Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Bill Belichick to give college coaching a try
at North Carolina
Bill Belichick had just been introduced Thursday as North Carolina’s next football coach when chancellor Lee Roberts came armed with a gift: a short-sleeved gray hoodie — a bit of a trademark from Belichick’s NFL coaching days — bearing a blue interlocking “NC” logo.
It was the visual confirmation, which will take some getting used to, that the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach whose name became synonymous with NFL success has taken an unexpected first dive into college coaching. He now leads a program at a school with a national name brand but one that has been unable to sustain fleeting pockets of high-level success when it comes to football.
“I’ve always wanted to coach in college football,” Belichick said during his introductory campus news conference. “It just never really worked out. Had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK.”
The school’s trustees approved terms of the deal to hire Belichick as the new football coach earlier Thursday. Specific terms have yet to be released, though the school said Wednesday there was a five-year agreement.
Belichick arrived wearing a dark suit, a light blue dress shirt and a tie bearing a white-and-light-blue pattern. He sat between Roberts and athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who paid his own tribute by donning a suit jacket with the sleeves cut off to mimic Belichick’s cut-off sideline look.
“I’m here to, as Bubba said, teach, develop and build a program in the way that I believe in,” Belichick said.
Moving on from the 73-year-old Mack Brown to hire the 72-year-old Belichick means UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, yet had incredible success in the NFL alongside quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots, which ended last season.
Belichick holds 333 career regular-season and postseason wins in the NFL, trailing only Don Shula’s 347 for the NFL record, while his 31 playoff wins are the most in league history.
He had been linked to NFL jobs in the time since his departure from the Patriots, notably the Atlanta Falcons in January. That’s why word of Belichick’s conversations with UNC — first reported by Inside Carolina and confirmed by the AP last week — stirred such surprise as an unexpected and unconventional candidate.
There’s also at least a small family tie to the UNC program for Belichick; his late father, Steve, was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55.
When asked about fan concerns that he might leave quickly for the next NFL job, Belichick said: “I didn’t come here to leave.”
And when asked how long he might want to keep coaching, he quipped: “It beats working. My dad told me this: when you love what you do, it’s not work. I love what I do. I love coaching.”
He’s arriving on campus at a time of rapid changes in college athletics, from free player movement through the transfer portal and athletes’ ability to cash in on endorsements to the looming arrival of revenue sharing. And he’s taking over a program that for a school with a national name-brand — particularly as a tradition-rich blueblood in college basketball — has never sustained elite football success in its long history.
Wander Franco’s sex abuse trial has been postponed five months
PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic | The trial against Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking, was postponed on Thursday and scheduled to resume June 2, 2025.
Dominican judge Yacaira Veras postponed the hearing at the request of prosecutors because of the absence of several key witnesses in the case. Only three out of 31 witnesses arrived to the hearing on Thursday.
Franco’s lawyers asked the court to reconsider the postponement, arguing Franco must report to spring training in mid-February.
“There is no case against Wander, for as many witnesses as they present, there is no case now,” Franco’s lead lawyer Teodosio Jáquez told The Associated Press after the hearing.
The judge replied that Franco is obligated to continue with the trial schedule and his conditional release from detainment.
The 23-year-old shortstop said that his career is not over yet, that he wants justice to be done and that “everything is in God’s hands.”
Franco was a little upset when reporters ask him if his MLB career was over.
“I did not had a career,” he said implying that he still has it. “This is not over.”
Franco was in the midst of his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021.
Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list on July 10, cutting off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.
Documents that prosecutors presented to the judge in July and were viewed by the AP alleged that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos (about $17,000) to the mother of the minor on Jan. 5, 2023, to consent to the abuse. The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest.
Prosecutors say the minor’s mother went from being a bank employee to leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco. During raids on the house of the minor’s mother, prosecutors say they found $68,500 and $35,000 that they allege was delivered by Franco.
In a separate case that happened in November, Franco was also charged with illegally carrying a gun in his vehicle during an altercation in a parking lot in the Dominican Republic countryside.
Raiders player Snowden facing DUI charge
LAS VEGAS | Las Vegas Raiders football player Charles Snowden was arrested in Las Vegas on a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge and released from police custody with a court date set for April, authorities said Thursday.
Snowden, a 26-year-old first-year defensive end, was arrested early Tuesday after Las Vegas police responded to a report of a “suspicious” vehicle near a busy intersection southwest of the Las Vegas Strip, according to court records and police reports.
His attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, acknowledged the arrest but declined to describe the circumstances, and the Raiders said Thursday that the team was in contact with the NFL and local authorities about “the incident involving Charles Snowden.”
“The club will not comment further as this is a legal matter,” the team statement said.
“Mr. Snowden will be entering a not guilty plea and we will respond in court, which is the appropriate forum,” his attorneys said. Snowden is due to face a judge on April 15.
It was not immediately clear if the arrest would affect Snowden’s status with the team. He has played every game this season, including in Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida. The Raiders next play Monday, hosting the Atlanta Falcons in Las Vegas.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed league officials were in contact with the Raiders. League policy calls alcohol abuse “detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence” in the league and allows Commissioner Roger Goodell to impose a three-game suspension without pay for a first offense.
The Raiders have had several players arrested on charges of driving under the influence since the team moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020.
The team and the community were scarred by the arrest and conviction of former first-round draft pick Henry Ruggs, a wide receiver, after a fiery high-speed crash that killed a woman and her dog on a city street in November 2021. Ruggs, now 25, was sentenced in 2023 to three to 10 years in state prison following his guilty plea to felony DUI and other charges.
The Raiders released reserve defensive safety Roderic Teamer in November 2023 after his arrest in Las Vegas on misdemeanor driving under the influence and speeding charges. Records show Teamer pleaded no contest in July to reckless driving, paid $1,000 in fines and fees, and other charges against him were dismissed.
Buffalo Bills cancel practice and hold meetings virtually
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. | The Buffalo Bills canceled practice Thursday amid more than 2 feet of snow and opted to handle team meetings virtually.
The Bills (10-3) posted pictures on X of their home stadium buried in snow, with its blue seats barely visible in most places. Buffalo plays at Detroit (12-1) on Sunday afternoon, one of two games involving division-leading teams. Pittsburgh (10-3) also plays at Philadelphia (11-2).
Buffalo beat San Francisco in heavy snow earlier this month.
According to the National Weather Service in Buffalo, the nearby vicinity of Orchard Park — where the Bills practice and play — received 30 inches of snow through Thursday morning. There was a travel ban in effect for Erie County and surrounding areas. Snowfall was expected to end later Thursday.
The Bills held a walkthrough Wednesday following their cross-country return trip from Los Angeles, meaning they will have just Friday’s practice before facing the Lions.
—From AP reports
