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Morning Edition

January 13, 2025

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Mike Vrabel was seen by many as the top NFL coach available this year. He’s returning to New England, where he won three Super Bowls as a player. How much power does Vrabel have as he joins a team with $133 million in cap space, and where does that leave other teams with openings?

— David Rumsey [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Vrabel Returns to Patriots as NFL Coaching Carousel Begins to Spin [[link removed]]

Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The first domino of this season’s NFL hiring cycle [[link removed]] fell on Sunday when the Patriots announced Mike Vrabel as the franchise’s new head coach.

Vrabel, a former All-Pro linebacker, played eight of his 14 NFL seasons in New England, where he was on three Super Bowl-winning squads. He was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023 and is the second straight former Patriots player to take on the role, replacing Jerod Mayo, who was fired after his lone 4–13 season.

As the head coach of the Titans from 2018 to 2023, Vrabel was named NFL Coach of the Year in 2021, leading Tennessee to a 12–5 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC. However, in the next two seasons, the Titans posted records of 7-10 and 6-11, leading to Vrabel’s dismissal.

The terms of Vrabel’s contract—reported to be a multiyear deal—have not been released. He will be formally introduced to the media in New England on Monday. The Patriots also interviewed Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, among others, but Detroit’s defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, turned down their interview request.

The Patriots don’t have a GM, but executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf has been leading the team’s front office. Along with Vrabel’s hiring, the Giants’ Ryan Cowden, who is executive advisor to GM Joe Schoen, is expected to join New England’s front office [[link removed]], according to Yahoo Sports. New England currently has $133 million in 2025 cap space, most in the NFL. The franchise could be very active this offseason.

Around the League

The hiring fills one of six head coach openings. The Bears [[link removed]], Jaguars, Jets, Raiders, and Saints are still searching. New York and Las Vegas are also looking for a new GM, as are the Titans, who retained head coach Brian Callahan.

While the Cowboys don’t technically have a coaching vacancy, the clock is ticking on Mike McCarthy’s contract, which expires on Wednesday. Dallas owner and GM Jerry Jones has not said that he wants to move on from McCarthy, and denied a request from the Bears [[link removed]] to interview the coach for their vacancy, according to ESPN. If a new contract hasn’t been signed by Wednesday, McCarthy would be free to interview with other teams.

Carson Beck, Quinn Ewers Highlight NIL Mania In College Football [[link removed]]

Florida Times-Union

The College Football Playoff final is set. And there’s no doubt Notre Dame and Ohio State—which beat Texas 28–14 in the semifinals on Friday—can thank the evolution of NIL (name, image, and likeness) for their championship-worthy rosters.

Both the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes have veteran transfer quarterbacks—Riley Leonard and Will Howard, respectively—who joined their new teams last offseason and are each making millions off the field from school collectives and other brand deals.

But the drama around two quarterbacks on already-eliminated CFP teams is showcasing the wild state of college football—and college sports in general—in 2025.

On Friday, former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck announced his decision to transfer to Miami, which shelled out big money to land the star signal caller. Over the weekend, one of Beck’s agents told Front Office Sports that the QB has secured close to $10 million in combined NIL deals [[link removed]] in the past 12 months from a combination of his brand deals and money from the Miami NIL collective Canes Connection.

Beck, who has one year of college eligibility remaining, saw his NFL draft stock drop this season. He’ll make far more money this year at Miami than he would have as a rookie in the NFL.

Meanwhile, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers also has one year of eligibility remaining, which could be similarly lucrative if he wanted to stay in school. However, ahead of the Cotton Bowl Ewers told ESPN that he does not expect to play college football next season [[link removed]]. He did not specifically say he would be entering the NFL Draft.

The Longhorns have Arch Manning, who will be entering his redshirt sophomore season, waiting in the wings to potentially start under center. The price tag for Ewers in the transfer portal has been reported to be as high as $6 million [[link removed]]. He has yet to officially announce any decision about his future.

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How Rams Are Preparing for Home Playoff Game at Rival Stadium [[link removed]]

Arizona Republic

The Rams spent the weekend preparing to host the Vikings at the home stadium of their NFC West rivals, the Cardinals, following the Monday night NFL wild-card game’s relocation due to the deadly Los Angeles wildfires [[link removed]].

State Farm Stadium in Phoenix has been transformed—as best as it can be—into a makeshift home for the Rams, who relocated to Arizona on Friday night. While the venue’s 63,000 seats can’t be changed from their red and silver colors, its field has been re-painted with Rams colors and logos [[link removed]].

NFC West champions-branded rally towels will be handed out to fans arriving at the game, Rams president Kevin Demoff said on social media [[link removed]]. The team’s staff has also been working on installing stadium video graphics, but “not all segments translate,” per Demoff.

