Category: Sport

It has been more than 48 hours since word first broke that Bill Belichick, the NFL’s all-time leader in Super Bowl titles and playoff wins among head coaches, will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. That has proven to be a bit controversial.

Reactions to the news have skewed heavily toward outrage, from some of the biggest names of the football world and beyond. Making the situation even more contentious is an opaque and complicated voting process that might have incentivized some voters to leave Belichick off their ballot.

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The decision to reject Belichick in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame came down to the selection committee, a room of 50 people, all media members from diverse backgrounds with representatives from all 32-team media contingents. Some members have been respected reporters for decades. Some were Hall of Fame players and coaches themselves.

For enshrinement, Belichick needed at least 80% approval (i.e. 40 voters). That means at least 11 people voted against him.

There has been enough tension that the Hall of Fame released a statement Wednesday hinting that any violation of its bylaws could lead to repercussions for voters, including removal from future committees. Belichick is not named in the statement.

We still don’t officially know who voted for or against Belichick. We weren’t even supposed to know he didn’t make the cut until the announcement of the 2026 Hall of Fame class next week, but ESPN opted to report the news early. It’s unclear if the full voting breakdown will ever be revealed.

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However, several voters have taken it upon themselves to tell the public that this isn’t on them, a rare step in a usually secretive process. Yahoo Sports has compiled all available statements from the voters to break down how all 50 members of the selection committee appear to have voted.

Confirmed ‘yes’ votes (25)

Polian requires elaboration, as he was initially reported by ESPN to have made the case in the voting room that Belichick should have to wait a year as penance for the cheating scandals that happened under his watch. Polian immediately denied that claim, then lightly walked that back by admitting he wasn’t 100% he voted for Belichick, then confirmed he voted for Belichick.

It’s also worth noting that several members of this group have called for the full votes to be revealed and to reform a process in which they could choose only three of Belichick, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and senior players Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood.

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Implied ‘yes’ votes (1)

Confirmed ‘no’ votes (2)

Gregorian became the first voter to outright confirm he voted against Belichick. In a Wednesday column with the Kansas City Star, he explained he didn’t vote against Belichick (and Kraft) so much as for the three senior players up for enshrinement: Anderson, Craig and Greenwood.

Gregorian said he believed all five of the candidates were deserving, but was concerned that the three players would have to wait much longer than Belichick, like many other senior candidates. It’s a system he believes should change:

All of that went into why I felt duty-bound to vote for the richly deserving seniors, who most likely won’t ever have a hearing again as more senior candidates enter the pool and fresh cases get made for others.

Meanwhile, Belichick is inevitable soon … as he should be. At the risk of contradicting my own vote, really, he shouldn’t even have to wait. I understand why people are offended that he isn’t going in the first moment he can.

In the end, though, I felt more compelled by what I perceive to be last chances and looming lost causes within the system as we have it — a system I hope the Hall will see fit to change now.

Other “no” voters obviously had different reasons. Salguero, one of the “yes” voters, has published an account claiming there were voters in the room who voiced their concerns about Spygate before the voting. However, other accounts have indicated there were few enough of them that the outcome was still a big surprise.

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Gregorian made very clear Spygate didn’t influence his decision.

In the case of Chappell, he said he voted for Kraft and two of the senior players and made his case for the Kraft over Belichick decision, specifically citing Spygate and Kraft’s efforts to both build up the Patriots in the 1990s and end the work stoppage in 2011. Like Gregorian, he also took issue with lumping the coaches, contributors and seniors into a single competitive arena.

Declined to say (6)

We should make clear here that a voter’s presence in this section absolutely does not mean they are a secret “no” vote. Voters typically don’t reveal their votes until after the class is announced and some of these guys are sticking with that. You can read their reasoning in each of the above links.

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Unknown (16)

• Darryl Ledbetter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta Falcons)

• Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com (Cincinnati Bengals)

• Rick Gosselin, Talk of Fame Network (Dallas Cowboys)

• Jeff Legwold, ESPN/ESPN.com (Denver Broncos)

• Paul Gutierrez, Raiders.com (Las Vegas Raiders)

• Howard Balzer, SiriusXM NFL Radio (Los Angeles Rams)

• Joel Bussert, retired, NFL Office (at-large)

• Tony Dungy, NBC Sports “Football Night in America”(at-large)

• Dan Fouts, Broadcaster (at-large)

• Clark Judge, Talk of Fame Network (at-large)

• Ross Ketover, NFL Films (at-large) *

• James Lofton, CBS Sports (at-large)

• Alex Marvez, SiriusXM NFL Radio (at-large)

• Lisa Salters, ESPN “Monday Night Football” (at-large)

• Jim Trotter, retired, The Athletic (at-large)

• Barry Wilner, retired, Associated Press (at-large)

As far as we can tell, there have been no public statements from any of these voters. When factoring in Gregorian and assuming no one has been misleading or outright lying, at least nine of the people in the above two fields voted against Belichick.

