The Dallas Cowboys have fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, the team announced on Tuesday. After finishing 7-9-1 and missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year, the Cowboys will be looking to hire their fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons.
After hiring former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as head coach, the Cowboys brought in Eberflus to replace Mike Zimmer. Eberflus was tasked with fixing a defense that ranked 31st in points allowed, 28th in yards allowed and 29th in rushing yards allowed.
The Cowboys’ defense continued to struggle this season after the changes. On 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said the team lacked an identity on defense.
“We got to get an identity on the defensive side of the football. I don’t think we ever established what we were as a defense. We really weren’t a team that created turnovers. We didn’t get the ball. We gave up a lot of explosive (plays). At times it felt like we were (stopping) the run. But we just got a lot of work to do on that side of the ball. I think everybody knows that. We’ll go all in.”
“Bottom line, we need an identity on the defensive side of the ball. I don’t think we established that this year. Whether it’s Coach (Matt) Eberflus or whoever it is, we have to create an identity.
“I think everybody would say that Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer has a ton of energy, he’s very authentic and has an identity. We’ve got to play to that in all three phases. I think we did in one phase (offense) this year. I don’t know that we established that in the other two phases (defense, special teams).”
Dallas gave up 30.1 points per game, the most in the NFL, and finished 30th in yards allowed per game at 377 yards. The Cowboys’ defense also did not create turnovers or get to the passer consistently, which had been a trademark under former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Before becoming the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator last offseason, Eberflus was the head coach of the Chicago Bears and previously served as the defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts after a stint as the Cowboys’ linebacker coach. He went 14–32 during his time as the Bears’ head coach.
Welcome back to the world’s most accurate power rankings, where we have sorted all 30 NBA teams into so perfect an order that you could not possibly quibble with the list, for fear of being mocked yourselves.
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who started the season on pace to break the league’s all-time record for wins in a regular season, have played .500 basketball for almost a sixth of the season. Fortunately for them, their biggest challengers in the Western Conference — the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets — are all on shaky ground, battling injuries to their All-Star centers.
(Taylar Sievert/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
We have reached the season’s doldrums, when injuries compound and a general malaise threatens to sort the contenders from the pretenders. Survival to the All-Star break is paramount. Don’t let go of the rope.
Advertisement
The Detroit Pistons certainly have not. They remain atop the East, handing the New York Knicks — yet another contender on thin ice — a fourth straight loss. The Boston Celtics (18-5 since mid-November) are coming, and their superstar, Jayson Tatum, will presumably provide a bit of reinforcement at some point.
However you see it, our championship view is increasingly becoming a landscape, rather than a portrait of the mighty Thunder, even if they remain the heavy betting favorites to win at BetMGM. Let’s get to the rankings.
Previous rank: 28
Coach Rick Carlisle’s message to Bennedict Mathurin is a message to all of his Pacers: “There’s great opportunity here. And we have to work at helping him adjust to his level of responsibility. This is a lot. … It’s work. You don’t just show up and get your numbers every night. Teams are ultra-prepared. Everyone’s got the same information. And it’s tough.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 29
Coach Doug Christie is trying to hold his team to a high standard, only they are playing to a low one. What gives? “What you can do is you can say, ‘This is the standard of Sacramento Kings basketball,’” said Christie, “and you continue to play to that standard until you get a locker room full of guys that play the right way.” So, we’re in “coach throws everyone under the bus” territory.
Previous rank: 27
“We’ve been in this place before,” coach James Borrego said of his last-place Pelicans, who have lost seven straight since a five-game win streak. “We found our way out of it. You’ve just got to keep plugging away. Keep chopping. Keep working. The No. 1 thing is: Stay together. Keep our heads up. Keep spirits up and keep fighting. This group has not dropped the sword.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 23
Jordi Fernández has given his young Nets some tough love this season, and Nolan Traoré is the latest of their five first-round draft picks to feel the brunt of his coach’s expectations: “And if you keep shooting and missing, then sometimes, if you keep doing the same thing and seeing the same results, that’s the definition of insanity.” Yup, we have reached this part of the season.
Previous rank: 30
The Wizards are 6-5 since mid-December! “Thankfully over the course of the last 15 games or so, we’ve proven this isn’t who we are,” Wizards wing Corey Kispert said of another poor performance, against Minnesota. “So it feels like more of fluke than a bad trend, so we’re really optimistic, and we’re excited to get back out there and change the narrative and flip the script.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 22
By net rating, the Jazz (-6.8) are almost as close to the third-place Lakers (-0.2) as they are the last-place Kings (-11.5). They better pick a direction, since they owe their first-round draft pick (top-eight protected) to the Thunder, but the players are not on board with a tank job. As Walter Clayton Jr. conceded after a recent victory over the Spurs, “I think guys are just tired of losing.”
Previous rank: 24
“That just shows growth,” Miles Bridges said of his team’s effort not to give up easy baskets, as had been a problem for much of the season. “Earlier in the year we wouldn’t have been able to do that. But we are learning as we go. We’ve got guys that want to win, and when you’ve got guys that want to win, it’s easy to compete.” Except when LaMelo Ball is one of those guys?
Advertisement
Previous rank: 18
Anthony Davis is back. Kyrie Irving is, presumably, coming back at some point. But the Mavericks have still been bit by the injury bug. “It’s just tough because of the simple fact that we don’t have the guys to be on the floor at the same time. Injuries have been our Achilles heel, but we’re managing,” said Daniel Gafford. “It’s just something we’re trying to figure out on the fly.”
