Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Rich Rodriguez’s office door is wide open.
Just like his offense.
Rodriguez is widely considered one of the godfathers of the spread that has become the rage in college football. He created his version of three- and four-receiver sets at tiny Glenville State in 1990.
Rodriguez’s successful scheme, which led to Michigan hiring him away from West Virginia, was born a year after he taught driver’s education. At the time he was searching for an innovation after losing his first coaching job at Salem when the program folded two weeks before his wedding.
“We were able to experiment at Glenville because things were so bad that if we got a first down, we got a standing ovation,” Rodriguez said in an interview with The Associated Press. “From there, we tweaked and developed it over the years at Tulane, Clemson and West Virginia.
“The version we run here at Michigan likely will be different than what we’ve done before.”
Shaun King, a former NFL quarterback, says that’s what makes Rodriguez brilliant.
King played for Rodriguez a decade ago when he was the offensive coordinator at Tulane and has watched his style evolve with Woody Dantzler at Clemson and Pat White in West Virginia.
“I’ve played for some of the greatest offensive minds in the game such as Mike Martz, Dennis Green, Tom Moore and Jon Gruden and Coach Rod adapts his system to his personnel as well as anyone,” said King, who now works as an ESPN analyst. “I could throw the football, so we passed a lot. Woody was a playmaker, but Coach Rod came up with ways to get the ball to wide receiver Rod Gardner.
“Pat White couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn when he got to West Virginia, but Coach Rod figured out a way to use him and Steve Slaton by running the option out of a shotgun.”
Rodriguez’s spread offense help turn the Mountaineers into a title contender, making him an attractive option for college football’s winningest program after coach Lloyd Carr announced last season would be his last.
A messy divorce, though, ensued at West Virginia. The school Rodriguez had played for and rooted for as a kid had extended his contract a year earlier, and the coach didn’t want to pay a $4 million buyout.
The saga was settled a month ago when Michigan agreed to pick up $2.5 million, leaving Rodriguez to take care of the rest. It didn’t stop the questions about the man and coach: allegation-filled months distorted and dominated his image.
Rodriguez insisted it will not change the way he leads a team, even as he finds himself for the first time in a major media market at the helm of a program that draws national interest.
“I’ve always told my wife and coaches that if I ever have a big-time job, I’m still going to take a small-time approach with my office door open to anybody who wants to talk to me,” Rodriguez said in that office, which overlooks a practice facility being built and fields where he recently had his first preseason practice. “The best advice I ever got was, ’just be yourself,’ and I’m going to do that even if I’m coaching the Super Bowl champions in the NFL.”
Frank comments like that, bringing the NFL into a conversation, and his spread offense all signal a drastic change at an old-school program that has been guarded publicly and played it safe on the field since Bo Schembechler revived the program four decades ago.
Rodriguez’s in-your-face style at practice is in stark contrast to the way Carr did things for 13 seasons.
“It’s a lot different,” said Michigan running back Carlos Brown, who played quarterback in high school and might end up taking some snaps this fall. “It’s going to be tough, but fun.”
King said the Wolverines better get used to it.
“At first, I didn’t like Coach Rod because he has a very volatile personality on the field and he uses abrasive language,” King said. “He does it because he wants to put so much pressure on you to be perfect in practice that you’ll be prepared for games.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
 | Special feature |
 |
NBCSports.com |
CollegeFootballTalk headlines |
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.