FOOTBALL Cowboys hire Pope
The Dallas Cowboys have hired longtime New York Giants assistant Mike Pope to replace Wes Phillips as tight ends coach. Pope was fired last week by the Giants, where he spent most of his 31 seasons as an assistant coach. He was New York’s tight ends coach the past 14 years and from 1984-91. Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett was a backup quarterback with the Giants when Pope rejoined the coaching staff in 2000. Phillips is the new tight ends coach for Washington after spending this past season in that role with the Cowboys. Phillips, the son of former Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, had been on the Dallas staff since 2007.
Former Minnesota and Tennessee assistant Craig Johnson has been named running backs coach with the New York Giants. Tom Coughlin announced the hiring on Wednesday, roughly a week after firing long-time assistant Jerald Ingram. Johnson was the Vikings quarterbacks coach the past three seasons. Prior to that, he spent a decade with the Titans, working two seasons as an offensive assistant, seven as the quarterbacks coach and the final year as assistant head coach and running backs coach. Johnson is the second former quarterbacks coach from the NFC North to join the staff since the end of the season. Ben McAdoo moved from Green Bay to become the team’s offensive coordinator last week.
Dante Scarnecchia is retiring after spending 30 of the past 32 seasons as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots. The 65-yearold Scarnecchia has been their offensive line coach since 1999 and also has served as assistant head coach since Bill Belichick became coach in 2000. Dave DeGuglielmo has been selected to succeed Scarnecchia as offensive line coach less than a week after being hired for that position at Maryland. His last previous coaching job was as offensive line coach for the New York Jets in 2012, his ninth as an NFL assistant.
The Tennessee Titans have hired former Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills head coach Mike Mularkey as tight ends coach on Ken Whisenhunt’s staff. The Titans announced the addition of Mularkey as well as the hirings of John McNulty as quarterbacks coach and Kevin Patullo as assistant wide receivers coach on Wednesday. Mularkey coached the Jaguars to a 2-14 record in 2012 and was fired at the end of the season. He also went 14-18 as Buffalo’s coach in 2004-2005.
HOCKEY
Predators aquire Del Zotto
The Nashville Predators have swapped defensemen with the New York Rangers, sending Kevin Klein to New York in exchange for Michael Del Zotto. The Predators announced the trade Wednesday. Del Zotto, 23, has 11 points in 42 games for the Rangers averaging 17 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time per game. The 6-foot, 195-pound Del Zotto was the 20th overall choice by the Rangers in the 2008 draft, and he has 121 career points in 292 career NHL games. Klein, 29, was the 37th choice overall in 2003 by Nashville and has played 403 games in nine NHL seasons. He has three points in 47 games this season and ranks 22nd in the NHL with 94 blocked shots.
GOLF Coetzee leads Masters
George Coetzee of South Africa needed just 21 putts to shoot an 8-under-par 64 for a one-shot lead on the opening day of the Qatar Masters on Wednesday. Coetzee eagled the par-5 10th hole and birdied his closing three holes in a round that was just two shots more than his best on the European Tour, a 62 which equalled the Old Course record at St. Andrews in Scotland 15 months ago. Four players were in fourth place at 6 under, while the former British Open-winning trio of Ernie Els, John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie were among a group at 5 under.
MOTOR SPORTS NASCAR to use knockout qualifying
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process Wednesday, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar.
Drivers and track owners applauded the change, saying it will bring excitement to what had been a somewhat monotonous and often meaningless event.
“I’m all for anything that makes it fun not only for the fans but the drivers and teams, too,” Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer said. “This is really going shake things up on Fridays - in a good way.”
The new format will not be used for the Daytona 500, nonpoints events in the Sprint Cup Series and the Truck Series event at Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
NASCAR will use three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1¼ miles in length or larger. The entire field will have 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap and the top 24 advance to the second round.
The second segment will last 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 will advance to a final, five-minute round. At tracks smaller than 1¼ miles, qualifying will be in two segments. The first will be 30 minutes, with the top 12 advancing to a 10-minute final session.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition and racing development, said the sanctioning body modified qualifying rules to make the event “more engaging to the fans in the stands and those watching on TV and online.”
It’s the first of several changes expected this season.
NASCAR has been working feverishly behind the scenes to improve its on-track product, particularly at 1½-mile tracks, and at least some changes are expected to the points system.
NASCAR is reportedly considering a 16-driver championship field that would be whittled down to create a winner-take-all season finale. Chairman Brian France has repeatedly said he wants to place greater emphasis on winning, and he’s never ruled out tinkering with the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format in an effort to create the “Game 7 moments” he covets.
Sports, Pages 16 on 01/23/2014