Previous rank: 26
Even after a win, it is difficult to draw much encouragement from Milwaukee’s season, as the Bucks nearly blew a 26-point lead to the eight-win Kings. “We should not be in that position,” said Giannis Antetokounmpo. “We should not be in that position. We’re up 26 points. We should not let them come back to three. Like, we have to do a better job of just putting the game away.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 19
If you had any concerns about how a 9-16 start would impact the Blazers, or whether they might tank, center Donovan Clingan is here to assuage them: “We’re really just sticking together. We’re figuring out what we have to do to win games, to play well. And we’re not going off script … we’re listening to coaches. Everyone’s playing for one another and that’s really important.”
Previous rank: 25
Following a horrendous start to the season, the Clippers are 7-1 since coach Tyronn Lue said they have to finish the season with a 35-20 record over their final 55 games to give themselves a chance at a playoff berth. “Yeah, we still got steps,” said Kawhi Leonard. “I mean, good teams are in the top eight or above. We’re not there. We’re below .500. So we’re working our way up.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 15
“Fire Iisalo!” chants have apparently been audible in FedEx Forum, where the Grizzlies are scrapping for a play-in tournament berth and facing an existential question: Do they want their coach or their superstar, Ja Morant, for the future? Because it is becoming increasingly clear Memphis cannot succeed at the level it needs to under the current leadership structure.
Previous rank: 17
“We love Trae and what he does for us,” insisted Hawks coach Quin Snyder, even amid reports to the contrary. The coach went on, though. “We’ve got some high-level defenders … which they’re consistent no matter who’s on the floor. But it’s been great to have Trae back. And I think our team will continue to meld.” Not exactly a surprise that Young is on the trading block, then!
Advertisement
Previous rank: 21
Billy Donovan, a coach’s coach: ‘‘We don’t have the margins not to [do the little things]. The consistency part, the concentration part. The way we’re trying to play — and I don’t necessarily think that we’re different from other teams because the pace of the game is definitely sped up throughout the league — that’s what we’re fighting for. Can you come back and do it again?”
Previous rank: 20
Draymond Green was ejected twice in a seven-game span — in a pair of Warriors wins, which raised interesting questions around Golden State, where coach Steve Kerr … quelled concerns they may be better in his absence? “We’ve been a little jumbled this year,” he said. “We haven’t quite found a rhythm, but I do feel better about the way we’ve played the last couple weeks.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 14
Coach Kenny Atkinson’s confidence in his talented Cavaliers might, slowly, be paying off, even amid the losses. “I wish I could be up here and be like, ‘Yeah, we won this game,’ but you feel it as a coach,” he said. “I told the guys after: I couldn’t be more encouraged. Disappointed in kind of how we lost, but like I keep telling you: Buy the dip. I’ve got a ton of confidence in this group.”
Previous rank: 16
“We’re definitely not there yet,” Heat guard Norman Powell said of his team’s status, as it heads for the midseason turn on either an upswing or downswing, depending on how you look at it. “We’ve had stretches. You can see where we want to be, how we are, and the potential of the team. But good, great teams, it’s their identity every single night. And that’s what we’re building.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 11
A win over the Pacers was a microcosm of the season for the Magic. “Much better offensively, but we’ve still got to figure out how to string together some stops on the defensive end,” said Orlando’s Desmond Bane, who has been averaging a 22-5-5 on 47/37/94 shooting splits for a month-plus. “We got a few when it mattered, but we’re better than that on that end, for sure.”
Previous rank: 12
Of rookie Collin Murray-Boyles and sophomores Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter, Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said, “Those guys, they’re built of special cloth, of resiliency. They’re really putting in a lot of work. It doesn’t matter if we win, we lose. It doesn’t matter if we’re up, we’re down. It does not really matter what kind of mood we’re in. They keep going forward.”
Advertisement
Previous rank: 10
The Sixers are, believe it or not, incorporating Joel Embiid and Paul George into Tyrese Maxey’s team, and it is … kind of working. “Everybody understands that it will be your time,” said Embiid. “But until then, just do your job. It’s not necessarily that everybody knows their role. We’re just playing basketball, and we like each other. No one cares about taking a step back for the other.”
Previous rank: 13
What did Suns star Devin Booker think when in a span of 17 seconds the Thunder erased a four-point deficit to tie Sunday’s thriller? “It’s our turn,” he said. Against all odds, it may be their turn very soon. The Suns play hard, and they have Booker. Dillon Brooks is enjoying a great season. Everyone has bought in behind them. And Jalen Green has barely even played yet.
The Nuggets, one could argue, are a bottom-10 team without Nikola Jokić, as is the case right now. As coach David Adelman said, “We’re going to have to find a way to get to the fourth quarter.” But be real: Jokić will be back, and Denver will be fine. For now I put them here, on the bottom of our title tier, where every team on out, if all were to go right, could win the whole thing.
Advertisement
Previous rank: 3
Yeah, they could still win it, despite their four-game losing streak, if they can solve their defensive issues. There is only so much Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson can do when Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns both need to be on the floor. Coach Mike Brown’s solution? “Our mindset is everybody just trying to bring a little bit more.”
Previous rank: 8
Something is missing from these Timberwolves, especially in the absence of Nickeil Alexander-Walker. “We have to have more internal voices,” said Minnesota’s coach, Chris Finch. “When things aren’t going well, our guys can be a little bit quiet in those moments. That’s just kind of been in our DNA the last couple of years.” Not sure Ja Morant would be that answer.
