Armadillo Sports

— Future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald will play for the Rams this year, signing a one-year deal worth $20M.

Sean McVay said the Rams are still deciding whether Donald will play in the season opener and will take it “one day at a time” as they determine “whether or not we think it’s best to be able to play him in Australia.” Rams-49ers open the season in Australia.

— There must be serious $$$ in hosting all these fantasy football leagues; there were drafts all over Las Vegas this weekend, some with significant buy-ins.

— Underdogs went 33-13-1 ATS in NFL exhibition games this summer.

— With college football starting, there is more shuffling of teams from league to league. UNLV is now in the same league as Northern Illinois and North Dakota State.

— ESPN has former Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson as a college game analyst; he is the only coach in Division I history to lead four programs — Fordham, Richmond, Bowling Green and Wake Forest — to 10-win seasons. Very smart, good to listen to. 

— Some major league umpires had a tough time calling balls/strikes Friday night:

Bill Miller had 8 pitches challenged in the Reds-Cubs game; all eight calls went overturned.

Edwin Moscoso had 9 pitches challenged in the Boston-New York game; seven were overturned.

Mike Eatabrook also had 9 pitches challenged in the Chicago-Minnesota game; seven were overturned.

Alan Porter had 13 (13!!!!) of his pitches challenged in the Arizona-Giants game; nine were overturned.

Then there was Shane Livensberger, who had only four of his pitches challenged in the Angels-Phillies game; none of them were overturned.

— Houston Astros brought in 77-year old Brent Strom as a pitching consultant; he was a great pitching coach for the Astros/Diamondbacks, but now he is trying to help Houston’s pitching coaches shore up their shaky pitching staff. 

When he was a player, Strom was the second pitcher to have Tommy John surgery. He started 75 games in his major league career.

— Famous birthdays, August 31st:
Richard Gere, 77
Tom Candiotti, 70
Von Hayes, 68
Hideo Nomo, 58

Chris Tucker, 55
Larry Fitzgerald, 43
Jalen Brunson, 30
Desmond Ridder, 27

— Marlins 6, Nationals 2
Miami scored all six of its runs in the ninth inning.
Andrew Alvarez allowed two hits in his six shutout IP.
Washington has now blown 35 saves this season.

— Rays 5, Padres 4 (11)
Jonny DeLuca tied the game with a 9th inning homer.
Jorge Mateo had the walk-off hit for Tampa Bay.
Robbie Ray gave up a run, only three hits in six IP.

— Braves 3, Rockies 2 (10)
Matt Olson had the walk-off single for Atlanta.
Braves have won seven games in a row.
Jake McCarthy homered for Colorado.

— Blue Jays 7, Mariners 0
42-year old Max Scherzer allowed one hit and a walk in 7 IP.
Scherzer moved up to 9th on the all-time strikeout list.
Seattle has lost four games in a row.

— Phillies 5, Angels 2
Game was tied 1-1 after six innings.
Edmundo Sosa hit a go-ahead HR in the 7th inning.
Zack Wheeler gave up a run, four hits in six IP.

— Reds 7, Cubs 5
Sal Stewart homered for the third game in a row.
Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice, now has 38 taters.
Cubs/Phillies are tied for the NL’s #1 Wild Card slot.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Diamondbacks
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

September’s Too……..is a good bar
1165 Central Avenue in Colonie, just west of Osborne Road

Wednesday- Live music during lunch……..
Thursday- Open Mike Night, 7:00
Friday- Karaoke at 8:00
Saturday- Live music at 8:00…….

You can order food from them via Door Dash
There’s a pool table, only 25 cents/game.
Check it out, it’s a fun place

———————————————————————

Sunday’s 6-pack:
NFL over/under win totals:
3.5— Cardinals
4.5— Dolphins
5.5— Browns, Raiders, Jets
6.5— Falcons, Titans
7.5— Panthers, Colts, Giants, Saints, Commanders
8.5— Jaguars, Vikings, Steelers, Buccaneers

Quote of the Day
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Lao Tzu

Sunday’s quiz
Where did Raiders’ QB Kirk Cousins play his college football?

Saturday’s quiz
Giants-Jets met for the first time in a 1969 exhibition game; the game was played at the Yale Bowl, in New Haven, CT

Friday’s quiz
In the movie Against All Odds, NFL Hall of Famer Alex Karras’ character died. 

— North Carolina 15, TCU 10
TCU led 10-3 in first quarter, on a rainy day in Ireland.
Horned Frogs had 11 penalties for 89 yards, UNC 3 for 20.
TCU was only 1-for-5 on 4th down conversions.

— Virginia 34, NC State 8
QB Pribula threw for 155 yards, ran for 110 more.
Virginia outgained the Wolfpack, 413-168.
Cavaliers led 17-0 at halftime.

— Florida State 34, New Mexico State 17
Florida State ran for 217 yards (5.6 yards/carry).
Seminoles led 17-7 at halftime.
Aggies threw for 272 yards; they converted 10-17 on third down.

— USC 42, San Jose State 26
Jayden Maiava threw for 286 yards, two TD’s.
Trojans led 28-0 at halftime.
Trent Mosley caught seven passes for 118 yards.

— North Dakota State 33, Jacksonville State 7
Bison outgained Jax State 373-170 in their first game as a I-A team.
North Dakota State ran ball for 209 yards (4.8 yards/carry).
QB Nathan Hayes threw for 160 yards, two TD’s.

— Stanford 37, Hawai’i 27
Stanford scored two TD’s (one on defense) in last 1:41 for the win.
Cardinal led 14-7 at halftime.
Stanford outgained the Rainbows, 483-322

— Eastern Michigan 28, Sacramento State 17
QB Kim threw for 279 yards, two TD’s.
Eagles led 21-10 at halftime.
This was Sac State’s first game as a I-A team.

— Famous birthdays, August 30th:
Robert Parish, 73
David Paymer, 72
Michael Chiklis, 63
Michael Michele, 60

Cameron Diaz, 54
Cliff Lee, 48
Adam Wainwright, 45
Drake Maye, 24

— Cubs 17, Reds 5
Pete Crow-Armstrong hi three homers, had six RBI.
Carson Kelly scored three runs, had four RBI.
Rookie Sal Stewart hit his 30th home run of the year.