Buffalo Bills receiver Keon Coleman has a supporter in Joe Brady, and the team’s new head coach made sure to advocate for the second-year wideout during his introductory news conference Thursday.

“Keon Coleman is going to be on our football team,” Brady told reporters, including WKBW’s Matthew Bové.

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Brady’s definitive statement came a week after Coleman’s place on the roster appeared to be in question following remarks by team owner Terry Pegula during a news conference explaining the firing of head coach Sean McDermott.

[Get more Bills news: Buffalo team feed]

In addition to announcing McDermott’s dismissal, the Bills also promoted general manager Brandon Beane to president of football operations. That raised eyebrows among fans and media, as Beane’s roster construction was arguably as responsible — if not more so — for the team’s failure to get to the Super Bowl during the past seven seasons.

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Pegula defended Beane, choosing to single out Coleman as an example of the general manager being a “team player” who drafted a player whom coaches wanted more than the front office’s talent evaluators may have.

“The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but he wasn’t his next choice,” Pegula said, via Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein.

“That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player,” he added. “He’s taken, for some reason, heat about it and not saying a word about it. But I’m here to tell you the true story.”

One of the primary criticisms against Beane is he didn’t add an impact receiver to the offense for quarterback Josh Allen. Selecting Coleman in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft was an attempt to remedy that.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound receiver was a big target, one who caught 11 touchdowns in 2023 for Florida State. Though Coleman averaged 54 catches in his final two college seasons, he didn’t register 1,000 receiving yards in either campaign. That’s likely why he was available in the second round.

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Last season, Coleman finished third on the team with 38 receptions while his 404 receiving yards were fourth and his four touchdowns tied for second among Bills pass-catchers.

That will change, according to Brady. The new head coach was one of those on the staff advocating for the team to draft Coleman. The receiver’s production will increase with the former offensive coordinator now presumably taking a greater role in how the Bills’ offense attacks.

“The best thing to ever happen to Keon Coleman is me being his head coach,” Brady said, via News 4 Buffalo’s Carl Jones.

Also voicing support for Coleman was Allen, who appeared at Brady’s news conference wearing a walking boot on his right foot after undergoing surgery.

“He will come back from that. I m not going to give up on 0,” Allen told reporters. “He’s got too much ability.

“We’re going to work tirelessly, him and me, and as well as everybody else in this building to make sure that whenever we step foot on the field, we’re going to find ways to win football games and he’s going to be a part of that.”

Stepping up his production would not only be in Coleman’s best interests for staying on the roster, but also for his future earnings. Going into his third season, Coleman’s performance will likely determine whether the team decides to pick up his fifth-year option.

Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon will be reevaluated in four to six weeks after aggravating the right hamstring strain that previously sidelined him this season, the team announced Thursday.

Gordon, 30, suffered the latest setback last Friday in the second quarter of a 102-100 road win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

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While the 12th-year forward didn’t return for the second half, he was optimistic his hamstring wasn’t as injured as it was in November when he began a 19-game absence, Nuggets head coach David Adelman told reporters. That said, as ESPN reported at the time, Adelman noted the Nuggets would have to wait for further testing to know exactly what kind of recovery Gordon was looking at.

It turns out he’s staring at the same timeline as last time.

Gordon is averaging a career-high 17.7 points per game this season, and he’s shooting 40% or better from 3 for the second season in a row.

Unfortunately, hamstring issues have been getting in the way.

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Gordon was playing on the second night of a back-to-back when he aggravated the injury. He had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals before exiting the contest.

The day before, he played 33 minutes in a win over the Washington Wizards.

Denver, which is third place in the Western Conference with a 31-16 record, is now down two of its top three scorers.

The Nuggets are still missing three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, who suffered a hyperextended left knee on Dec. 29. That said, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday the Nuggets intend to re-evaluate Jokić’s injury in “about a week.”

U.S. soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino said Thursday that he does not think players and coaches should speak out about World Cup ticket prices, which have been widely criticized as being unaffordable for many fans.