Advertisement
Previous rank: 9
“Best 2 way player in the game,” Jaylen Brown posted on X (formerly Twitter), before he asked to defend two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. “Smh,” Brown added when he was passed over for Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors in favor of Brunson, before he dropped 50 points on Leonard’s Clippers. Yes, he is a superstar. The dude is a bona fide MVP candidate.
Previous rank: 5
The Knicks came for the Pistons on Monday, and Detroit set the defending Eastern Conference finalists straight, reminding New York that last season’s playoff series was last season. “It was a playoff series from last year,” said Cade Cunningham, “but them being second and us being first [in the East], them being on our heels, we were not trying to allow that. It was a big game and we all came in locked in.”
Like the Nuggets, who are without Jokić (left knee hyperextension), and like the Rockets, without Şengün (right ankle sprain), the Spurs are playing in the absence of their injured All-Star center, Victor Wembanyama (left knee hyperextension). But he should be back this week. “He’s champing at the bit, and we’ll get him out there as soon as we can,” said coach Mitch Johnson.
Advertisement
Previous rank: 1
After starting the season 24-1, the Thunder are 6-6 in their last 12 games, including consecutive losses to the Suns and Hornets, which counts as a serious slump for the defending champions. They remain heavy favorites, though. As coach Mark Daigneault said, “You can look at it as a threat, as a source of insecurity, or you can look at it as a challenge and, like I said, a privilege.”
Believe it or not, there was a time when being a Nick Saban disciple did not seem like a ticket to greatness. Particularly in the first part of his Alabama tenure, when schools were desperate to mimic Saban’s methods, some of the more prominent names on his coaching tree like Derek Dooley, Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp could not reproduce his secret sauce when they got their chance to run SEC programs.
But with Saban now comfortably on the ESPN desk, where it seems like he spends most of his time either railing on the state of the sport or helping rehab the image of his fired buddies, his influence over college football is inescapable.
Advertisement
While Saban left the stage before the professionalized era of college football could chip away at his mystique, he has found a way to still dominate the sport through proxies who have adapted his lessons to a model that Saban himself wanted little to do with.
“I think everybody learned a lot from Nick,” said Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who was Alabama’s wide receivers coach for Saban’s first four seasons in Tuscaloosa. “If you were serious about your career and wanted to be a head coach one day, you took great notes or great mental notes. I felt like after one year with Coach Saban, I had learned more about how to run a program than I maybe did the previous 27 as an assistant coach.”
Now, as we reach the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, you can see Saban’s influence on multiple generations of coaches who have reached the top of the sport.
There’s Cignetti, 64, who has clearly borrowed Saban’s intensity, attention to detail and unwillingness to accept complacency from anyone in his organization.
Advertisement
There’s Dan Lanning, 39, who learned at Alabama that you need to recruit the best players to build the best teams and has imported that philosophy to Oregon.
There’s Mario Cristobal, 55, who has built Miami in the image of Alabama teams that dominated on both lines of scrimmage.
Then there’s Pete Golding, 41, who almost sounds like he’s doing a Saban imitation — both in cadence and curse words — whenever he steps in front of a microphone as Ole Miss’ new head coach.
Nick Saban may be retired from coaching, but his fingerprints are all over this College Football Playoff field with the coaches remaining. (Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)
(Brandon Sumrall via Getty Images)
And though they’re all different in terms of their X-and-O expertise and what they borrowed stylistically from Saban, the one thing they all share is an inside view of how to build the kind of multi-layered, staffed-up organization that covered every base and made Alabama a consistent winning machine no matter which coaches or players came in and out in a given year.
Advertisement
“The time there opened my eyes to what college football had grown into, what it had become and the resources necessary,” said Cristobal, who spent four seasons as an assistant under Saban.
They’re not alone. Seemingly every top-level program, but particularly those that encountered peak Saban either as a competitor or a cousin, has tried to copy Alabama with an army of analysts, personnel gurus and assistants to assistants on top of the cutting-edge facilities and bloated recruiting budgets.
It hasn’t always worked out, of course. Plenty of former Saban assistants have arrived at head coaching jobs with big hype and left a trail of expensive buyouts in their wake.
But when you look at the entire breadth of the sport, Saban’s coaching tree is now undeniable, stretching from Kirby Smart at Georgia to Steve Sarkisian at Texas to Lane Kiffin at LSU to Brent Key at Georgia Tech along with up-and-comers like newly hired Cal coach Tosh Lupoi and Charles Huff at Memphis.
Advertisement
It’s enough Saban-connected success across the landscape to raise the question of why Alabama — which is 20-8 without a playoff win since Saban retired — doesn’t have a Saban acolyte in charge now.
But that’s a story for another day. Alabama is old news at this point, and Saban’s DNA is all over the four teams playing for a chance at this national championship.
It doesn’t even necessarily matter how long his former assistants were there or how they arrived.
Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding was a defensive assistant to Nick Saban while at Alabama. (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Lanning and Golding represent the dozens of up-and-comers who passed through the Saban system, hoping to learn his famous “process” from the inside.
Advertisement
Golding was a defensive coordinator at UTSA who caught Saban’s eye at a chalk talk and subsequently spent five years at Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide win the 2020 national title. If you watch and listen to him closely, you can see echoes of Saban’s verbal tics with a lot of “aights” and hand motions as he makes his points.
