Sports
Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever championship timeline accelerated by sudden coaching change
History will say that a new era for the Indiana Fever began on April 15, 2024.
That, of course, was the night that the franchise, which had yearned for any semblance of recent success, drafted Caitlin Clark No. 1. In an instant, everything changed.
Another date — one six months later — will now mark a nearly as significant moment. Oct. 27, 2024, will be sign-posted as the day in which the Fever officially parted ways with head coach Christie Sides after only two seasons. The Clark era is still here, but the franchise’s direction changed.
Kelly Krauskopf, the recently hired Fever president of basketball operations, seemed to say as much in her statement regarding Sides’ dismissal. Sides was hired by Lin Dunn, who moved into an advisory role after the 2024 season. Sides went 33-47 in two years. Krauskopf referred to Sides’ tenure as an “integral transition period.”
Krauskopf added, “It is also imperative that we remain bold and assertive in the pursuit of our goals, which includes maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA championship back to Indiana.”
Bold and assertive. Those two words appear to define the Fever’s new path. They are no longer transitioning. They are thinking big.
We have parted ways with head coach Christie Sides.
More: https://t.co/eBb0wRuBlF pic.twitter.com/Ja5S3uGPOb
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) October 27, 2024
Even with Clark and 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston leading the franchise, the goal for last season was to make the playoffs. Dunn was clear about her desires to snap a seven-year drought. Clearly now, after Clark’s record-setting rookie season, expectations are much higher. The Fever are eyeing their first title since 2012.
A transcendent star accelerates timelines.
In the NBA, LeBron James’ first head coach (Paul Silas) oversaw just the first season-and-a-half of James’ time in Cleveland. Michael Jordan’s first coach (Kevin Loughery) was with MJ for only one year. In the WNBA, Candace Parker’s first professional coach (Michael Cooper) lasted just two seasons with the star forward. Same with Diana Taurasi’s first coach, Carrie Graf. Dunn drafted and coached Sue Bird during Bird’s first season out of UConn. But by Bird’s second year, Anne Donovan paced the Storm sideline.
Add Sides to the list of coaches who were hired for a developmental job, thrown into another and were made a casualty as a result.
The Fever are led by Clark. But with Sunday’s decision, they are Krauskopf’s franchise, too. Krauskopf initially led the team from 2000 until 2018, when she left to become the Pacers assistant general manager and the first woman in NBA history to hold an executive basketball management role. She previously made the postseason 13 times and played in three WNBA finals in seven years, including capturing the 2012 WNBA title. A desire to replicate those successes is why she has returned.
Familiarity seems like it will matter in Indiana’s coaching search. That might mean trying to poach current Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White for another reunion. According to the Chicago Sun Times, White is still under contract with the Sun but had recent talks with the Fever about the head coaching role.
Krauskopf and White know each other well. White, an Indiana native and Purdue alum, played for the Fever from 2000 to 2004. She was then an assistant coach from 2011 to 2014 and later coached the Fever in 2015 and 2016.
Now widely regarded as one of the league’s top coaches, she has experience and achieved recent success as she installed a new offense in Connecticut. She won Coach of the Year in 2023, led the Fever to the 2015 finals and has drawn greatness out of stars such as Tamika Catchings and Alyssa Thomas. She would likely, in Krauskopf’s words, “maximize” Indiana’s talent, which is also expected to target veterans in free agency to pair with Clark and Boston.
There were obvious needs for improvement under Sides. Defense and diversifying Clark’s shot efficiency are two of the growth areas for the next coach to tackle.
But the Fever’s decision to part with Sides seems less about the player-coach relationship and more about what Krauskopf thinks can happen with a player (Clark) leading the way. Sides and Clark regularly discussed strategy as well as how Clark was handling pressure on and off the court. As last season progressed, Clark became a more effective shooter and driver, and the Fever won nine of 14 games after the All-Star break while Clark went on to lead them to the playoffs and win Rookie of the Year. Krauskopf even applauded Sides for this progress.
When Dunn was hired as GM, she said she wanted to get out of the lottery by her third season. She did that. Now under Krauskopf, no longer are lottery parties acceptable. Championship celebrations are the goal.
Clark and the Fever will be playing under a new coach and general manager (Amber Cox) next spring. The Fever are done experimenting.
A star has again accelerated a championship timeline. And a coach again paid the price.
(Photo of Christie Sides and Caitlin Clark: Elsa / Getty Images)
Sports
Russell Wilson not thinking about retirement, plans to play in 2026: ‘I know what I’m capable of’
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Russell Wilson went from starting quarterback of the New York Giants to third string just a few weeks into the 2025 season, leaving many to question if the 10-time Pro Bowler decides to play next season.
Wilson, 37, doesn’t sound like he’s mulling over his decision. He wants to play in 2026.
“I’m not blinking,” Wilson said, per SNY. “I know [what] I’m capable of. I think I showed that in Dallas, and I want to be able to do that again, you know, and just be ready to rock and roll, and be as healthy as possible and be ready to play ball.”
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New York Giants’ Russell Wilson attempts to escape a sack by Dallas Cowboys defensive end James Houston (53) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)
Wilson signed a one-year, veteran minimum deal with the Giants this past offseason worth $10.5 million, which had tons of incentives if he were to play the entire season.
That same offseason, the Giants traded back into the first round to select Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss, and he proved during training camp to have NFL-ready chops under center.
GIANTS STICK WITH GM JOE SCHOEN DESPITE ANOTHER LOSING SEASON, CITING NEED FOR ‘CONTINUITY AND STABILITY’
Still, then-head coach Brian Daboll was steadfast in his decision to start Wilson despite Dart’s success. But, after just three games, where the Giants went 0-3, a change was made.