— Rays 7, Padres 6
Tampa Bay scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th.
Yandy Diaz had three RBI for the Rays.
Tampa Bay leads the AL East by 4.5 games.

— Red Sox 6-2, New York 0-9
Jake Bennett allowed three hits in 6 IP in the opener.
Wilyer Abreu opened the scoring with a first inning homer.
New York’s bullpen threw 5.1 scoreless IP in the nightcap.

— Tigers 2, Dodgers 1
Kevin McGonigle had the walk-off hit for Detroit.
Blake Snell struck out 10 guys in his five IP.
Dodgers scored a total of three runs in their last three games.

— Braves 2, Rockies 1
Michael Harris hit a two-run double in the 8th inning.
Martin Perez allowed one run in 5.2 IP.
Braves have won six games in a row.

— White Sox 3, Twins 2
Andrew Benintendi had all 3 of Chicago’s hits, including a home run.
White Sox are a season-high nine games over .500.
Minnesota has lost seven of its last eight games.

— Pirates 6, Cardinals 2
Rafael Flores hit a three-run homer for the Pirates.
Brandon Lowe also homered for Pittsburgh.
Six Pittsburgh pitchers held St Louis to three hits.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Diamondbacks
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

— Dodgers 2, Tigers 1
Tarik Skubal gave up a run on 4 hits in 6 IP vs his old team (future team??)
Freddie Freeman’s 8th inning single was the game-winning hit.
Dodgers’ win snapped a three-game losing skid.

— New York 1, Red Sox 0
Paul Goldschmidt’s homer was the game’s only run.
Cam Schlittler gave up two hits in 5.2 IP on the mound.
Schlittler is 3-1, 0.56 in five starts against Boston.

— Rays 9, Padres 4
Yandy Diaz hit his 20th homer of the season.
Chandler Simpson had two hits, two steals, scored two runs.
San Diego lost three of its last four games.

— Reds 10, Cubs 8
Cubs led 3-0 after the third inning.
Reds hit four homers, scored five runs in the 6th inning.
Elly De La Cruz went 3-for-5, drove in two runs.

— Astros 3, Mets 1
Hunter Brown got 20 outs, half of them via strikeouts.
Houston is 68-67, leads AL West by two games.
Brown was first Astros starter since August 10th to finish the 6th inning.

— Braves 6, Rockies 4
Michael Harris homered, drove in three runs.
Atlanta has won five games in a row.
Colorado has lost nine of its last 11 games.

— Brewers 6, Rangers 1
Logan Henderson gave up one hit in seven IP.
Jake Bauers was 2-for-2, walked 3 times, scored twice.
Milwaukee leads the NL Central by eight games.

— Famous birthdays, August 29th:
Elliott Gould, 88
Darnell Hillman, 77
Doug DeCinces, 76
Eddie Murray, 70 (Lions’ kicker)

Rebecca DeMornay, 67
Rodney McCray, 65
Carl Banks, 64
Carla Gugino, 55

Roy Oswalt, 49
Brent Suter, 37
Noah Syndergaard, 34
Hunter Brown, 28

— Packers 42, Cardinals 38
Green Bay scored 15 points in the last 3:19 for the comeback win.
QB McCord played the whole game, throwing for 226 yards, four TD’s.
Arizona outgained the Packers, 492-282.

— Ravens 41, Commanders 3
Baltimore led 24-0 at halftime.
Ravens missed two FG’s, may bring in kickers for a tryout.
Ravens outgained Washington, 456-177

— Falcons 17, Dolphins 12
Tua Tagovailoa was 7-8/95 passing against his old team.
Dolphins kicked a field goal in all four quarters.
Miami finished preseason 0-3; they were outgained, 279-236.

— Bengals 30, Eagles 13
40-year old Josh Johnson was 12-19/156 passing.
Evan MacPherson kicked three FG’s, including a 58-yarder.
Andy Dalton outplayed Tanner McKee in the battle to be Eagles QB#2.

— Chiefs 9, Seahawks 9
Seahawks missed a 52-yard FG on the last play of the game.
Seattle also missed the PAT after their only TD.
Chiefs were 9-for-17 on third down, Seahawks 4-11.

— Panthers 16, Texans 13
Ryan Fitzgerald kicked three field goals for Carolina.
Texans gained only 173 yards, were 2-12 on third down.
Doesn’t matter much, but Houston finishes the preseason 0-3.

— Giants 23, Jets 6
Jets scored first but missed the PAT after the TD.
Dominic Zvada kicked field goals of 23-53-46 yards.
Giants outgained the Jets, 401-139

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

— Braves 1, Dodgers 0
Drake Baldwin’s first-inning HR was game’s only run.
Chris Sale struck out 11 in a 109-pitch complete game.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto got 19 outs, only gave up four hits.

— Cardinals 7, Orioles 5
Jordan/Urias homered for St Louis.
Cardinals’ win snaps their five-game losing skid.
Riley O’Brien earned his NL-leading 34th save.

— Astros 5, New York 1
Christian Walker had three hits, including a 2-run homer.
Hayden Wesneski gave up three hits, one run in five IP.
67-67 Astros lead the AL West by a game over Texas.

— Nationals 7, Rockies 1
Daylen Lile homered for the third game in a row.
In this series, Lile was 8-for-15 with three homers, 8 RBI.
Colorado is 52-82; this is their 8th straight losing season.

— Bills 28, Steelers 27
Buffalo drove 59 yards, scored TD/2-point play with 1:06 left for the win.
Steelers led 27-17 after they ran a punt back 45 yards for a TD with 11:11 left.
Total yardage: 266-232, Buffalo.

— Browns 34, Patriots 13
Dillon Gabriel was 12-15/186 passing, with three TD’s.
Cleveland led 27-13 at halftime.
Tommy DeVito threw a 45-yard TD pass for New England.

— Famous birthdays, August 28th:
Lou Piniella, 83
Barbara Bach, 80
Ron Guidry, 76

Joel Youngblood, 75
Luis Guzman, 70
John Long, 70

Jack Black, 57
Anthony Weaver, 46
Travis Bazzana, 24

— Tuesday was a huge night for underdogs in baseball; dogs won 11 of the 15 games played, good for a profit of 9.6 units.