“It’s not about us to provide our opinion,” he said during a video call with reporters. “Our responsibility is to play and perform on the pitch.”

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Conducting the call from FIFA offices in Coral Gables, Florida, Pochettino said FIFA, the sport’s governing body, should answer questions about ticket prices, not coaches and players.

“FIFA is doing an amazing job around the world, uniting people,” he said. “I think, for sure, the media needs to ask [FIFA] directly and, for sure, you are going to receive a very good answer. … We need to be focused on the sports side and trust the organization that is in charge of soccer or football around the world that they are going to do the right things.”

Citing demand for World Cup tickets, FIFA has defended ticket prices. The governing body blamed the resale market for skyrocketing costs.

Two weeks ago, U.S. standout Tim Weah told the Athletic that he was “disappointed by the ticket prices. Lots of real fans will miss matches.”

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Asked Thursday about Weah’s comments, Pochettino said, “Players need to talk on the pitch playing football. It’s not his duty to evaluate the price of the ticket. My duty is to prepare the team in the best way to perform. We are not politicians; we are sports people. We can talk about our jobs. If FIFA does something or [makes] some decision, they know why and it is their responsibility to explain why.”

NBC will have some well-known names in the studio when it returns to covering Major League Baseball this year.

The network is finalizing deals with Clayton Kershaw, Joey Votto and Anthony Rizzo to join its broadcasts for 2026 and beyond, according to Front Office Sports.

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Collectively, the group brings playing experience that includes a combined 49 years in MLB with 20 All-Star nods, 6 Gold Gloves, 3 Cy Young Awards, 2 MVPs, 2 Roberto Clemente Awards and 4 World Series titles. All three were reportedly sought-after names in the broadcast world this winter, and NBC got them all.

It’s unclear how the exact roles will break down here, but it’s easy enough to imagine a studio show with the trio reminiscent of what Fox Sports does with Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez. Kershaw, who retired from MLB after last season but still plans to pitch in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, is reportedly expected to work a limited schedule.

Votto last played in MLB in 2023 and has long been known as one of the game’s most insightful players. Rizzo last played in 2024 and officially retired in September, concluding a career that saw him play several years in two big markets and help end the Chicago Cubs’ 108-year World Series drought.

NBC’s lengthy tenure as an MLB broadcast partner ended in 2000, when Fox took over the league’s biggest games, but the network struck a deal last year that will see it pay nearly $200 million per year for “Sunday Night Baseball,” formerly of ESPN, and a “Sunday Leadoff” package, as well as the wild-card round of the playoffs.

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The Peacock streaming platform will be the exclusive home of many of those games, as its broadcast schedule lays out. Peacock also streamed those “Sunday Leadoff” games in 2022 and 2023.

Between this MLB deal, a recent reunion with the NBA and its 10-figure agreement with the Big Ten that began in 2023, NBC — already the home of the NFL’s “Sunday Night Football” and the Olympics — has been betting more on sports than ever before.

Nate Tice covers the latest coaching news with Andrew Siciliano before diving in to his latest 2026 NFL mock draft. Andrew Siciliano kicks off the show with Nate to give his thoughts on the Cleveland Browns hiring HC Todd Monken, the Los Angeles Chargers hiring OC Mike McDaniel and a slew of other NFL coaching cycle news (plus a quick Winter Olympics preview).

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Next, Nate reveals his latest first-round mock draft and dives deep into his favorite player-team fits, prospects to watch and more. Nate breaks down why he mocked Fernando Mendoza to the Las Vegas Raiders, RB Jeremiyah Love to the Kansas City Chiefs, Denzel Boston to the Los Angeles Rams and more.

(3:00) – Browns hire HC Todd Monken

(18:30) – Chargers hire OC Mike McDaniel

(31:20) – Other coaching cycle news

(47:50) – 2026 NFL Mock Draft picks 1-10

(56:50) – 2026 NFL Mock Draft picks 11-20

(1:05:30) – 2026 NFL Mock Draft picks 21-32

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

full episode on YouTube

SAN DIEGO — Brooks Koepka’s first round back on the PGA Tour felt rather ordinary on Thursday afternoon.

He didn’t play exceptionally well or hit any true highlights on the South Course at Torrey Pines, and there weren’t any real issues, either, on the course or off.

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But once Koepka’s final putt dropped and he got his scorecard for the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open signed and turned in, there appeared to be a sense of relief. His return to the PGA Tour, something he has been thinking about in some fashion for months now, was officially behind him.