“I think most people who went through and were fortunate enough to be around Coach Saban understand, No. 1, the lifeblood of the program is recruiting,” Golding said. “And then you’ve got to have sound schemes on both sides. You want to keep stability within those schemes for the development of players. And there’s a toughness component, a competitive character component to hold these guys accountable and hold them to a high standard. And I think that’s pretty consistent with whoever is playing right now.”
Lanning’s time at Alabama changed the trajectory of his career. Though he was only with Saban for one year, he left a job as a full-time, on-field coach at Sam Houston State in 2014 to work at Alabama as a graduate assistant, which many would consider a backward career step. But not only did it help launch Lanning into an assistant coaching role at Memphis, getting into Saban’s world helped him land at Georgia for four years under Smart.
“I was going to take a pay cut to go be there,” Lanning said. “When anybody asked me why, I said, ‘I’m going to get my doctorate in football.’ And that’s what I felt like working for Coach Saban. Things I thought I knew, I realized I didn’t know anything.”
In this 2015 file photo, Alabama head coach Nick Saban talks with offensive line coach Mario Cristobal on the sidelines during a game against Ole Miss. (Michael Chang/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
(Michael Chang via Getty Images)
Cristobal represents the scores of coaches who went to Alabama to, in many ways, rehabilitate their career. Like Sarkisian, Kiffin and current Maryland coach Mike Locksley, Cristobal landed at Alabama as offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator after six years at Florida International where he had some success but ultimately fell victim to significant funding and administrative challenges. After four years, Cristobal left to be Willie Taggart’s co-offensive coordinator at Oregon, took over as head coach the following season when Taggart left for Florida State and was successful enough over four years to come back to his alma mater.
Advertisement
“If I could just put my finger on one thing that I valued the most in terms of learning, was reconfirming what I learned under Coach [Jimmy] Johnson and Coach [Dennis] Erickson, the guys I had a chance to play for here, is under no circumstances can you allow human nature and complacency to take over yourself and the people in your program,” Cristobal said. “That’s at all costs and it’s a daily fight. When you wake up, that has to be opponent No. 1 that you have to attack with intent, with urgency and I would say that would be the most important thing.”
But perhaps the most Saban-like disciple is the one whose tenure at Alabama barely registers a memory.
Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers battered Nick Saban’s Alabama replacement, Kalen DeBoer, and the Crimson Tide in a 38-3 blowout. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
(Luke Hales via Getty Images)
By the time he got to Alabama in 2007, Cignetti had been a longtime quarterbacks coach rising through the ranks from Rice and Temple to Pittsburgh and NC State. Unable to put his career on a path to becoming an FBS head coach, Cignetti in 2011 famously took the job at D-II program IUP — Indiana University of Pennsylvania — making $125,000, about half of his salary at Alabama.
Advertisement
Since 2019 when James Madison hired him, Cignetti has posted a Saban-like 77-11 record as a head coach and has Indiana on the verge of arguably the most surprising championship in college sports given the program’s history as a perennial loser.
For many years, it was an interesting hypothetical about what would happen if you imported Saban into a random program and not a monster like Alabama or a place like LSU that had untapped potential.
Cignetti has essentially ended that debate.
“There’s a lot of disciples out there doing well,” he said. “And that’s why he’s the greatest of all time.”
Saban’s role in the sport these days is interesting because while he has a huge megaphone, he has chosen to use it largely as a signal flare against the Wild West of the transfer portal and NIL while engaging in dubious conflicts of interest around certain coaching moves like advising Kiffin before he took the LSU job.
Advertisement
The reality, though, is that Saban chose to become a TV personality because his own dominance in the sport was waning. With the dramatic shift in recruiting and player compensation, he could no longer horde talent on the premise that being an Alabama player would unlock future NFL riches.
He was also 72 years old.
While Alabama may struggle to ever get back to that level of success, this year’s CFP has made it clear his influence across the sport will be felt for decades to come.
We are inching closer and closer to the culmination of the college football season and this week gives us the next step on that journey. The College Football Playoff Semifinals. One of the star quarterbacks in the playoff is fighting to get a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. Ross Dellenger explains this story and how there is a chance Trinidad Chambliss is back at Ole Miss next season. Then Ross, Andy Staples and Steven Godfrey discuss Chambliss’ effect on the Rebel’s this season. They breakdown the semifinal matchup against Miami by discussing who has the advantage and what each team needs to do to move on to the Natty.
Advertisement
Then, they move over to the other semifinal. This is a rematch from earlier in the year as Oregon takes on Indiana. Indiana got the best of Oregon in Eugene, but the guys talk about how this is a much different Oregon team than it was in the first matchup. They discuss if Oregon will be able to get the best of this dominant Indiana team or if the Hoosiers will claim their spot in the championship game. Plus, they look at how the Big Ten conference was not given enough credit for the strength of its teams this year.
Later, Ross reports about the college football calendar changing yet again. No more spring ball? Discussions are being had about changes to the early signing period, games in Week 0, CFP dates, the dates of the portal and spring and summer access periods. Ross, Andy and Godfrey discuss the benefits of changing all of these and what changes should happen to improve the college football calendar.
Get ready for the CFP Semifinals with College Football Enquirer.
Trinidad Chambliss after the CFP Quarterfinal AP Photo/Matthew Hinton
(AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
0:00:00 – Trinidad Chambliss petitions for 6th year
Trae Young and the Hawks are reportedly working together on a trade. Where could the four-time All-Star land? Could he be the starting point guard on a title team? And should Atlanta pursue Anthony Davis, whom it has reportedly shown interest in? Our writers weigh in.
What’s your reaction to Trae Young and the Hawks working toward a trade?