— Angels have clinched their 11th consecutive losing season; Rockies have clinched their eighth straight losing year.

If you were a Rockies’ fan, would you be happy with Paul DePodesta being in charge of the team? He is the Jonah Hill character from the movie Moneyball; after that, he went to Cleveland and ran the NFL’s Browns. He’s the guy who gave QB Deshaun Watson the five-year guaranteed deal worth $46M/year.

— Brewers P Dustin May threw one pitch in his start Wednesday; he got drilled in the shoulder with a line drive, and left the game. Milwaukee put in a lefty pitcher; Mets had all their lefties in the lineup to face May, so that screwed them up.

— Orioles 1B Pete Alonso was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts Thursday; he is still 34-for-91 (.374) this month, with 8 home runs, 20 RBI.

— Freddy Peralta was 5-9, 4.99 in 22 starts for the Mets this year; he is 1-2, 5.60 in five starts for Tampa Bay, but his last start was really good, going up only two hits in six shutout IP in a 3-0 win at Detroit. Will be interesting to see how he pitches for the Rays.

— Rams traded RB Jarquez Hunter to Miami, bringing WR Tutu Atwell back to Los Angeles. Atwell previously played five years for the Rams, catching 105 passes for 1,535 yards, five TD’s. 

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

— Reds 10, Giants 9
Cincinnati scored seven runs in the ninth inning.
Eugenio Suarez had the big hit, a grand slam.
This is the first time since 1958 the Reds won a game they trailed by 6+ runs in the last inning.

— Braves 6, Dodgers 5
Ha-Seong-Kim had the walk-off hit for Atlanta.
Matt Olson hit his 37th home run for the Braves.
Atlanta leads the Phillies by 4.5 games in the NL East.

— Phillies 6, Mariners 0
Kyle Schwarber hit his 40th home run this season.
Jesus Luzardo struck out nine guys in 7 IP.
Seattle is 64-70, but only 2.5 games out of first in the AL West.

— Diamondbacks 2, Cubs 0
Eduardo Rodriguez struck out nine guys in seven IP.
Game was scoreless after five innings.
Arizona is one game out of the NL’s last playoff spot.

— Marlins 4, Red Sox 0
Otto Lopez had two hits, scored two runs.
Ryan Gusto allowed four hits, got 17 outs.
Red Sox had five hits, made four errors.

— A’s 7, Twins 4
Minnesota led 3-0 in the fourth inning.
Tommy White had three hits, scored twice.
Twins are 64-69, 3.5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Orioles 8, Cardinals 7
Christian Encarnacion-Strand had game-winning hit in the 9th inning.
Orioles led this game 7-0 in the second inning.
Baltimore bullpen got 14 outs, didn’t allow a run.

— Famous birthdays, August 27th
Buddy Bell, 75
Scott Studwell, 72
Mike Maddux, 65

Jim Thome, 56
Darren McFadden, 39
Kevin Huerter, 28

— Modern college sports:
Basketball player AJ Storr transferred from Ole Miss to UNLV for this season; he’s had an interesting college career:

2022-23- St John’s
2023-24- Wisconsin
2024-25- Kansas
2025-26- Ole Miss
2026-27- UNLV

— 6-7 F Nick Townsend transferred from Yale to Stanford; he scored 11.3 ppg in his career at Yale, grabbing 5.6 rebounds/game.

— Minnesota Timberwolves signed Jonathan Kuminga for two years, $13M; he has scored 12.5 ppg in his NBA career. Last year, he played for the Warriors/Hawks.

— Rookie IF Sal Stewart is the first major leaguer to knock in 100 runs this year; he is the first rookie with 100 RBI since Pete Alonso, in 2019.

— Sale of the Seattle Seahawks was approved by the NFL; they sold for $9.6B, that’s billion with a B. 

Baseball owners should take note; in a sport with a salary cap, a team in Seattle sold for $9.6B, which is a lot of cabbage.

— QB Thomas Castellanos committed to play this year at Texas Tech; he played five games for Central Florida in 2022, then started 20 games at Boston College in 2023-24 and 12 games for Florida State last year.

Texas Tech hasn’t had a QB start all of its games in a season, since Patrick Mahomes in 2016.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

— RIP to Dolly Parton, the iconic singer who was universally loved/admired. She passed away Tuesday, at age 80, after a brief bout with cancer.

One of the most honored  singers in history, she won 11 Grammy awards and three Emmy awards. She composed more than 3,000 songs, including “I Will Always Love You” which was #1 on the charts twice, and sold over 40,000,000 copies worldwide.

In the divisive world we live in today, Dolly Parton was universally admired/respected. She will be missed, but her great music will always live on.

RIP, ma’am.

— Going into Tuesday’s action, San Diego Padres had a +66 run differential from the 8th inning on in games; no one else in the majors is higher than +42.

— Word out of Houston is that manager Joe Espada won’t be back next season, but they’ll let him finish the season. Astros fired their general manager this week.

— LA Rams have four quarterbacks on their roster; the fourth guy is Matthew Caldwell, who has had an interesting journey to the NFL:

He grew up in Alabama, near Auburn
2021- played at Jacksonville State
2022-23- played at I-AA Gardner-Webb
2024- played at Troy State
2025- was a backup for the Texas Longhorns, throwing 11 passes.

Five years, four teams, 13 starts (6-7 record)

I’ll say this; if Les Snead brought him into Rams’ camp, he has skills. Maybe he’ll play against the Chargers in the last exhibition game Thursday night.

— Book of the Day: Then One Life, by Chris Andrews

Chris Andrews has been running sportsbooks in Nevada since 1981; now he has written his fourth book. The first two I’ve read; they’re both very good. He is an excellent story teller. My advice to you is to buy his books; you’ll be entertained. Lot of stories about gambling, making lines, including how teams’ season-long over/under bets started.

— Famous birthdays, August 26th:
GW Bailey, 81
Donnie Shell, 74
Morris Peterson, 49
David Price, 41
Elvis Andrus, 38

James Harden, 37
Tyler Wells, 32
Ranger Suarez, 31
Spencer Torkelson, 27
Karen Williams, 26

A look ahead to Saturday’s college football games:
(Write-ups like these will be on college football page all season)

North Carolina vs TCU (-7.5) (@ Ireland)
North Carolina
Last two years, North Carolina went 6-7/4-8 SU
UNC is 3-6 ATS in last nine non-league games.
Tar Heels have 5 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Tar Heels have 21 returning starts on offensive line.