“It was good to get that out of the way, I think,” Koepka said.

Koepka posted a 1-over 73 on Thursday to kick off his first non-major Tour event in nearly four years. He made 15 pars on the day, with only two bogeys and a lone birdie at the 18th green. Koepka is the first person to leave LIV Golf under the new “Returning Member’s Program,” something that was created earlier this month and comes with significant penalties, both financial and otherwise. He has repeatedly said he’s willing to do just about whatever the Tour wants in order to make his return happen. Leaving LIV Golf, he explained earlier in the week, was a family decision after a rough few months away from the game.

But Koepka has had to picture his return to the Tour — where he won nine times, including at five major championships before the rupture in the golf world — for months now, even before he knew the specifics of what it would take to get back. So naturally, there were a lot of nerves when he stepped up to the first tee Thursday. That’s something that, at least from the outside looking in, is a bit unusual.

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“[I was nervous] just because I care,” he explained. “I think I’ve fallen back in love with the game. And honestly, watching my son play a little bit and wanting … him to watch me play well and realize how much this game’s given me, how fun it is and how cool it is to just be out here.”

Any fear of heckling or a poor reception from fans was completely unfounded,. The contingent following Koepka around grew throughout the morning and was certainly the largest on the course at times. As Koepka walked from one green to the next tee or down through the fairway after a shot, the fans following him seemed thrilled that he was back. Koepka was constantly getting some variation of “Welcome back, Brooks!” from the first hole to the last. He stopped to sign autographs and take photos with nearly everyone who asked him outside the clubhouse, too.

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The “uneasy” feeling he might’ve had about how he would be received quickly dissipated.

“It was pretty much every hole, which is great,” he said of the fan support. “I loved to hear it, and I’m excited for the next few days.”

It was that perception of him that Koepka seemed to care about the most.

“I care what everybody’s thinking out here, what everybody’s doing, and [I’m] just trying to be as good of a person and good of a player as I can be,” he said. “I just wanted a warm reception. Just like everybody else, you walk into a room, nobody wants to feel exiled. They just want to be loved. I mean, that’s human nature, I think.”

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While the round is now behind him, Koepka has a long way to go to get into contention in what is the third Tour stop of the season. He was tied for 96th on the leaderboard when he entered the clubhouse, 11 shots back from the leader. That deficit only grew as the rest of the field finished. Koepka will play the North Course at Torrey Pines on Friday in his second round, and he’ll try to make the cut on the side that seemed to score much better than the South Course on Thursday.

Whether he makes the cut or not doesn’t really matter. Koepka can finally start to move forward.

“I’m the only one in the entire world that’s going through this situation, so it’s very difficult to explain,” he said. “But I’m enjoying it, I really am.”

The Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion as their offensive coordinator, the team announced Thursday.

Mannion, 33, will replace Kevin Patullo, whom the Eagles fired after their wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

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Philadelphia’s search targeted bigger names as well. Two of their top choices reportedly were former head coaches Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll, who took OC jobs with the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans, respectively.

Mannion is just two seasons removed from his career as an NFL quarterback. The Rams selected him out of Oregon State in the third round of the 2015 draft, and he spent nine years in the league. He appeared in 14 games, making three starts — one for the Rams and two for the Minnesota Vikings, with whom he played in 2019-20 and part of the 2021 season. He finished his playing career with the Seattle Seahawks in 2023. Coincidentally, his lone career touchdown pass came against Green Bay.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur hired Mannion as an offensive assistant ahead of the 2024 season. Mannion then earned the promotion to quarterbacks coach.

“I’m thrilled to have Sean Mannion on board as the new offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles,” head coach Nick Sirianni said in a statement Thursday.

“My goal throughout this process was to operate with an open mind regarding the future of our offense to find the best fit for the Eagles. Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of talented candidates and great offensive minds. I am appreciative of the time I was able to spend with each of them. Some came with years of experience running an offense and calling plays. Others were young, sharp and dynamic coaches on the rise. I felt it was important to be patient and thorough to allow the right fit to reveal himself to us. Sean did just that.”

The Eagles’ offense regressed in 2025. The unit ranked 19th in points per game (22.3), 24th in total yards per game (311.2) and 24th in third-down conversion rate (37.1%). For reference, during their Super Bowl season in 2024, the Eagles were seventh in points per game (27.2), eighth in total yards per game (367.2) and 10th in third-down conversion rate (41.7%).