Tom Haberstroh: It’s about time. The Hawks have clearly checked out with Young on the floor, allowing 126.2 points per 100 possessions with Ice Trae on the court this season. That’s the highest rate for any starter in the league, and an embarrassing figure for an All-Star. With Jalen Johnson taking the wheel, Young’s defensive liabilities became too much to handle.
Advertisement
Steve Jones: I’m not surprised. Good intentions don’t always lead to great results and it was clear the Hawks had gotten a new wardrobe, took the long road home and stopped telling their franchise player about the future. It’s time for both sides to move on and focus on the future. I’m sure Young will look to remind the world what he’s capable of contributing moving forward.
Trae Young’s time in Atlanta appears to be coming to an end. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Morten Stig Jensen: While I think Young does have significant upside, fact is, that upside has turned far more theoretical than practical. He just doesn’t weave himself into the fabric of a team offense, and we obviously know of his defensive limitations. As such, the Hawks can surely find better use for his forthcoming $49 million salary slot, as they build around Johnson.
Ben Rohrbach: Not surprising. I’m sure the Hawks have canvassed the trade market for Trae Young for some time. If they haven’t, they have been derelict of duty. They have long been better defensively without Young, and now they have an offense that can serve that defense without Young. Why not gauge interest from around the league, to see if they can improve that edition of this team? The question, then, is whether they can secure anything close to equal value for him.
Where would you like to see Trae Young land?
Rohrbach: The Minnesota Timberwolves? They are the only team that would have the array of defenders — Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert — to create a championship-caliber outfit around Young. Of course, they surely would have to give up one of those salaries in order to make the math work on a Young deal, and that could tip the scales against Young’s fit on a title contender. These are inherent issues around trading Young’s salary.
Advertisement
Jones: I believe he is spiritually a Washington Wizard or a Sacramento King.
Jensen: Chicago Bulls? With Young insisting upon being the primary player, likely negating championship upside in the process, we need to identify a team wherein that’s not a problem. Hello, Chicago? The Bulls have the necessary expiring contracts to get it done, and Young’s presence would allow Josh Giddey to play his more natural position.
Haberstroh: On the waiver wire. That way, we can get him to fun places. His contract — $46 million this season and a $49 million player option next season — makes any trade so challenging. Minnesota would be an ideal fit with Gobert, but the Wolves really can’t make the money work unless Gobert is included. I just don’t love anywhere else.
Should the Hawks deal for Anthony Davis?
Jones: Absolutely not. If you did not feel like you could it done with Trae Young, what would make you believe you can do it with Anthony Davis? Build toward the future.
Advertisement
Haberstroh: I wouldn’t. Move off of Young, but keep this thing going with the youngsters. I’d rather have Kristaps Porziņģis on a $30.7 million expiring deal and try to work out a sensible deal in free agency than go after Davis, who will be looking for a max extension in the offseason. Doubling down on AD at this point in his career reeks of desperation.
Rohrbach: To what end? I don’t think Davis transforms a Trae Young-less Hawks roster into a championship contender, especially as an oft-injured big man aging into his mid-30s. His timeline does not mesh with the new version of Atlanta, which boasts Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher as young, exciting wings. There is already an oft-injured big on the roster. Why not spend Porziņģis’ expiring salary more wisely in free agency in the summer?
Jensen: Trading for a soon-to-be 33-year-old who is often injured, has lost a step athletically and is owed $111 million after the conclusion of this season is just never a good idea, so that would be a hard no from me.
True or false: Trae Young can be the starting point guard on a championship team
Jensen: True, if he’s able to adjust his game and conclude he’s not the best player on the team. He’d have to be better off-ball, integrate himself as more of a helper, than the heliocentric player that he is. Defensively, I’m not sure there’s anything he can do, so it would make sense for that team to have elite defenders around him, and at least a real superstar helming everything.
Advertisement
Haberstroh: True, only if Wemby is his center. It’s looking more and more that the deep playoff run in 2021 was an aberration. He presents so many problems defensively that he requires an all-time center to put out all the fires behind him. Elite passer. So-so shooter. Calamitous defender.
Rohrbach: True, to a degree. I do not think a team that counts Young as the high-usage engine of its offense can win a championship. Now, if you were to build a team of talented two-way players (like the Timberwolves) around Young, and he were to accept his role as a secondary or tertiary option to a more well-rounded superstar, who is to say that version of the four-time All-Star point guard — an idealized one we’ve long anticipated — couldn’t help a team to a title.
Jones: Yes, it’s a possibility. He has scoring and playmaking, and he draws attention in pick-and-roll. On the right squad, with the right defenders and the right balance it could happen.
Parker Livingstone will be on the other sideline for the Red River Rivalry in 2026.
The former Texas wide receiver has committed to Oklahoma, per multiple reports. Livingstone has been Arch Manning’s roommate at Texas and had 29 catches for 516 yards and six touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2025.
Advertisement
Livingstone was the team’s fourth-leading receiver and one of just three Longhorns to have over 500 yards receiving. He also led all Texas players with more than two catches at 17.8 yards per catch.
“Never in a million years did I think I would be going into the portal looking for a new home,” Livingstone wrote. “Some things are out of my control. Such is the reality of the ever-changing landscape of college football.”
Texas’ wide receiver room is going to look a lot different in 2026. Leading receiver Ryan Wingo is back, but previous No. 2 receiver DeAndre Moore entered the portal before the Citrus Bowl and tight end Jack Endries is heading to the NFL Draft. The Longhorns are in the running to sign Auburn receiver Cam Coleman. He’s a former five-star recruit that’s in the transfer portal.