Senior QB Edwards has 13 career starts (Maryland/Wisconsin)
Tar Heels are 5-8-1 ATS last 14 games as an underdog.
Tar Heels are 1-7 ATS in last eight games vs Big X teams.

TCU
Last two years, TCU went 9-4/9-4
Under Dykes, Horned Frogs are 9-6 ATS in non-league games.
TCU has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Horned Frogs have 93 returning starts on the offensive line.

Senior QB Craig started 11 games at Harvard last year.
Under Dykes, TCU is 19-16-1 ATS as a favorite.
TCU is 5-2 ATS in last seven games vs ACC teams.

TCU (-3.5) won 48-14 at North Carolina last year.
Total yardage was 542-222, TCU.

San Jose State @ USC (-38.5)
San Jose State
Spartans finished over .500 three of last four years (3-9 LY)
San Jose has 2 starters back on offense, 1 on defense.
Spartans have only 38 starts returning on offensive line.
Senior QB Weaver started two games at Hawai’i last year.

In his career, Niumatalolo is 36-22 ATS as a road underdog. 
Under Niumatalolo, Spartans are 7-3 ATS in non-league games.
Spartans were minus-13 in turnovers LY (+20 from ’22-’24)

USC (10-3)
Under Riley, USC is 35-18 SU, 24-28-1 ATS
USC has 9 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Trojans have 79 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Maiava threw for 3,711 yards last season.

Under Riley, USC is 14-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Under Riley, USC is 10-5-1 ATS in non-conference games.
Last three years, USC was minus-2 in turnovers (+22 in 2022)

USC won last two meetings, 30-7/56-28 (1-1 ATS)

— Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 4
Chicago led this game 4-0 after seven innings.
Ryan Waldschmidt had a 2-run, pinch-hit, walk-off home run.
Clay Holmes allowed two hits in 7 shutout IP for the Cubs.

— Pirates 1, Padres 0
Oneil Cruz hit a ninth inning homer, the game’s only run.
Paul Skenes allowed only three baserunners in six IP.
Michael King allowed five hits in seven IP.

— Red Sox 7, Marlins 3 (11)
Jarren Duran hit a grand slam in the 11th inning.
Game was 2-2 after nine innings; bad beat if you had the under.
Mickey Gasper hit two home runs for Boston.

— Astros 9, New York 7
Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-5, had game-winning triple in 8th inning.
Yainer Diaz hit two home runs for Houston.
Astros are 66-66, back in first place in AL West. 

— White Sox 11, Rangers 7
Chicago scored six runs in the bottom of the first.
Tristan Peters homered for the fourth game in a row.
Jacob deGrom allowed eight runs in 3.2 IP.

— Braves 4, Dodgers 3
Ozzie Albies had the winning hit in the 8th inning.
Loss snaps the Dodgers’ six-game winning streak.
Tyler Glasnow pitched five innings in his first start since May 6th. 

— A’s 4, Twins 2
Gage Jump gave up three hits in 6.1 IP, stoking out nine.
Carlos Cortes hit a two-run homer for the A’s.
Taj Bradley had an immaculate inning for the Twins.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

— Summer is flying by: college football starts this week. One of the games is North Carolina vs TCU in Ireland. Last year, TCU won 48-14 at North Carolina; Tar Heels went 4-8 in their first year with Bill Belichick as coach. 

— Cleveland Browns chose QB Deshaun Watson to be their Week 1 starter, ending a lot of speculation. Watson is making $46M/year on a contract that runs out after this season.

Cleveland starts the season with road games in Jacksonville, Tampa, then they host Carolina in Week 3.

— Last year, Cincinnati Bengals gave up nine TD’s on offense/special teams, helping explain why they were 3-5 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

— Felt old the other day; social media had clips of a couple high school kids playing QB, the sons of Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer. Manning’s son is only a 9th grader; Palmer’s son is a junior.

— QB Max Johnson is going to start go for Georgia Southern this year; he is 25 years old, will be playing for his fourth college team. He is the son of former NFL QB Brad Johnson.

He played for LSU in Ed Orgeron’s last year coaching the Tigers.

He played for Texas A&M in Jimbo Fisher’s last year coaching the Aggies. 

He played for North Carolina in Mack Brown’s last year coaching the Tar Heels.

— Famous birthdays, August 25th:
Rollie Fingers, 80
Cornelius Bennett, 61
Albert Belle, 60
Doug Glanville, 56
Robert Horry, 56

Gary Matthews, 52
Justin Upton, 39
Max Muncy, 36 (Dodgers)
Caris LaVert, 32
Max Muncy, 24 (A’s)

— Houston Astros have used 127 different starting lineups this year; Toronto Blue Jays have used 123.

— Reds’ OF JJ Bleday hit for the cycle Saturday.

— Phillies’ 2B Luis Arraez has 67 hits this year with two strikes, most in the big leagues.

— McKenzie Gore’s home/away splits this year:
Home: 12 starts, 3-2, 2.99
Away: 15 starts, 4-7, 5.42

— Word of the Day: kibbitz- Casual conversation, kind of like small talk, schmoozing.

— Red Sox 4, Marlins 2
Boston scored twice in the top of the ninth.
Anthony Seigler’s triple was the game-winning hit.
Marlins were 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

— Rays 4, Tigers 1
Drew Rasmussen gave up three hits in six IP.
Jonathan Aranda hit his 16th home run.
Detroit has lost six in a row, nine of last 10 games.

— Mariners 9, Phillies 2
Cal Raleigh had his first career three home run game.
Julio Rodriguez also homered, drove in three runs.
Zack Wheeler gave up eight runs in four IP.

— Nationals 13, Rockies 3
Daylen Lile homered, drove in five runs.
Cade Cavalli won his fourth consecutive start.
Colorado has lost seven games in a row.

— Cubs 7, Diamondbacks 0
Kevin Gausman gave up three hits in seven IP.
Michael Conforto, Carson Kelly hit back/back home runs.
Cubs have a three-game lead for the NL’s top Wild Card slot.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Rangers Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians

— White Sox C Jake Rogers has had an interesting last month:

He started the season as Detroit’s backup C, hitting .161 in 34 games.

