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There will be a Boston-New York rivalry in TGL, the tech-infused golf league being fronted by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy that is scheduled to begin play in January.

New York Mets owner Steven A. Cohen is the latest sports figure to purchase a team in the league, TMRW Sports announced Thursday. TGL said the team will represent New York and will be managed by his family office, Cohen Private Ventures.

“We’re excited to partner with TMRW Sports and represent New York as a founding TGL team,” Cohen said in a statement. “As golf continues to grow in popularity, there’s a demand for enhanced access to the sport and the world’s top players. TGL’s primetime schedule will offer an up-close, fast-paced, and innovative take on the sport that will appeal to traditional golf and new fans alike. We’re excited to be a part of TGL and build a team that makes New York proud.”

Cohen becomes the fourth team owner in TGL, joining Fenway Sports Group (Boston); Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank (Atlanta); and a group led by entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams and NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo (Los Angeles).

Fenway Sports Group Holdings owns the Boston Red Sox, the Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing team in NASCAR.

“We think New York sports fans are the greatest in the world, and I’m sure Boston thinks that theirs are too,” said Andrew B. Cohen, the chief investment officer and co-founder of Cohen Private Ventures.

TGL CEO Mike McCarley told ESPN that the league will announce two additional team owners in the coming weeks.

“These original six teams, we’re focused on large North American markets with existing fan bases, existing team ownership groups in place,” McCarley said. “There’s some natural rooting interests, some natural rivalries that exist in other sports and between the fans. So I think the ability to be able to tap into those elements that already exist from other sports is appealing.”

Steve Cohen is the CEO and chairman of Point72, a global asset management firm. He purchased about 97% of the Mets in September 2020 and is CEO and chairman of the team.

“You put something like this together and New York is obviously at the top of the list,” McCarley said. “We made a lot of calls to a lot of different ownership groups and started talking through with our existing ownership groups of who would make the most sense in which markets. And obviously, Steve continued to rise to the top. What they’ve done with the Mets in a very short period of time, and just operating that in a first-class, professional manner has got a lot of people’s attention, and frankly, that spoke volumes to us.”

Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick are among a dozen PGA Tour players who have committed to play in the league, which will feature teams of three players competing on a golf simulator and a separate short-game area in an arena in Palm Beach, Florida.

The matches will be televised in prime time on Monday nights. TGL is partnering with the PGA Tour, and the league’s schedule will include 15 head-to-head matches in the regular season with semifinals and a final in the postseason.

“We believe TGL is innovative, combining data, technology, a competitive team in a prime-time format,” said Andrew B. Cohen. “We think it’s going to appeal to a wide audience of golf fans, existing fans, new fans, probably some younger fans, given where golf is being played indoors and simulators and outdoors.

“I think that the fact that you’ve got the top athletes in the sport coming together to participate and support the league is unusual, and I think it speaks to the most exciting elements of the format. And then, I’d say lastly, you’ve got six teams with very prominent, strong ownership groups.”

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Sources: UConn, Toledo’s Candle finalizing deal

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Sources: UConn, Toledo's Candle finalizing deal

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.

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Baker staying put as LSU defensive coordinator

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Baker staying put as LSU defensive coordinator

LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker is remaining with the program, coach Lane Kiffin said Friday on X.

Baker, who has led LSU’s defense the past two seasons, interviewed for head coaching vacancies at Tulane and Memphis this week and was a strong candidate, sources said. But he instead will remain with Kiffin, who prioritized retaining Baker, one of the nation’s highest-paid assistants at $2.5 million.

Baker is expected to receive a revised contract and a raise.

Under Baker, the Tigers ranked 15th in scoring defense and 25th nationally in total defense this fall. His retention capped a strong day for LSU, which signed defensive tackle Lamar Brown, ESPN’s No. 1 overall recruit, and defensive tackle Deuce Geralds (No. 37).

Baker, 43, is in his second stint at LSU after coaching the team’s linebackers in 2021. A former Tulane linebacker, he also has held coordinator roles at Louisiana Tech, Miami and Missouri.

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Sources: Mississippi State, Arnett set for reunion

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Sources: Mississippi State, Arnett set for reunion

Mississippi State defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler has been informed that he is not returning next season, with the Bulldogs expected to target former head coach Zach Arnett to be the next defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Saturday.

The move would be the rare reunion of a former head coach returning to the staff of that team.

Arnett is a proven high-end defensive coordinator in the SEC. In three years as Mississippi State DC (2020-22), his defenses ranked in the top five in the conference in total defense, rushing defense and takeaways.

He took over as coach following the death of Mike Leach in December 2022, but Arnett was fired with two games to play in 2023 after leading the Bulldogs to a 4-6 record that season.

After leaving Mississippi State, Arnett has spent the past two seasons as an analyst at Ole Miss and Florida State.

Hutzler had been the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator since 2024, but Mississippi State has ranked last and second to last in yards per game allowed and points per game allowed the past two seasons.

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