Who Will Attend the Game?

There were 52,000 tickets sold for the game during a two-hour priority window on Friday for Rams and Cardinals season-ticket holders. Demoff said that more than 35,000 of those purchases came from Rams fans. Tickets went on sale to the general public after that. As of Sunday afternoon, the least expensive ticket available on the third-party marketplace TickPick cost $134.

The Rams are providing at least 15 buses, with spots available for 750 fans, that will make the roughly five-and-a-half hour drive from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium on Monday. Kelly Stafford, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, helped assist with the bus effort.

Giving Back

The ownership groups of the Rams, Chargers, Vikings, and Texans are leading an effort to donate $5 million to support communities affected by the wildfires in the greater Los Angeles region, with participation from the NFL Foundation, which is the league’s philanthropic arm.

Sixers Ditch Downtown Dreams, Partnering on South Philly Arena [[link removed]]

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The 76ers’ planned arena in downtown Philadelphia is no more.

Less than four weeks after the city council there approved the NBA team’s long-controversial arena and mixed-use development [[link removed]], 76 Place at Market East, the franchise has dramatically pivoted—instead striking a large-scale deal with Wells Fargo Center owner Comcast Spectacor to stay in the in South Philadelphia sports complex, Front Office Sports has confirmed.

The far-reaching deal, quickly coming together over the recent holidays, contains at least three major components:

The 76ers and Comcast Spectacor will enter a 50-50 partnership for the development and ownership of a new arena in the existing sports complex. Comcast Spectacor had long offered this deal during downtown arena deliberations that roiled the city for several years [[link removed]], but until now, the 76ers had resisted it. In the current Wells Fargo Center lease, the 76ers are a tenant and have a less robust financial presence there. Joint pursuit of a WNBA expansion franchise. A separate, non-sports development to be built at the 76 Place at Market East site, near Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

None of the principals involved in the deal commented on Sunday, but a formal announcement is expected Monday. Throughout the 76ers’ deliberations of the proposed downtown, $1.55 billion arena, opposition has been fierce—even with a private financing plan and particularly within the neighboring Chinatown neighborhood fearful of potential gentrification and the forcing out of incumbent ethnic communities.

“The Sixers staying in south Philadelphia has always made the most sense,” Philadelphia city council members Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke said on Instagram [[link removed]]. “Let’s see the details, but this is a historic win and testament to the power of organizing—it helps to trust and believe in that power.”

Still, others on the council who supported the now-abandoned arena effort were far from happy that they had spent so much effort and political capital on it.

“I’m so livid right now I don’t even know what to do,” Jimmy Harrity, another city council member, told The Philadelphia Inquirer [[link removed]].

The 76ers will remain just one of two NBA teams to not play in a downtown arena; the Spurs are the other, and there are ongoing conversations in San Antonio about a potential facility project there. The South Philadelphia sports complex remains one of the most unique clusters of major sports facilities in the country, bringing together the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park, Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field, and Wells Fargo Center in a joint site that includes shared parking and easy access to major roadways, the Walt Whitman Bridge, and public transportation.

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Insights Into Soccer Fandom

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Starting in April, Nielsen is launching new soccer fan insights to provide an in-depth look into who soccer fans are, what makes them tick, and their attitudes toward brands. The insights center on topics like these:

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Learn more about Nielsen’s soccer fan insights [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters The Texans picked off Justin Herbert four times and upset the Chargers on Saturday. It was the eighth wild-card playoff game in franchise history—and the eighth to be played in the Saturday afternoon window [[link removed]]. The Rams took out a full-page ad in the LA Times with a message of support for Los Angeles as the area continues to combat wildfires that have reportedly burned over 10,000 homes. Take a look at the message [[link removed]]. Ohio State’s CFP semifinal win over Texas earned the Big Ten $6 million. Check out the astounding total [[link removed]] the conference has earned from this year’s playoff. Editors’ Picks Fox’s Terrible Week: Harassment Lawsuit, Venu Cancellation [[link removed]]by Daniel Roberts [[link removed]]Fox Sports was in the news for all the wrong reasons this week. College Football Is Closer Than Ever to Perfecting the Championship Process [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Despite valid criticisms, the first expanded Playoff is working. Carson Beck Has Scored Nearly $10M in NIL Deals in 12 Months: Agent [[link removed]]by Daniel Roberts [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]A source says the $4 million figure attributed to Canes Connection is inaccurate. Question of the Day

Is the NIL market for quarterbacks overinflated, or does it accurately reflect the true value of top college QBs?

QBs are making too much [[link removed]] QBs are properly compensated [[link removed]]

Friday’s result: 63% of respondents said Notre Dame should not be compelled to join a conference.

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