July 30, Detroit traded him to the Orioles.

Four days later, Baltimore traded him to the Red Sox.

11 days after that, Boston traded him to the White Sox.

He’s played seven games for the White Sox, hasn’t been traded by them yet.

— Last Monday night in New York, Mets’ outfielders did something that hadn’t been done in the last 100 years. They threw three guys out at the plate in the game’s first two innings.

All in all, seven Padres in a row reached base safely, but only one of them scored. Mets wound up winning the game, 2-1.

— Wednesday night in Baltimore, Pete Alonso hit a ball a mile down the left field line; it was way higher than the foul pole. Umpires called it foul, which was controversial; hard to believe there isn’t any technology that could tell us if a ball like that was fair or foul.

— Dodgers lost CF Andy Pages (broken hand) for 4-6 weeks; he was drilled with a pitch.

— Divisional races in the major leagues:
AL East
Rays
New York 3 GB
Red Sox 6 GB

AL Central
White Sox
Guardians 3.5 GB
Twins 5.5 GB
Tigers 7 GB

AL West
Astros/Rangers tied (they’re both 64-65)
Mariners 3 GB

NL East
Braves
Phillies 3 GB

NL Central
Brewers
Cubs 6 GB

NL West
Dodgers
Padres 9 GB

— Famous birthdays, August 24th:
Anne Archer, 79
Joe Regalbuto, 77
Kevin Dunn, 71
Steve Guttenberg, 68

Cal Ripken Jr, 66
Reggie Miller, 61
Marlee Matlin, 61
Tim Salmon, 58

Dave Chappelle, 53
Michael Redd, 47
Enrique Hernandez, 35
Mason Miller, 28

— Phillies 6, Cardinals 4
Phillies won their ninth game in a row in dramatic style.
Trailing 4-0, Phillies scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Kyle Schwarber hit his 39th home run to walk the game off.

— Red Sox 5, Giants 4
Giants led 3-0 in the second inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 29th save.
Red Sox won seven of their last ten games. 

— Marlins 6, Nationals 2
Xavier Edwards had two RBI for the Marlins.
Nationals have lost eight games in a row against Miami.
Marlins are 41-25 at home, 26-39 on the road.

— White Sox 2, Mets 1
Tristan Peters hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning.
Game was scoreless after seven innings.
Mets P Nolan McLean allowed one hit in his six IP.

— Rays 3, Orioles 1
Nick Martinez allowed one baserunner in six shutout IP, got the win.
Rays scored all three of their runs in the sixth inning.
Colton Cowser had both Oriole hits, including a home run.

— A’s 7, Astros 6
Houston led 6-0 after four innings.
Brian Serven/Max Muncy homered for the A’s.
Astros are 65-66, tied for first with Texas atop a weak AL West.

— Titans 19, Seahawks 16
Seattle led 16-3 after the first quarter.
Titans drove 64 yards, scored winning TD with 5:45 left.
There were 25 penalties for 229 yards in this game.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Tex/Clev

— Orioles 3, Rays 2 (10)
Dylan Beavers hit a walk-off double to end the game.

It was actually a home run, but because everyone acts like a 9-year old these days, his teammates mobbed him and he never touched third base or home plate, reducing it to a double and only one RBI, not two. 

Too bad; it would’ve been Beavers’ fourth game in a row with a home run.

— Red Sox 3, Giants 2
Red Sox scored three runs in the ninth for a comeback win.
Blade Tidwell threw 5.2 shutout IP, allowed only three hits.
Red Sox have a 6.5-game lead for the second Wild Card spot.

— Mariners 5, Cubs 4
Randy Arozarena’s second HR of the day was a walk-off blast.
Mariners scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Bregman/Bosch both homered for Chicago.

— A’s 4, Astros 3
A’s scored three runs in 8th, snapped a five-game skid.
Astros are 65-65, but they lead the AL West by a game.
Jonah Heim knocked in the game-winning run.

— Guardians 4, Rockies 3
Jo Adell homered, drove in three runs.
Tanner Bibee got his first win in his last six starts.
Colorado has lost its last eight home games.

— Padres 7, Twins 5
Minnesota led 5-2 in the 7th inning.
Jake Cronenworth was 2-for-5, scored twice, had two RBI.
Twins’ bullpen gave up five runs in 2.2 IP.

— Dodgers 4, Pirates 3
Tarik Skubal struck out 11, got his first win as a Dodger.
Max Muncy went 3-for-3, scored two runs.
Dodgers have won five games in a row.

— Famous birthdays, August 23rd:
Vera Miles, 96
Barbara Eden, 95
Shelley Long, 77
Julio Franco, 68

Mark Ingram, 61
Rik Smits, 60
Mark Bellhorn, 52
Jeremy Lin, 38

Seth Curry, 36
Mike Yastrzemski, 36
Tyler Glasnow, 33
Bryce Miller, 28

Saturday was coach Bill Parcells’ 85th birthday.

— Giants 26, Dolphins 3
Giants outgained Miami, 390-102.
Giants were 11-18 on third down, Dolphins 2-11.
Dolphins have injury issues with backup QBs; starter Wiilis didn’t play.

— Lions 17, Commanders 13
Washington scored a defensive TD in the first minute.
Detroit QB Dobbs threw for 74 yards, ran for 53 more.
Lions were 9-17 on third down, Commanders 4-12.

— Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Patriots drove 73 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:57 left.
QB McKee was 16-22/173 passing for the Eagles.
New England outgained Philadelphia, 388-301.

— Buccaneers 16, Chiefs 15
Tampa Bay outscored the Chiefs 9-0 in fourth quarter.
Chiefs kicked three field goals in first half; 45-58-69 yards.
Chiefs gained only 3.8 yards per pass attempt.

— Rams 34, Saints 0
Stetson Bennett was 19-31/181 in the first half for LA.
Saints #2 QB Rattler (14-23/141 passing) played better than Zach Wilson.
Rams had a 100-yard pick-6 in the third quarter.

— Bengals 27, Bears 9
40-year old Josh Johnson was 15-23/156 passing, with two TD’s.
Evan McPherson kicked a 58-yard FG for the Bengals.
Bears were 2-11 on third down; they had 81 yards in penalties.

