vick carried Virginia Tech to the 1999 national title game and went on to become the first Black quarterback to be chosen with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. He has been an NFL analyst for Fox Sports since his retirement in 2017.

News of Vick’s plan to take the Norfolk State job was first reported by the Virginian-Pilot.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Sources: Salter gets shot to succeed QB Sanders

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Sources: Salter gets shot to succeed QB Sanders

Colorado has signed Liberty transfer quarterback Kaidon Salter, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

The Buffaloes are bringing in one of the most accomplished dual-threat quarterbacks in college football to compete for the chance to be Shedeur Sanders‘ successor in 2025. Salter started 29 games for the Flames and earned Conference USA MVP honors in 2023 while leading the program to a 13-1 season.

Salter has one remaining season of eligibility. He will compete with five-star freshman Julian Lewis, the second overall recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300, for the starting role as Colorado looks to replace Sanders, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and potential first overall draft pick.

Salter has accounted for 6,438 total yards of offense and 66 touchdowns during his two seasons in Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell’s spread option system. He has rushed for 1,676 yards since 2023, second among FBS quarterbacks behind Army‘s Bryson Daily (2,433).

In 2023, Salter led the first perfect regular season in Liberty history while throwing a school-record 32 touchdown passes. The Flames won the Conference USA title in their first season in the league and earned a New Year’s Six bowl bid in the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon. Liberty finished No. 25 in the final AP poll following a 45-6 loss to the Ducks.

Salter threw for 1,886 yards, rushed for 587 yards and scored 22 total touchdowns for the Flames during an 8-3 run this season. The Cedar Hill, Texas, native announced Dec. 2 that he planned to transfer and visited Syracuse before deciding to play for coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes.

After a breakthrough 9-3 season and a No. 23 finish in the College Football Playoff rankings, Colorado is looking to reload its roster via the transfer portal as Sanders and Heisman Trophy-winning two-way star Travis Hunter depart for the NFL.

The Buffaloes landed former Alabama defensive lineman Jehiem Oatis, the No. 1 defensive player in ESPN’s transfer rankings, earlier this week and have also secured commitments from tight end Zach Atkins (Northwest Missouri State), offensive lineman Carter Miller (UL Monroe), linebacker Reginald Hughes (Jacksonville State) and kicker Buck Buchanan (Louisiana Tech).

The Buffaloes will face No. 17 BYU in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28. The Big 12 opponents did not meet during the regular season and were part of a four-way tie for first place in the league standings.

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23XI, Front Row can compete in ’25 with charters

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23XI, Front Row can compete in '25 with charters

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR over an antitrust complaint were granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday that allows them to compete as chartered teams in the 2025 season.

23XI Racing, the team owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports refused in September to sign take-it-or-leave it revenue sharing offers made by NASCAR just 48 hours before the start of the playoffs.

A charter is essentially a franchise and guarantees prize money, a spot in the field each week, and other protections.

The teams had filed an antitrust suit alleging NASCAR is “monopolistic bullies” and had been denied in federal court in November a request to be recognized as “chartered” teams as the suit continues.

23XI and Front Row can now sign the charter agreements and still pursue the lawsuit. They also each were granted permission to purchase additional charters from Stewart Haas Racing, which closed its four-team shop at the end of the 2024 season, and NASCAR must approve the transfers to those teams.

” YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!” Hamlin wrote on social media.

It was needed win for 23XI. Tyler Reddick, who finished fourth in the 2024 Cup standings, had an opt-out clause in his contract that would have gone into effect Wednesday and made him a free agent if the team did not have a charter for next season.

Jordan had said he took the fight to court on behalf of all teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR had argued that the two teams simply do not like the terms of the final charter agreement and asked for the lawsuit be dismissed.

Both Front Row and 23XI want to expand from two full-time cars to three, and have agreements with SHR to purchase one charter each. SHR is now Haas Factory and has a charter for one car in 2025.

Until Wednesday’s injunction, 23XI and Front Row would have been forced to compete next season as “open” teams that don’t have the same protections or financial gains that come from holding a charter.

The teams contend they must be chartered under some of their contractual agreements with current sponsors and drivers, and competing next year as open teams will cause significant losses.

Earlier this month, the suit was transferred to a different judge than the one who heard the first round of arguments and ruled against the two teams in their request for a temporary injunction to be recognized in 2025 as chartered teams as the case proceeds.

“Here, the public interest strongly favors entry of a limited preliminary injunction in favor of the Plaintiffs during the 2025 NASCAR race season, both to give fans of stock car racing the opportunity to watch (and root for and against) the full slate of teams and to allow Plaintiffs’ antitrust legal challenges to be considered,” Judge Kenneth D. Bell wrote.

Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by Jordan, Hamlin and longtime Jordan adviser Curtis Polk.

Jenkins had told The Associated Press in October that the two teams stood to miss out on $45 million in combined revenue if they competed as un-chartered teams. But he was willing to do so for Front Row because he believed the case against NASCAR was winnable.

NASCAR had been operating with 36 chartered teams and four open spots since the charter agreement began in 2016.

NASCAR can appeal the ruling.

“The availability of multiple sports in the United States says nothing about NASCAR’s control of a major one of them in the same way that the availability of professional basketball and football did not lead to a finding that the NCAA was not a monopolist,” the judge ruled.

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Sanders heads to USC after year at New Mexico

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Sanders heads to USC after year at New Mexico

Former New Mexico running back Eli Sanders has committed to USC, he told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Sanders, who has one year of eligibility remaining and 1,766 career rushing yards, also announced his decision on social media.

The Trojans will be Sanders’ third stop during his college football career after he transferred to the Lobos from Iowa State last year.

Following a three-year stint in Ames during which he totaled 703 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Sanders slotted into the starting back role at New Mexico last season and had his best year yet.

The Oceanside, California, native rushed for 1,063 yards on 147 carries (7.2 yards per rush) and added nine touchdowns as well as 134 receiving yards.

Sanders is set to play a major role in USC’s backfield after stalwart Woody Marks (1,133 yards and nine touchdowns) declared for the NFL draft. Promising freshman back Quinten Joyner (478 yards, three touchdowns) also entered the transfer portal.

Following a 6-6 season, USC has had 18 players enter the transfer portal since it opened on Dec. 9.

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