Advertisement
Reloading at receiver will be key for a Texas team that is getting Manning back for a fourth season in 2026. The preseason Heisman favorite will likely have that status again heading into 2026 after a strong close to the season. Manning totaled four touchdowns in the team’s Citrus Bowl victory over Michigan and scored 11 total touchdowns across the Longhorns’ last three games of the season.
What was billed as a clash of Eastern Conference titans at Little Caesars Arena on Monday hardly lived up to the hype. Early in the second quarter, the Detroit Pistons hit the gas, slammed the pedal to the floor, and never let up, leaving the New York Knicks — the team that eliminated Detroit from the 2025 NBA playoffs, a sour taste that has fueled the Pistons’ surge to the top of the Eastern standings — stuck in neutral and eating their dust.
With two starters in street clothes — potential All-Star center Jalen Duren and steady veteran forward Tobias Harris — Detroit dismantled the visiting Knicks in a 121-90 pasting that further cemented the 27-9 Pistons’ standing atop the East. Cade Cunningham got wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, scoring or assisting on 61 points against a New York defense that struggled to stall dribble penetration or stay connected to shooters all night, allowing a Pistons team that ranks 26th in 3-pointers per game to drill 16 long balls on 31 attempts.
The issues were arguably even more pronounced on the other end, where the ball pressure, physicality, length, quickness and tenacity of the Pistons’ No. 2-ranked defense completely short-circuited the Knicks’ attack. New York shot just 19-for-46 (41.3%) inside the 3-point arc, with a mere six makes inside the restricted area, and had a season-high-tying 20 turnovers, with six apiece coming from the All-NBA tandem of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. And while Brunson finished with a team-high 25 points, he also failed to register a single assist for the first time since March 2024 (a game in which he played just 47 seconds before leaving with a knee contusion) and for the first time in a full game since March 2022 — when he was still backing up Luka Dončić in Dallas.
All of which is to say: The vibes surrounding the Knicks, so immaculate just three weeks ago when they hoisted the NBA Cup in Las Vegas, have taken a dramatic and dire turn during what’s now a four-game losing streak, the team’s longest since February 2024. And that downturn — which now has the Knicks looking up in the standings at not only the Pistons, but also the red-hot Celtics, and just a game and a half clear of fourth-place Toronto — is prompting the sort of look inward that sounds an awful lot like reaching DEFCON: Team Meeting. From Vincent Goodwill of ESPN:
“A lot needs to be addressed,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said.
Brunson declined to elaborate on precisely what he meant, but when asked if the members of the team had any discussions amongst themselves before the media was allowed in, he said, “Yeah, a little bit.” […]
“We just gotta respond. A lot more needs to be said. We keep it internal,” he said. “If we want to be the team we say we want to be, we have to be better, simple as that.”
“We’ve got to get to the drawing board,” Towns said. “We’ve got to figure it out. Offensively, defensively, we’ve got to figure it out. It just hasn’t been good basketball from us recently.” […]
“[The Pistons] were ready to go tonight. They wanted to play,” said Brunson […] “They truly wanted to win and we didn’t.”
“This is a bad, bad time,” [Towns] said. “You can’t have it be this bad.”
Advertisement
It’s been this bad for weeks now. At the time they won the NBA Cup, the Knicks were 18-7 with the NBA’s No. 2 offense, No. 13 defense and No. 3 net rating. Since the Cup win, though, they’re now 5-6, including four of their eight double-digit defeats on the season. In this span, they’ve plummeted down to 17th on offense and 27th on defense, getting outscored by a downright Wizardian 5.6 points per 100 possessions — and if there’s one thing we know, it’s that you never want to be downright Wizardian.
Not if you fancy yourself a title contender, anyway, which the Knicks very much do — an assessment made abundantly clear on Monday by none other than Knicks owner James L. Dolan, who, during a rare interview on New York radio station WFAN, laid out his expectation that his team would make the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. (Which, for the record, was right before Dolan took the franchise’s reins from his father. Y’know, in case you were wondering.)
“We want to get to the Finals, and we should win the Finals,” Dolan said. “This is sports […] anything can happen in sports. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely gotta do. Winning the Finals, we should win.”
After four straight losses punctuated by the most lopsided blowout defeat of their season, the Knicks feel awfully far away from that sort of rarefied air — and from the confidence, overflowing mere weeks ago, that they could get there. The question facing Mike Brown and his staff: How do they get that back?
Advertisement
Well, some reinforcements couldn’t hurt. The Knicks have gone 2-4 since losing Josh Hart, who was off to arguably the best start of his career, to a sprained right ankle on Christmas Day, and have been without reserve guard Landry Shamet (right shoulder sprain) since before Thanksgiving. Both could return to the fold by the end of the week, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, and both could provide welcome infusions in areas that have ailed the Knicks.
Hart gives head coach Mike Brown another dogged perimeter defender to ease the burdens on OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges — and to help insulate the vulnerable Brunson and Towns — while also offering a source of complementary ball-handling and playmaking, another physical rebounder for a team that’s been outrebounded in four of the last six games, and a jolt of grab-and-go offense in transition. Shamet, for his part, was shooting 42.4% from 3-point range before his injury while pairing with Deuce McBride as two of New York’s best point-of-attack defenders — a particular pain point for a Knicks team that’s given up blow-by after blow-by in recent weeks, a major factor in New York ranking 23rd in the NBA in the share of opponents’ shots that come at the rim over the last 11 games.