— Bills 31, Browns 7
Game was delayed an hour by lightning in the first quarter.
Shane Buechele threw a 71-yard TD pass to Ja’Mori Maclin.
Buffalo outgained the Browns, 368-194.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Tex/Clev

— Here is where the 32 DH’s hit in the batting order in Friday’s games:
1st- 4
2nd- 3
3rd- 5
4th- 7
5th- 3
6th- 2
7th- 2
8th- 2 (Giants, Padres)
9th 2 (Red Sox, A’s)

— Minimum salaries in the four major sports:
baseball- $780,000
NFL- $885,000
NBA- $1,357,763
NHL- $850,000

— Brewers 2, Braves 1
Misiorowski-Sale was quite a pitchers’ duel.
William Contreras went 4-for-4, with an RBI.
Trevor Megill recorded his 24th save.

— Phillies 7, Cardinals 6 (10)
Alec Bohm hit a walk-off, two-run triple in 10th inning.
Top three hitters in Phillies’ lineup went 0-for-12.
Jordan Walker went 3-for-5, with two RBI.

— Mariners 6, Cubs 5 (10)
Leo Rivas, hitting .138, had the walk-off hit for Seattle.
Alex Bregman tied the game with a 9th inning homer.
Cal Raleigh hit a three-run homer in the second inning.

— Red Sox 6, Giants 4
Willson Contreras hit a 3-run homer, also walked twice.
Rafael Demers homered in his return to Fenway Park.
Aroldis Chapman recorded his 28th save.

— Rangers 2, Angels 1 (10)
Game was scoreless after nine innings.
Wyatt Langford scored the winning run on a throwing error.
Texas is 64-65, but still is holding the AL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Famous birthdays, August 22nd:
Carl Yastrzemski, 87
Paul Molitor, 70
Wes Chandler, 70

Ty Burrell, 59
Randy Wolf, 50
James Corden, 49

Adam Thielen, 36
Maxx Crosby, 29
LaMelo Ball, 25

— This hasn’t been a fun baseball season for me; the A’s are 11-42 in their last 53 games, which is awful. They’ve fired their pitching coach and their general manager. Unfortunately, they can’t fire the jackass who owns the team.

Here is the status of their five best position players:

1B Nick Kurtz- out for the year
C Shea Langeliers- probably out for the year
1B/DH Brent Rooker- out for the year
LF Tyler Soderstrom- out for the year
SS Jacob Wilson- out for the year

— Padres 6, Twins 2
Ty France homered, drove in three runs.
Three San Diego pitchers held the Twins to two hits.
Last sixteen Minnesota hitters went down in order.

— Jets 17, Steelers 0
Geno Smith was 7-of-7 for 65 yards passing.
Jets ran the ball 24 times for only 62 yards.
Aaron Rodgers didn’t play for the Steelers.

— Panthers 34, Jaguars 17
Carolina drove 58 yards for a TD on their second drive.
Panthers ran ball for 147 yards (5.3 yards/rush).
Game was called with 2:00 left because of thunderstorms.

— Packers 33, Broncos 13
Bo Nix was 6-for-9 for 76 yards in his first game since he got hurt LY.
Trey Smack kicked four field goals for Green Bay.
Broncos had won their previous eight exhibition games.

— Raiders 22, Texans 20
Raiders trailed 20-3 midway thru the third quarter.
Houston drove 69 yards for a TD on their first drive.
Rookie QB Mendoza threw a pick-six on his first drive.

Last three years, Texans went WL, WL, WL in the playoffs; they’re expected to get more W’s in the playoffs this season.

— 49ers 41, Chargers 17
Jacob Cowing ran a punt back 83 yards for a touchdown.
49ers outgained the Chargers, 321-229.
Chargers had eight penalties and eight first downs.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Rangers

— College sports has turned into a circus; during the transfer window last January, 34 teams were looking for a new starting quarterback. These days, schools are paying $3M+ to QB’s.

— Oklahoma coach Brent Venables signed a new six-year contract worth $63M; Sooners are 32-20 in four years under Venables, 0-4 in bowl games.

— When Baker Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma, the Texas Tech QB was Davis Webb, who is now the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos.

— If you have Netflix, the Quarterback series is a good watch; a Hard Knocks-type show that focuses on three or four QB’s for three different seasons.

— Famous birthdays, August 21st:
Archie Griffin, 72
Gary Hogeboom, 68
Jim McMahon, 67
Craig Counsell, 56
Akili Smith, 51

Jesse Chavez, 43
JD Martinez, 39
Brandon Drury, 34
Luke Weaver, 33
Corbin Carroll, 26

Friday would’ve been Wilt Chamberlain’s 90th birthday.

— Last four years, head coach/QB for the Raiders in Week 1:
2023- Josh McDaniels, Jimmy Garoppolo
2024- Antonio Pierce, Gardner Minshew
2025- Pete Carroll, Geno Smith
2026- Klint Kubiak, Kirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza

— Cowboys/Saints were both fined $500,000 by the NFL after their joint practice earlier this week turned into a series of brawls.

— In the NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers signed James Harden for three years, $97M. 

— Four NBA players who have earned $500M+ in their careers:
Lebron James, Steph Curry, Harden and Kevin Durant.

— Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone is the basketball coach at North Carolina now, which is going to be very interesting to follow this winter.

— Movie of the Day: Let it Ride (1989)- A cab driver gets a hot tip on a race horse and he wins a lot of money; he keeps gambling all day, much to his wife’s dismay.

Richard Dreyfuss runs amok as the cab driver, Teri Garr is his wife; David Johansen, Jennifer Tilly and Robbie Coltrane add to this comedy, which is a funny movie.

— When baseball had their lockout in 1994 that cancelled the World Series, they were 57 players who never played in another big league game. 19 of those players played their last game the day the strike began.

— Braves-Brewers are playing a game Sunday night in Williamsport, PA, at the Little League World Series.

— The late Tommy John pitched 26 years in the major leagues; he faced Roger Maris seven times, Mark McGwire 22 times. Maris retired 18 years before McGwire’s rookie season.

— If I had my way, outfield fences would be 8 feet high in major league stadiums, as often as possible. Robbing home runs is one of the most exciting plays in the game.

