UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich said in an Instagram video on Tuesday that he has been removed from a Legacy Fighting Alliance broadcast over his presence around the U.S. Capitol last week.
Miletich, who was the first ever UFC Welterweight Champion, shared some photos showing he was around the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6. That was the day numerous people stormed the Capitol building to protest the Electoral College vote, resulting in five deaths.
Miletich posted a few videos on Instagram about his situation. He said in one video that Legacy Fighting Alliance, which airs on UFC Fight Pass, told him they were getting pressure to distance themselves from him. They pulled him from the scheduled LFA 97 broadcast on Friday.
“First and foremost, the LFA supports the participation of the constitutional right to peaceful protest,” LFA said in a statement to ESPN. “During preparations for the 2021 debut broadcast, it was brought to the LFA’s attention that photos of questionable nature surfaced on various social media outlets involving fight analyst Pat Miletich. While the LFA continues to investigate the situation, the decision was made to remove Mr. Miletich from broadcast duties for this Friday’s LFA 97 event.”
Miletich, 54, insisted that he saw no violence.
Miletich also told his fans not to express any anger towards LFA or the UFC Fight Pass over the decision. In addition to his famed fighting career, Miletich founded Miletich Fighting Systems, which is a successful training organization.
The TV ratings for the National Championship between Ohio State and Alabama on Monday night were down compared many past years.
The game drew 18.7 million viewers across ESPN TV (non-streaming) channels, ESPN shared.
The 18.7 million viewers is a lot, but not by college football championship game standards. That’s down 36.8 percent from the 25.58 million viewers who watched the LSU-Clemson game last year. Even both of this year’s semifinal games outdrew the championship game.
This was the lowest-rated championship game since USC-Oklahoma in 2005 (the 2004 season).
The disjointed season, questions about a possible postponement, and lack of hype/buildup because it followed six NFL playoff games, all likely contributed to the low ratings. Ohio State only having played seven games and being unable to build a full resume may have contributed too. Plus, the game became a blowout, which likely hurt ratings.
College football still draws extremely well on TV, but this wasn’t its best season, which was expected given the circumstances.
Rich Rodriguez is returning to college football.
Louisiana-Monroe announced on Tuesday that they have hired Rodriguez as their offensive coordinator. In addition, his son Rhett is transferring to the school. Rhett will have two years left of eligibility.
Rhett was at the University of Arizona from 2017-2020 and saw some playing time in 2018, going 43/83 for 516 yards and three touchdowns.
Rich was fired by Arizona after the 2017 season. He coached at Ole Miss in 2019 but was not brought back by Lane Kiffin. This will be his second job since the Arizona firing.
Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks issued a statement on Tuesday regarding Kyrie Irving.
On Monday, a video circulated on social media appearing to show Irving indoors at a party with several guests (video here). The Nets and the NBA are investigating the video.
“We are aware of a video on social media featuring Kyrie Irving at a family gathering. We are reviewing the circumstances with both Kyrie and the NBA in order to determine compliance with health and safety circumstances,” Marks said in his statement.
“Kyrie remains away from the team due to personal reasons. A date of his return has yet to be finalized. In the meantime, we will continue to stay focused on our organizational goals.
“Kyrie will have the opportunity to address his absence when he is ready to do so.”
The timeframe for Irving’s return to the team is now unknown and not in the team’s hands. With the league investigating, it will be on the NBA to determine protocol for how long Irving must quarantine before returning.
Deshaun Watson is not on good terms with the Houston Texans at the moment, and one of the greatest players in franchise history says he can understand why.
Former Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson took to Twitter on Tuesday to rip the Texans. Johnson, a seven-time Pro Bowler, said he would “stand my ground” if he were in Watson’s position. He also blasted vice president of football operations Jack Easterby and said only bad things have happened in Houston since Easterby was hired.
Easterby came to the Texans from the New England Patriots, where he was a character coach and eventually became team development director. He was in charge of character development rather than talent evaluation, which is why Bill Belichick recently gave this brutally honest quote about him.
DeAndre Hopkins, who was traded to the Arizona Cardinals from Houston last year, agreed with Johnson.
Johnson, who is the Texans’ all-time leader in just about every receiving category, had been working with the team in an advisory role at one point. He said last summer that he was no longer on the staff anymore.
Watson is reportedly furious with the Texans that they did not involve him in their general manager search, among other reasons. You can read more about the situation here.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have met with Urban Meyer and have presumably offered him their head coaching job, but the three-time national champion appears to have at least some reservations about accepting the position.