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are stuck right now. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
(Todd Kirkland via Getty Images)
Brunson has been the culprit in plenty of those blow-bys. While opposing offenses, particularly those helmed by bigger and/or more athletic lead guards, have long hunted the smaller Brunson at the point of attack, the Knicks have largely come out ahead in the bargain by virtue of Brunson’s ability to consistently marshal an elite offense that dishes out at least as much punishment as it takes. But despite Brunson continuing to put up great numbers during New York’s post-Cup swoon — just under 30 points and six assists per game on 45/39/86 shooting splits — New York’s offense, on the whole, has dipped down below league-average over the past several weeks.
Advertisement
And while the offense has been markedly better in Brunson’s minutes than when he’s taken a seat, it’s still performed like a fringe-top-10 outfit with the captain on the ball rather than the league-best-caliber murderer’s row it was in his floor time earlier in the season. That’s not nearly effective enough to overcome the kind of defensive hemorrhaging the Knicks have been suffering with him on the floor — and a level of slippage that feels like, if not regression, at least a bit of reversion to old habits.
“We’re not getting off [the ball] like we were in the past,” Brown told reporters after the Detroit loss. “You’ve got to make quick decisions, and as soon as you feel another body come to you, you’ve got to get off it. And right now, we’re not doing it. We’re holding onto it too much, trying to force the issue too much. […] You’ve got to play off two feet, you’ve got to spray the basketball, and you’ve got to rely on your teammates to make decisions once you do spray it.”
Advertisement
On one hand, it’s difficult to blame Brunson for taking it upon himself to shoulder a heavier offensive burden when few, if any, of his teammates seem up to the task of dribbling through defensive pressure without losing the ball or generating and making shots against tight coverage. On the other, it’s an approach that can kickstart a vicious cycle: stagnant possessions begetting misses and turnovers that give opponents the opportunity to attack in transition against a Knicks defense that isn’t set, increasing the likelihood that they score, forcing New York to take the ball out and bring it up the floor against a defense that is set in the half-court, leading to stagnant possessions that beget misses and turnovers, and so on, and so on.
(It can become a chicken-or-the-egg conundrum: Are Towns, Anunoby, Bridges, et al., struggling to catch a rhythm and make plays because they’re reduced to bystanders while Brunson’s trying to cook? Or is Brunson having to try to cook so much because they — most notably Towns, who has played well all-around this season, but has seen his touches and offensive production dip as he adjusts to a new system under Brown — are struggling to catch a rhythm and make plays?)
Advertisement
Those cycles can turn virtuous, too. More intentional attacking, quicker decisions and better ball/body movement can lead to better, more open shots (and, if defenders are scrambling and out of position, more offensive rebounding opportunities). Make those, and you get the chance to set your defense more often, giving you a better shot of getting the kind of stops that give you the chance to run and hunt early offense. String enough of those sorts of sequences together, and you’re on the front foot, acting as the aggressor and knocking the opposition back on its heels — playing to the win-the-possession-battle identity that the Knicks, at their best, wield like a weapon.
The bad news is the Knicks haven’t done much of that lately. The good news, Brown noted, is that they’ve done it before, and they’re capable of doing it again.
“It’s not time to panic,” Brown said Monday. “But we have to make sure we’re doing what we can do to help this group. And our guys have to bring it, or try to take it to another level as a group — not trying to do too much, but take it to another level as a group in a lot of areas.”
Pete Carroll’s only season with the Las Vegas Raiders didn’t go as expected. Geno Smith cratered, Ashton Jeanty looked mortal and star pass rusher Maxx Crosby was shut down for the rest of the season … and reportedly wasn’t happy about it.
But if Crosby harbored any ill will toward Carroll for that decision, the pass rusher has already put it aside. Crosby had nothing but nice things to say about Carroll when asked about the coach’s firing during an appearance on the “Let’s Go!” podcast Monday.
“I haven’t had time to really process it, to be honest. I just found out. I’m here in the building and literally see it pop up on the TV. So it was kinda gloomy, I would say. It’s something that I’ve been a part of before.
“Just to speak on Pete, this season didn’t go the way we expected it at all. From the players to the coaches, I don’t think anyone expected we would be in this position and be getting the No. 1 pick to be honest. But I will say, the one thing I did admit about Pete is he was as consistent as they come. He’s won for such a long time. He’s a Super Bowl champion. He won a national championship at USC. He’s been an incredible coach and he’s had an incredible journey.
“Unfortunately, this thing didn’t work out the way we expected it. But he’s done an incredible job and had an incredible career. He was always awesome to me. Still gonna have that relationship regardless. Had a lot of coaches in my time, to say the least, but all of those coaches, you take something from them, you learn something from them … I wish him the best. Like I said, he was always incredible to me and treated me amazing. So, big shoutout to coach Pete. We’ll see what happens next.”
While Crosby’s interview was recorded Monday, the podcast episode did not release until Tuesday.
Advertisement
Carroll, 74, was a bold hire for the Raiders after he spent the 2024 season out of the NFL. After a year off, Carroll was brought to the Raiders to help re-invigorate the franchise and get it back on track.
The end of the Carroll era came with some controversy, as Crosby was shut down with two games remaining in the regular season due to a knee injury. Crosby seemingly took issue with that, and posted videos of himself playing basketball and playing on a trampoline right after being shut down.