— Houston Astros players have their own fantasy football league; buy-in is $2,500/team, so if they’ve got 16 teams, that’s a $40,000 pot they’re playing for. 

— Washington Nationals won the 2019 World Series; after that season, 3B Anthony Rendon signed a seven-year, $245M contract with the Angels, which expires after this season.

Rendon played a total of only 257 games in those seven seasons, hitting 22 home runs. In his last three years with Washington, Rendon hit 41-44-44 home runs.

Went to Saratoga race track with my cousins Wednesday; was a fun day shooting the breeze on a perfect day weather-wise. Some quick observations:

a) If you’re smart, you park in people’s yards, pay less than $10 and walk a little further than people who park in the bigger lots.

b) It costs $10 to get in; they get 18,000 people there, they’ve already banked $180,000. You don’t pay to get into a casino, and casinos are more fun. Kind of a ripoff. 

c) They don’t take cash, except at the betting windows; you need a credit/debit card to get in the freakin’ place, and to buy food.

d) Food is expensive, but good. High grade for the hot dogs.

e) There is a big screen by the paddock; good place to put your lawn chair, find a shady spot and relax all day, Betting windows and food are close by.

f) Only eight races Wednesday; is there a shortage of horses? Only a couple of the races had more than eight horses in them. 

g) All in all, a good experience. Fun day.

— Astros 3, Angels 2
Houston bullpen got 16 outs, didn’t allow a run.
Jeremy Pena fouled a pitch off his hand, left the game early.
Astros are 64-63, lead the AL West by two games.

— Nationals 6, Rangers 0
Andres Chaparro scored three runs, had three RBI
Cade Cavalli allowed three hits, struck out 11 in six IP.
Texas is 62-65, half-game out of the last AL Wild Card slot.

— Rays 7, Blue Jays 6
Drew Rasmussen won his sixth consecutive start.
Bryan Baker earned his 25th consecutive save.
Tampa Bay led 7-1 in 4th inning, held on for dear life.

— Diamondbacks 7, Red Sox 6 (10)
Nolan Arenado had the game-winning hit in 10th inning.
Mickey Gasper homered for the third game in a row.
Red Sox have a 5.5-game lead for the second Wild Card slot.

— Pirates 4, Tigers 3
Brandon Lowe had a walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Rafael Flores tied the game with another 9th inning homer.
Paul Skenes now has a 5.05 ERA in his last sixteen starts.

— White Sox 3, Cubs 0
Jose Urquidy allowed two hits in 6 IP as the bulk reliever.
Miguel Vargas had two hits, scored two runs.
White Sox had lost their last eight games at Wrigley Field.

— Mets 4, Padres 2
Mets are 11-4 in their last fifteen games.
Carson Benge hit his 15th homer, a two-run shot.
Padres have a one-game lead for NL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Famous birthdays, August 20th:
Peter Horton, 73
Quinn Buckner, 72
Mark Langston, 66
Tom Brunansky, 66

Andy Benes, 59
Todd Helton, 53
Amy Adams, 52
Mitch Trubisky, 32

— American League Wild Card race:
New York WC#1
Red Sox WC#2
Twins —
_____________

Rangers 0.5 games out
Blue Jays 1 game out
Guardians/Orioles/Tigers 1.5 games out
Mariners 2.5 games out

— National League Wild Card race:

Cubs WC#1
Phillies WC#2
Padres —
_____________
Diamondbacks 1 game out
Cardinals 3 games out
Marlins 4 games out

— Giants 1, Guardians 0
Adrian Houser pitched five innings as the bulk reliever.
Victor Bericoto knocked in the game’s only run.
Cleveland is 61-66, but only 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.

— Mariners 7, Brewers 5
Dustin May gave up seven runs in two IP.
Dominic Canzone scored twice, had two RBI
Josh Naylor had three hits, had two RBI.

— Reds 5, Cardinals 4
Sal Stewart hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning.
Jordan Walker hit his 25th home run for St Louis.
St Louis is three games out of the NL playoffs. 

— Twins 6, Braves 4
Braves go to Minnesota and get swept three games.
Kody Clemens had two hits, three RBI.
Taj Bradley pitched five innings, giving up only two hits.

— Only four NFL exhibition games this weekend have spreads higher than 3.5 points. Sounds like more regulars are going to play this week. 

— Underrated baseball record: Ted Williams holds the all-time record for most consecutive games reaching base, 84 games in a row.

— Phillies 6, Marlins 4
Phillies scored four runs in the sixth inning.
Bryson Stott had the go-ahead hit.
Phillies have won five games in a row.

— Angels 3, Astros 1
George Klassen allowed one hit in seven IP.
Josh Lowe had an opposite field home run.
Astros’ lead in AL West is down to a game over Texas.

— Rangers 5, Nationals 0
Cal Quantrill allowed four hits in his seven IP.
Wyatt Langford had two hits, scored two runs.
Washington lost six of its last seven games.

— Padres 5, Mets 2
Fernando Tatis led the game off with his 14th home run.
Tatis hit his 15th home run in the fifth inning.
In 2nd inning, Tatis robbed Francisco Lindor of a grand slam with a great catch.

— Cardinals 3, Reds 0
Kyle Leahy allowed three hits in his five IP.
Joshua Baez hit three HR’s in his MLB debut last week.
Since then, he is 0-for-17, with a sac fly.

— Pirates 4, Tigers 1
Brandon Ashcroft allowed one run in 8 IP, throwing only 80 pitches.
Oneil Cruz hit a two-run homer in his return from the IL.
Detroit has lost four of its last five games.

— Famous birthdays, August 19th:
Gerald McRaney, 79
Adam Arkin, 70
Anthony Munoz, 68
Gary Gaetti, 68

Rickey Pierce, 67
Ron Darling, 66
Morten Andersen, 66

Bobby Hebert, 66
Kyra Sedgwick, 61
Jeff Tam, 56

Nate Burleson, 45
JJ Hardy, 44
Kirk Cousins, 38
Brandon Young, 28

— Alabama is ranked 13th in the preseason college football top 10, the first time in 13 years their preseason rank is outside the top 10. This is their lowest preseason ranking since 2008, when they were #24 in the preseason poll.