Daboll went with Dart in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers at home, and the rookie defeated Justin Herbert and company to not only get his first career win, but cement himself as the team’s starter moving forward.
Even then, Wilson remained positive, saying in interviews after practice that he understands the direction of the team and wanted to help Dart develop and grow in his new role.
New York Giants’ Russell Wilson, left, and Jaxson Dart, right, talk on the bench in the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)
In his three starts for the Giants, Wilson threw for 831 yards with three touchdowns to three interceptions, though all of those touchdowns came in a Week 2 overtime heartbreaker for New York. Over half of Wilson’s passing yards also came in that game, throwing for 450 in the 40-37 loss.
Wilson also said that he tore his hamstring during that game against the Cowboys.
“I played that game, you know, I tore my hamstring on Friday in practice – the last play of practice. And I had a Grade 2 (tear). I couldn’t tell anybody. I had to go and play on it just because I knew the circumstance, I had to play on it, no matter what,” Wilson explained.
“I actually ended up going to the Dallas Mavericks’ facility, training. And you know, just kept it quiet, just trying to get treatment on it and just knowing that I probably couldn’t run from the goal line to the 10-yard line if I wanted to, but I feel like… I got to play this game.”
New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3) scans the field at the line against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium. (Rich Barnes/Imagn Images)
It will be interesting to see if Wilson will land anywhere, and better yet, if a team is willing to try him out as a starter again.
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Sports
Can Ravens’ Tyler Loop rebound from missed kick better than Scott Norwood or Mike Vanderjagt?
Those who snub Father Time like to say that 50 is the new 30. A different Father — Benedictine priest Maximilian Maxwell— sprinkled holy water in the end zone before his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday with the AFC North title on the line.
Fifty is the new 30 also applies to field goals. More than 70% of kicks over 50 yards are successful these days, a dramatic increase in accuracy from only five years ago. Excuse Maxwell for thinking divine intervention might be necessary should a last-second missed kick determine the outcome.
A 44-yarder is a chip shot for most NFL kickers, including Ravens rookie Tyler Loop, who had made 90% of his attempts — including eight of eight from 40-49 yards — when the ball was snapped with three seconds to play and Baltimore trailing 26-24.
Two words coined when Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard attempt that cost the Buffalo Bills Super Bowl XXV in 1991 once again were screamed on a television broadcast: “Wide right!”
Another memorable miss came from a kicker regarded as the best in the NFL 20-some years ago. Brash, outspoken Mike Vanderjagt of the Indianapolis Colts led the league in scoring in 1999 and four years later became the first kicker in history to make every kick in a full season: 83 of 83 on field goals and extra points.
Yet he botched a boot with 21 seconds to play during a playoff game in 2006, enabling the Steelers to upset the Colts. Pittsburgh went on to win the Super Bowl and Vanderjagt was replaced by Adam Vinatieri. He never regained his form.
Here’s hoping Loop rebounds better than Vanderjagt or Norwood, who was released a year after the historic miss and never played again. Loop was All Pac-12 in 2023 at Arizona, where he holds records for longest field goal (62 yards) and success rate (83.75%). He was the Wildcats’ GOAT before becoming the Ravens’ goat.
Loop, 24, didn’t duck the media, leaving the impression that he won’t let this failure define him.
“Just want to say I’m super grateful to Baltimore, the organization and the city, just how they embraced me this year has been incredible,” he said. “Just for it to end like that, sucks, and I want to do better.
“Unfortunately, the nature of the job is you have makes, and those are awesome, and unfortunately, you have misses, and for that to happen tonight sucks.”
The specialized nature of kickers can place them on the periphery of team bonding, but Loop’s teammates and coaches were supportive in the aftermath of the season-ending loss.
Coach John Harbaugh walked alongside Loop from the field to the locker room, with his arm around his back comforting him. Quarterback Lamar Jackson downplayed the impact, telling reporters, “He’s a rookie, you know. It’s all good. Just leave it in the past.”
Only time will tell whether Loop can do just that.
Sports
Raiders dismiss longtime NFL head coach Pete Carroll after one season
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Longtime NFL head coach and Super Bowl champion Pete Carroll was fired after just one season with the Las Vegas Raiders, the team announced Monday.
The 74-year-old coach said after Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs that he “of course” would want to return for another season. But owner Mark Davis had different plans for the former Seattle Seahawks coach.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll jogs on the field during a timeout in the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas, on Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
“The Las Vegas Raiders have relieved Pete Carroll of his duties as head coach. We appreciate and wish him and his family all the best,” Davis said in a statement provided by the team.
“Moving forward, General Manager John Spytek will lead all football operations in close collaboration with Tom Brady, including the search for the club’s next head coach. Together, they will guide football decisions with a shared focus on leadership, culture, and alignment with the organization’s long-term vision and goals.”
The move marks a period of instability for the Raiders organization as they begin their third straight year on the hunt for a new coach.
Carroll, who won the Super Bowl with then-Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2014, was brought in with the hopes of bringing that same playoff magic to the Raiders after the team dismissed Antonio Pierce.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll watches his team warm up before an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas, on Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
BROWNS FIRE HEAD COACH KEVIN STEFANSKI AFTER SIX SEASONS
Pierce was also fired after just one season – he served as the interim head coach in 2023, after Josh McDaniels was fired midseason.
But Carroll wasn’t able to live up to those expectations.
The Raiders went on a 10-game losing streak, Geno Smith finished with a league-high 17 interceptions and for the second season, the Raiders finished at the bottom of the AFC West with a 3-14 record.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The game was played in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carroll was animated after the team closed out the season with a 14-12 win over the Chiefs, but was immediately met in his postgame presser with questions about wanting to come back the following season and reports of retirement.
“Nobody’s talking to me about that,” he dismissed at the time.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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