Crosby’s podcast appearance on “Let’s Go!” seems to refute that. Crosby didn’t appear to speak about the Carroll situation with any animosity, and the fact that he was already back at team facilities after briefly leaving suggests his relationship with the Raiders isn’t broken.
While that’s a good sign, it might not stop the Raiders from trading the 28-year-old star in the offseason. After a miserable year, Las Vegas is desperately in need of a major rebuild. Having the No. 1 overall pick helps, but the team could benefit from having multiple first-round picks over the next couple seasons if it decides to trade Crosby.
Three things should be known when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator opening: Jerry Jones is worth an estimated $20 billion, there is no salary cap for coaches in the NFL, and Brian Flores is a free agent.
Jones says he wants to win a Super Bowl. He has actually said in the past that he would write a check so big it would be “embarrassing” just to win another Super Bowl. Now is his chance to prove it.
You’d assume Jones would view this as an opportunity to make the biggest move he can possibly make, with no downside to the competitive ability of his team, only to his sizable bank account. The Vikings don’t seem concerned that Flores, one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators, will leave for another coordinator job.
That’s why Jones should make an offer Flores can’t refuse. If he’s truly serious about winning, that is.
Advertisement
Coaching salaries don’t compare to what players make
Paying top dollar for coaches is an untapped advantage that’s available for any owner, especially one as rich as Jones.
The highest-paid coordinator in the NFL last season was reportedly Chip Kelly at $6 million by the Las Vegas Raiders. That didn’t work out, but it shows how low the salaries are for top coordinators vs. players. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott makes 10 times what the top coordinator in football makes. That seems a bit off. Somehow, owners have kept coaching salaries relatively low. The top head coach in the NFL is Andy Reid at a reported $20 million, which is one-third of what Prescott’s deal pays him.
Also, unlike players, there is no salary cap for coaches. Paying Prescott or any player a huge salary impacts how much a team can spend on the rest of the roster. Paying a coach a salary well above market salary affects nothing, other than an owner’s wallet and the feelings of other owners.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is looking for a new defensive coordinator. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
(Ian Maule via Getty Images)
Flores will likely have some head-coaching interviews, and it would make sense if he chooses that route over being a defensive coordinator for any amount of money. Or, he might simply love Minnesota and would take a significant discount to stay there. But there’s no reason Jones shouldn’t tempt him.
Advertisement
Flores’ Vikings defenses have finished 11th, second and third in DVOA in his three years there, despite a combined four Pro Bowl appearances by his players in three seasons. He’s a very good defensive coordinator. Perhaps the best in the NFL. He’s also a free agent.
All Jones has to do is write an “embarrassing” check, which actually wouldn’t be that embarrassing.
Will Jerry Jones pay up for a defensive coordinator?
If the highest paid coordinator in the NFL last season made $6 million, would Flores be enticed if Jones doubled that to land him? After all, $12 million isn’t a crazy salary when compared to some players, and again, there’s no salary cap. There would be some angst from the existing coaches over that type of deal, but nothing is stopping Jones from writing them “embarrassing” checks too. Again, he’s worth in the neighborhood of $20 billion. And coaches are incredibly important to fielding a championship team. That shouldn’t be debatable.
Advertisement
There likely is some number that Flores couldn’t say no to. Jones just has to find it.
The problem is that Jones has never wanted to pay top dollar for coaches, which is counterintuitive to his claims of wanting to win a Super Bowl at any cost. He, or any other owner, could get a completely legal edge that has been willfully ignored forever. He could pay the best position coaches like coordinators, the best coordinators like head coaches and head coaches like quarterbacks, and it wouldn’t hurt the Cowboys’ on-field product at all because there is no salary cap for coaches.
This is a test. Owners have a tendency to band together, often when it comes to keeping salaries down. They do so while fans are charged a lot for season tickets, merchandise and subscriptions to multiple streaming outlets to watch their team play. They do so while promising that winning a Super Bowl is their top priority. Is it?
Advertisement
It seems unlikely that Jones resets the market to land Flores or any defensive coordinator. It has not been his approach in the past. Or, maybe, at age 83, he’s ready to act on his promises of desperately wanting to win a Super Bowl, rather than just saying it over and over.
The Washington Commanders will be in search of a pair of new coordinators as the team is reportedly parting ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., according to ESPN’sAdam Schefter.
Kingsbury and Whitt were hired in February 2024 as part of head coach Dan Quinn’s staff. Now after two seasons, both are gone.
Advertisement
According to Jordan Schultz, Kingsbury is expected to interview for the open head coaching positions with the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans.
Kingsbury was reportedly hired on a three-year deal to replace Eric Bieniemy, while Whitt joined after previously working with Quinn as a passing-game coordinator and secondary coach with the Dallas Cowboys.
After a 2024 season that saw the Commanders finish 12-5, place second in the NFC East and reach the NFC championship game, 2025 was one to forget. The Commanders dropped to 5-12 and saw 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels and receiver Terry McLaurin hampered by injuries.
Advertisement
The Commanders’ offense ranked 22nd in the NFL with 318.8 total yards per game and 20.9 points per game. They were one of 10 teams to average under 200 yards passing per game. Defensively, no team allowed more total yards than Washington (384 per game) and they were a bottom-five team in both pass (242.5) and rush (141.8) defense, as well as points allowed (26.5) per game.
That lack of defensive success led to Quinn taking charge of defensive playcalling duties beginning in Week 11.
In April, the Commanders will select No. 7 in the 2026 NFL Draft and have the ability to add another weapon to their roster in hopes that next season will see better health and a turnaround in the standings.
