EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern promoted David Braun to its permanent football head coach in large part because of how he supported players after a tumultuous summer that put the team’s culture under intense scrutiny.
Braun, 38, was introduced as coach Thursday at the school’s indoor practice field, before many current players who applauded the man who has helped them to a 5-5 record as interim coach. Northwestern selected Braun, who joined the staff as defensive coordinator under former coach Pat Fitzgerald in January, and was named interim coach July 14, four days after the school fired Fitzgerald in the wake of hazing allegations within the program.
“I have been very clear that at Northwestern the well-being of our students comes first,” university president Michael Schill said. “It is only by prioritizing our students’ health, safety and well-being that we can enable excellence on the field, excellence in the classroom, that we can encourage the personal and intellectual growth that is fundamental to our mission as one of the greatest universities in the world. Anyone who has heard or talked with Coach Braun knows that he embodies these principles in just a short time since arriving at Northwestern.”
Schill said he met with Braun several times during the past few months and came away impressed with the coach’s commitment to the athletes. Northwestern is facing lawsuits from more than a dozen former football players, alleging hazing and other mistreatment while in the program. The university commissioned former U.S Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct reviews of the athletic department’s culture and its accountability mechanisms, which likely won’t be complete until 2024. After firing Fitzgerald, Schill said the football program’s culture, “while incredible in some ways, was broken in others” by hazing activities. No current or former players have been identified in any of the lawsuits filed.
Braun had quickly gained popularity among the players, many of whom took to social media after last week’s win at Wisconsin and used the hashtag #removethetag, referring to the interim tag. Northwestern has more victories this season than in the past two combined, and needs to win one of its last two games to get bowl-eligible for the first time since finishing No. 10 nationally in 2020.
After connecting well with North Dakota State’s players as defensive coordinator from 2019 to 2022, Braun said he didn’t know what type of locker room he would enter at Northwestern.
“I immediately was blown away with the quality of young men that make up this program,” Braun said. “The relationships that you know you’ve allowed us to build is something that that I absolutely cherish. I’ll be very clear: The opportunity that exists for our family only exists because of you guys. Your willingness to buy in and galvanize and come together in really embody what this football program is all about.”
Braun, who had never worked at a power conference program before Northwestern, thanked those who led the school’s coaching search for their “willingness to see beyond maybe what a résumé says.” He wants Northwestern to “double-down” on becoming one of the nation’s top developmental programs, and emphasized the need to retain players, amid a landscape where the transfer portal and name, image and likeness carry increased importance.
Although Braun was eager to resume his preparation for Saturday’s game against Purdue, he addressed his vision for Northwestern’s future.
“The Big Ten is evolving, college football is evolving, so you better know who you are,” Braun said. “You better know who you are as a university, you better know who you are as an athletic department, you better know who we are as a football program. We will prioritize the student-athlete experience. In every decision we make, the question will be asked: How does this affect the young men that are part of our program?”
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
World Series hero Miguel Rojas will return to the Los Angeles Dodgers for what will constitute his final season in the major leagues, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
Rojas, 36, agreed to terms on a one-year, $5.5 million contract for 2026 and will help in player development while also assisting the Dodgers front office in 2027, according to a source familiar with the agreement.
Relegated to the bench for most of the playoffs, Rojas was reinserted into the lineup for Game 6 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays and came up with a nifty scoop to complete a miraculous, game-ending 7-4 double play that saved the Dodgers’ season.
Roughly 24 hours later, Rojas hit the tying home run off Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman in the top of the ninth of Game 7, then made a tough play to get a force out at home in the bottom half, paving the way for Will Smith‘s game-winning home run in the 11th.
Rojas debuted with the Dodgers in 2014, returned to them in a trade with the Miami Marlins leading up to the 2023 season and went on to establish himself as a vocal leader on a star-laden team, while also becoming a pivotal resource for Mookie Betts in his transition to shortstop. A gifted fielder throughout his career, Rojas also enjoyed a bounce-back offensive season in 2025, slashing .262/.318/.397 while accumulating 2.1 Baseball Reference wins above replacement in 114 regular-season games.
As the season went on, Rojas spoke openly about his desire to play one more year before transitioning into a coaching role.
The Dodgers will provide him that opportunity.
El Extrabase first reported Rojas’ agreement with the Dodgers.
Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray apparently is looking forward to taking on his new team’s biggest rival, saying he’s happy to be in “a place where it’s easy to hate the Yankees.”
The Red Sox acquired the well-traveled Gray in a trade with the Cardinals last week, adding the durable pitcher to a starting rotation that was thin on options during Boston’s postseason ouster in New York.
Gray already is familiar with the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry after spending parts of two seasons in the Bronx earlier in his career, and the three-time All-Star didn’t mince words when discussing his experience in New York.
“It just wasn’t a good situation for me,” Gray told reporters Tuesday. “It wasn’t a great setup for me and my family. I never wanted to go there in the first place.”
That clearly wasn’t the case for Gray with the Red Sox, who needed the right-hander to waive his no-trade clause in order to complete their deal with the Cardinals.
“What did factor into my decision to come to Boston — it feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” he said. “It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge.”
Gray struggled to a 4.51 ERA — nearly a full run higher than his career numbers — during his 41-game run with the Yankees in 2017 and 2018. New York acquired Gray in a blockbuster deal with the Athletics only to trade him less than 18 months later to Cincinnati, where he began reviving his career with the Reds.
“When that was happening, and we were in Oakland and getting traded — that was a long time ago — I never wanted to go (to New York),” Gray said. “So then I was there, and it just didn’t really work for who I am. … I just wasn’t myself. I just didn’t feel like I was allowed to go out there and be Sonny.”
Gray, 36, has a 3.58 ERA over a 13-year career with the Athletics, Yankees, Reds, Twins and Cardinals. He joins a Red Sox rotation that is led by ace Garrett Crochet but also features a handful of unproven candidates after right-hander Brayan Bello.
Gray is the latest Red Sox pitcher to publicly say that he didn’t enjoy playing for the Yankees.
Star closer Aroldis Chapman said earlier this offseason that he would “retire on the spot” before playing for New York again, adding that he “dealt with a lot of disrespect” from Yankees management.
Gray, who is 66-50 with a 3.51 ERA in seven seasons since leaving the Yankees, acknowledged that he learned a great deal from his time in New York.
“I’ve been a better baseball player, husband, everything from having that experience and going through that,” he said.
Boston’s first series with the Yankees next season will be April 21-23 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox play their first series in Yankee Stadium from June 5-7.
If he ends up pitching for the Red Sox in the Bronx, Gray hinted that things will be different.
“This time around, it’s just go out and be yourself,” he said. “Don’t try to be anything other than yourself. If people don’t like it, it is what it is. I am who I am, and I’m OK with that.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — City officials in St. Petersburg showed off the newly enclosed dome at Tropicana Field on Wednesday and said they are confident the ballpark will be ready for the Tampa Bay Rays‘ home opener April 6 against the Chicago Cubs following work to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Milton last year.
“We have no concern about being open or ready for Opening Day,” said Beth Herendeen, managing director of City Development Administration. “We hope we keep it that way.”
Some seam work remains on the final panels to close small gaps at the top, and interior repairs are well underway.
Tropicana Field sustained extensive damage on Oct. 9, 2024. High winds ripped sections of the original roof, allowing rain to fall into the stadium bowl for months. Water caused mold and damage to electrical, sound and broadcast systems.
The city contracted ETS, AECOM Hunt and Hennessy Construction to lead the repairs and brought back Geiger Engineering, the dome’s original designer, to help reengineer the roof. The synthetic membranes of Polytetrafluoroethylene are thicker and built to current wind-load codes.
“The roof that was replaced had to be designed to today’s codes,” city architect Raul Quintana said. “It’s a much stronger material than it was 35 years ago, and it’s going to last.”
The Rays played 2025 home games across the bay in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.
Installation of the new roof began in August, and the final panel was put in place Nov. 21. Some triangular panels still show color variation, with newer pieces beige and earlier ones already bleached white, but Quintana said they will eventually match.
“It took about three months to bleach out the ones that were first installed,” he said.
The air-conditioning system has been reactivated, and contractors are focused on electrical work, seating and sound equipment. The team is upgrading the luxury suites and stadium videoboard.
“Drywall is being hung, seats are being painted, and the catwalk electric is being installed,” Herendeen said. “The new stadium sound system will be installed this month and tested in January.”
New artificial turf is scheduled to arrive in mid-January. Other final updates include new home plate club seats, clubhouse carpet and lockers, and flooring on the outfield deck.