— Modern college sports: Arkansas poached a defensive back from Dartmouth.

— LB Von Miller signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys, worth $5.5M; he’s played 14 years in the NFL, winning Super Bowls with Denver and the Rams.

— WR Keenan Allen signed a one-year deal with the Colts, worth a maximum of $8.32M.

— Surprising stat: Baltimore Orioles are 16-5 in P Brandon Young’s starts this season.

— In case you were wondering, San Francisco Giants have hit eight grand slams, most of any team in the major leagues.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Rangers
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres

— Reds 1-6, Cardinals 2-5
NL Central rivals split a day/night twinbill.
St Louis bullpen threw five shutout IP in the opener.
Elly De La Cruz had his first walk-off hit in the nightcap.

— Cubs 7, White Sox 5 (10)
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a walk-off HR for the Cubs, his 30th.
He also led off the bottom of the first with a home run.
White Sox led 5-4 in the ninth inning.

— Red Sox 11, Diamondbacks 1
All nine Boston starters had at least one RBI.
First four guys in their order went 9-for-18, with six runs scored.
Red Sox have a six-game lead for the second Wild Card slot.

— Mets 2, Padres 1
RF Benge threw out two Padres at the plate in the first inning.
San Diego was 3-5 with runners in scoring position, scored only once.
Mets are 10-3 since the trade deadline.

— Phillies 6, Marlins 5
Cristopher Sanchez allowed 11 baserunners in 6 IP, but only one scored.
Sanchez is the first pitcher this season to win sixteen games.
Phillies survived their bullpen giving up four runs in 3 IP.

— Rays 7, Orioles 6
Tampa Bay scored three runs in the bottom of the 7th.
Jonny DeLuca had the game-winning hit for the Rays.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered, had four RBI.

— Tigers 8, Pirates 5
Kevin McGonigle homered, scored two runs.
Detroit’s bullpen got 10 outs, didn’t give up any runs.
Detroit is in a three-way tie for AL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Famous birthdays, August 18th:
Bruce Benedict, 71
Denis Leary, 69
Lafayette Lever, 66

Christian Slater, 57
Edward Norton, 57
Jeremy Shockey, 46

Dan Orlovsky, 43
Seiya Suzuki, 32
Kevin McGonigle, 22

Tuesday would’ve been Robert Redford’s 90th birthday.

AFC East
— Joe Brady, Bills
He grew up in Florida, played WR at I-AA William &Mary.
Was pass game coordinator at LSU when Joe Burrow/Ja’Marr Chase were there.
Was offensive coordinator for the Panthers and Bills.

— Jeff Hafley, Dolphins
Grew up in New Jersey, played WR in college at D-III Siena.
Was 22-26 in four years as head coach at Boston College.
Was defensive coordinator at Green Bay the last two years.

— Mike Vrabel, Patriots
He grew up Akron, played college ball at Ohio State.
Vrabel played fourteen years as a linebacker in the NFL.
He is 73-52 as an NFL head coach, for Titans/Patriots.

— Aaron Glenn, Jets
He grew up in Texas, played college ball at Texas A&M.
He played 15 years in the NFL as a DB for five different teams.
He was 3-14 in his first year coaching the Jets.

AFC North
— Jesse Minter, Ravens
His father was a college coach; he moved a lot as a kid.
Minter played D-III football at Mount St Joseph’s College
He was a defensive assistant for both Harbaugh brothers (Balt, LAC)

— Zac Taylor, Bengals
His father was a QB at Oklahoma when Barry Switzer coached there.
Zac Taylor played QB at Wake Forest, Nebraska.
In between, he won a junior college national title as a QB.
He is 57-63-1 as NFL head coach, 5-2 in playoff games.
Taylor’s father-in-law is former Green Bay coach Mike Sherman.

— Todd Monken, Browns
He played QB in college at D-III Knox College.
He was 13-25 as coach at Southern Miss from 2013-15.
He’s been an assistant coach for four NFL teams, six colleges.

— Mike McCarthy, Steelers
He grew up in Pittsburgh; his father was a policeman, later owned a bar.
McCarthy played tight end in college for an NAIA team.
His coaching record is 174-112-2, winning a Super Bowl with Green Bay.

AFC South
— DeMeco Ryans, Texans
Ryans grew up in Alabama, played LB for the Crimson Tide.
He played ten years in the NFL, for the Texans/Eagles.
He is 35-22 as an NFL head coach, 3-3 in playoff games.

— Shane Steichen, Colts
He grew up in El Dorado Hills, CA
He played QB for four years at UNLV.
He is 25-26 in three years as an NFL head coach.
He once was a contestant on The Price is Right, but didn’t make it to the stage.

— Liam Coen, Jaguars
He grew up in Rhode Ialand, played QB at UMass for four years.
He was a backup QB for two years in Arena Football.
He was an offensive coordinator for the Rams, Buccaneers.
He was 13-5 in his first year coaching Jacksonville.

— Robert Saleh, Titans
He grew up in Michigan, played tight end at Northern Michigan.
His brother escaped the South Tower safely on 9/11.
Saleh was 20-36 in four years coaching the Jets.

AFC West
— Sean Payton, Broncos
He played QB for I-AA Eastern Illinois, also played Arena Football.
He was a replacement player for the NFL’s Bears in the 1987 season.
He is 194-118 as an NFL head coach, 10-10 in playoff games.
He also caddied briefly on the PGA Tour (for Ryan Palmer).

— Andy Reid, Chiefs
He grew up in Los Angeles, was once a vendor at Dodger Stadium.
As a kid, he appeared in Punt, Pass & Kick during a Monday night game.
He was an offensive lineman in college at BYU,
A certain Hall of Famer, Reid is 279-157-1 as a head coach, 28-17 in playoff games.

— Klint Kubiak, Raiders
His dad is Gary Kubiak, who played/coached in the NFL.
Klint Kubiak was a defensive back in college at Colorado State.
He was offensive coordinator for Seattle LY, when they won the Super Bowl.

— Jim Harbaugh, Chargers
His father Jack was a longtime college coach; the family moved a lot.
Jim Harbaugh played college football at Michigan, then 14 years in the NFL.
He is 144-52 as a college coach, 66-31-1 as an NFL coach.