Meyer has not yet shown tremendous enthusiasm about coaching the Jaguars, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
“From what I gather, he hasn’t been full-steam ahead with regard to taking the Jaguars job or making a strong push to say, ‘Hey, I’m your guy,'” Garafolo said. “He’d be the guy in Jacksonville if he really, strongly said, ‘I’m in, let’s go.'”
There have been reports that Meyer has already begun assembling an NFL coaching staff, but is it possible he would prefer to coach somewhere other than Jacksonville?
“Meyer’s trying to figure out what he really wants to do here and are there other opportunities that maybe he would wait for or be interested in,” Garafolo added. “I think he’s kind of going through his options.”
Meyer has reportedly told associates he has received interest from a second NFL team, though that has not been confirmed. If he does want to coach in the NFL, the Jaguars job should have plenty of appeal. Meyer coached at the University of Florida, so he has ties to the state. Jacksonville also has the top pick in the upcoming draft, which will almost certainly be used on Trevor Lawrence.
Another holdup between Meyer and the Jags could be that Meyer is reportedly seeking a massive salary.
The Seattle Seahawks saw their 2020 season come to a disappointing end on Saturday, but that did not stop ownership from making a new commitment to general manager John Schneider.
The Seahawks announced on Tuesday that they have signed Schneider to a contract extension that runs through 2027. Russell Wilson was one of the first to weigh in on the agreement, and the star quarterback clearly approves.
Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million extension with the Seahawks prior to the 2019 season, so you can understand why he has a good relationship with Schneider. There is also no denying how impressive Schneider’s body of work has been. He and head coach Pete Carroll, who is signed through 2025, have built teams that won two NFC Championships and one Super Bowl.
There was recently a report that a rival NFC team was going to try to hire Schneider away from the Seahawks, but that is not going to happen.
The Philadelphia Eagles have found themselves in search of a new head coach after Doug Pederson was surprisingly fired, and it sounds like many within the organization were not prepared for the task at hand.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network said Tuesday that the Eagles are “scrambling” to find a new head coach. The belief is that team owner Jeffrey Lurie is the only one who actually wanted to move on from Pederson.
“They are scrambling right now. They didn’t expect to be having a coaching search,” Garafolo told 97.5 The Fantatic. “The owner who dictated the firing of (former offensive coordinator) Mike Groh last year, didn’t like who Doug wanted this year. My read on the situation is that Lurie was the only one who wanted him fired.”
Garafolo mentioned several coaches who could be candidates to replace Pederson, but he noted that the Eagles could be “a little late to the party” on some of them. Potential candidates include Todd Bowles, Eric Bieniemy and Mike Kafka.
It’s also possible that the Philly job could be viewed as less desirable than some others because Pederson was ousted three years after winning a Super Bowl.
“Nationally people are going to look at it like the team ran a Super Bowl winning head coach out of town,” Garafolo said.
Reports have indicated Pederson’s job was safe heading into Week 17. The coach then benched Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld, which was a move that left many Eagles players furious. One veteran player publicly defended Pederson, but it’s possible the situation created a locker room divide.
A lot goes into a head coaching search, and Lurie appears to have left his front office staff in a very difficult spot.
Robert Saleh is viewed as one of the most popular candidates on the head coaching market this offseason, and he may be the top choice of the New York Jets.
Saleh flew out for a second interview with the Jets on Tuesday. According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Saleh is a finalist for the job.
Saleh has been the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers since 2017. He received a great deal of credit — and deservedly so — for helping lead the team to the Super Bowl last year. The 41-year-old also had some head coaching interviews last offseason, but he seems more likely to land a job this year.
We know of at least three other teams that have expressed interest in Saleh, so the Jets could have some competition. Of course, New York might also have strong interest in another candidate that just lost his job.
Kentucky two-sport athlete Ben Jordan has died.
Multiple reports on Tuesday confirmed Jordan’s death, though the cause has not yet been revealed. Jordan, who played baseball and basketball at Kentucky, was 22.
Jordan was a Kentucky native and highly touted baseball prospect at West Carter High School in Olive Hill. He had a chance to be drafted by an MLB team before undergoing Tommy John surgery his senior year. Jordan enrolled at Kentucky in 2018 but redshirted, eventually making his debut the following season.
As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Jordan appeared in 10 games and struck out eight. The 6-foot-9 pitcher then walked on to the Kentucky basketball team for the 2019-20 season and appeared in two games. Wildcats head coach John Calipari praised Jordan for his willingness to play two sports.
“I really appreciate Ben helping our team and agreeing to be a part of this,” Calipari said at the time, via Chris Fisher of 247 Sports. “He has a great demeanor and a way about him that really fits in well with this team. The guys already have embraced him as one of our own. I think he’ll be a great addition to this team.”
Jordan announced last year that he was going to give up basketball and focus on baseball this upcoming season.