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With practically the same offensive personnel this time around, Philadelphia struggled to rediscover its offensive consistency. It was the story of the Eagles’ season, and it’s why Patullo — a first-time play-caller whom Sirianni promoted after Kellen Moore took over as the New Orleans Saints’ head coach — was under so much fire.

Patullo was scrutinized all season while the 11-6 Eagles routinely started and stopped, as if their engine were malfunctioning on that side of the ball. It even got to the point that his New Jersey home was egged following a Black Friday loss to the upstart Chicago Bears.

After moving on from Patullo, Sirianni explained that he wants his offense to “continue to evolve.” Patullo was widely criticized for his predictability as a play-caller. The Eagles used quarterback Jalen Hurts less in the run game, and wide receiver A.J. Brown’s involvement, or lack thereof, was constantly discussed.

Mannion will now be tasked with maximizing the talents of a star-studded offense. He’s considered a rising star in NFL circles, according to ESPN. Mannion played a part in the latest chapter of development for Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who completed 66.3% of his passes and tossed 23 touchdowns against six picks this season. Plus, Mannion worked with Malik Willis, who impressed in his two extended appearances and could start elsewhere next season.

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In Sirianni’s statement Thursday, he mentioned that Mannion has accrued “a wealth of knowledge” while working with some of the best coaches in the NFL.

During Mannion’s 11 years in the league, including his playing days, he has crossed paths with Sean McVay, Zac Taylor, Jedd Fisch, Klint Kubiak, Kevin O’Connell, Dave Canales, Kevin Stefanski and LaFleur, among others, as reported by The Athletic. But Mannion lacks play-calling experience. The same was true of Patullo when he took over the offense.

The pressure will be on Mannion to deliver better results.

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Will the Bills actually be able to make a Super Bowl after promoting Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach? Yahoo Sports’ Andrew Siciliano, Charles Robinson and Ben Fawkes talk about Buffalo’s next chapter before diving into Robert Saleh and Jesse Minter’s introductory press conferences. They also break down the Philadelphia Eagles’ hiring Sean Mannion for their OC job and Bill Polian’s defense of his Hall of Fame vote. Plus, Jori Epstein joins Andrew from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama!

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(3:38) – Joe Brady introduced as Bills’ head coach

(15:18) – Ravens introduce Jesse Minter as head coach

(20:28) – Robert Saleh welcomed as Titans’ next head coach

(25:00) – Jori Epstein joins the show

(45:14) – Eagles hire Sean Mannion as OC

(51:10) – Bill Polian sounds off on Pro HOF vote

(59:54) – One More Thing

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

The Atlanta Falcons added to their revamped front office Thursday, hiring Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham as their new GM. The team officially announced Cunningham’s addition Thursday evening.

Cunningham, 40, previously interviewed for the Falcons’ president of football position, then interviewed twice for the GM opening after Matt Ryan was hired. Given his experience in college scouting and player personnel, his responsibilities alongside Ryan and new head coach Kevin Stefanski seem apparent.

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Ryan will reportedly have authority over decisions in Atlanta’s front office, which means the Bears will not receive two compensatory third-round draft picks for losing Cunningham. That was a condition of the “Rooney Rule,” intended to encourage promoting minority candidates.

However, the NFL considers Ryan the primary football executive with the Falcons, according to reports. Thus, Cunningham is essentially making a lateral move, even if he has the general manager title. (Because of that, the Bears could have blocked Cunningham from going to the Falcons, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.)

Cunningham’s background in player personnel likely gave him the edge over Houston Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, with whom the Falcons also conducted a second interview.

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[Get more Falcons news: Atlanta team feed]

For the past three years, Cunningham has been the Bears’ assistant GM under Ryan Poles. His NFL front-office career began in 2008 with the Baltimore Ravens, where he worked as a personnel assistant before advancing to area scout during his eight years.

Cunningham moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, spending two years as director of college scouting before becoming assistant director of player personnel. Cunningham was eventually promoted to director of player personnel, a role he held for a year before leaving for Chicago.

Prior to his front-office work, Cunningham spent one season with the Kansas City Chiefs as a practice squad player. An offensive lineman, he played college football at Virginia, making 31 career starts for the Cavaliers.

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Over the past two years, Cunningham interviewed for GM openings with the Washington Commanders and Jacksonville Jaguars. He now replaces Terry Fontenot, who was fired along with head coach Raheem Morris after Atlanta’s Week 18 regular-season finale.