Sports

Lindsey Horan just wants to talk soccer

Published

2 years ago

February 3, 2024

It’s USWNT captain Lindsey Horan’s final morning in the States before a flight back to France to rejoin Lyon, her club team. She’s spending it in a hotel lobby, tucked away at a table, talking to The Athletic for an hour about her time leading a team in the spotlight, how she sees her role during this time of transition, and one thing above all:

“Can we think about the football?”

Horan was speaking almost exactly five months since being named by then-USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski as captain of the national team alongside Alex Morgan (Horan has been getting the armband when both are on the field at the same time). The role is the fulfillment of a life goal, but also seems like a natural outcome, given how often, and how intensely, she thinks about the game.

Her first five months in that leadership role were full of notable exits: her team’s from the World Cup, Andonovski’s, and the retirements of Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz. It was capped with a big addition: U.S. Soccer’s announced hiring of Emma Hayes as head coach.

Horan, now 29 years old and with 139 senior national team caps under her belt, is part of an in-between camp: too experienced to be a newcomer, and too new to be on the way out. It’s her generation – which also includes Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett and others – that must keep the team’s signature fire, that USWNT DNA, burning even as the team undergoes a serious re-think after its worst ever World Cup finish.

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“We have to continue that,” she says of herself and fellow in-betweeners. “You have to be amongst this team for a while to know what the f— that takes… it’s one of the most competitive national teams to be a part of.”

No one on the team is talking about starting from scratch. It’s just that they need more ways to win. More than mentality or fitness levels, more than a never-say-die approach. That’s what Horan said her early conversations with Hayes have been about. And that’s why she wants to talk about football, and how the USWNT can bounce back — not just by playing better, but by thinking more.

“We’ve been so successful for so long in a certain way that we play, that attack and transition,” Horan says. “We’ve had individual brilliance. We’ve had soccer players on the field and real players that want to play and it all kind of meshed together or it would always work out, or our DNA would take us to this place where we come out on top because our mentality was so f—ing good.”

The game is changing, and Horan recognizes this. She praises Portugal’s level of play at the World Cup, the investment into the game in Spain and other European countries, and the high level of up-and-coming U.S. talent (specifically citing 19-year-old San Diego Wave forward Jaedyn Shaw). If there was a theme for Horan and the rest of the USWNT in that final camp of the year, it was a repetitive one: no one actually knows the ceiling of this team.

Horan cited Shaw as an exciting young player for the U.S. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

“Even in these past few games, you see little glimpses of that, but it’s the final product, continuing to do that throughout the game, getting everyone on the same page, not just four or five players,” she says. “If you can develop that more, and it’s inherent in every single player on the team, you’re looking to play the combinations, all of these things? No idea what this team can do.

“Then you have the mentality aspect on top of it, where if the football is not going well, we know that we can freakin’ go. We have players on the field that are faster, stronger, capable in behind, and we’re gonna gut it out, right? The world is going to be very fearful.”

Those words could cause a stir. In 2019, Ali Krieger suggested the USWNT substitutes could take on and beat multiple other teams at the World Cup, and it was a massive point of contention for a team that got plenty more criticism from across American culture even as it was celebrated for its third consecutive title.

“We have to be one of the most talked about teams,” Horan says. “We’re always in the magnifying glass on every single thing we do or anything we say.”

Individual players can bear the brunt of that magnifying glass just as much as the team can. There’s a clear, though understandable, vein of frustration from Horan over how her own performances are understood, even from the USWNT’s own fanbase. To illustrate her point, Horan brings up that many viewers will take a television commentator’s analysis at face value.

“American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart,” she says. “They don’t know the game. They don’t understand. (But) it’s getting better and better.”

She takes a brief pause, sensing that those words, too, will cause a stir.

“I’m gonna piss off some people,” she continues, “but the game is growing in the U.S. People are more and more knowledgeable, but so much of the time people take what the commentators say, right? My mom does it!” She breaks into laughter. “My mom says, ‘Julie Foudy said you had such a good game!’ And I’m here, just going, ‘I was f—ing s— today.’”

When playing with Lyon in France, Horan says, things are different.

“From what I’ve heard, people understand my game a little bit more, a sense of my football and the way I play,” she says. “It is the French culture. Everyone watches football. People know football.”

None of that, though, compares to Horan’s experience at the 2023 World Cup. The outside commentary, including from her own former teammate Carli Lloyd, the entrances into stadiums in their custom suits; the tone used in interviews; the body language. Everything was scrutinized. This time, though, the talk was accompanied by bad performances, and bad results.

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Horan says she wasn’t bothered by the outside criticism, but noted no one else but the players could understand what it was like to be on that team. Ultimately, she says it felt “perfectly fine” that people would find something to talk about.

“If you’re not backing it up on the field, people are gonna come and talk s— about what you’re doing, where your priorities are,” she says. “Like, ‘Are you getting ready for the game? Are you caring more about this s—?’”

Horan has leaned on Lavelle (left) to help lead a team in transition (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Horan, again, comes back to a small, seemingly innocuous detail: The traditional pre-match starting XI photo. In the NWSL, more and more teams have started using the occasion for various hijinks; something that Horan’s European teammates bring up as an example of Americans not taking their business seriously. It’s clear that it gets under her skin, too.

“I want professionalism,” she admits. “Those little things, they really irked me. I don’t think I could do it, and maybe I’m wrong in saying that, I don’t know. It just bothers me. We put so much into this game, and it’s just like a joke sometimes.”

She’s quick to point out she’s not going to be the one who shuts it down if it works for others. That’s not what she’s trying to say. It’s just that, ultimately, for her, it’s about the football.

“We need to get back to the football. The football is the most important thing” Horan says. “So maybe we should knock some of the s— out for now. We need to focus on the game, we need to focus on being the absolute best we can be.”

As captain, Horan can help enact that. It’s a role she’s clearly grown into, even as she has struggled to understand it in the months between Andonovski’s exit and Hayes’ hiring.

Hayes hasn’t officially started yet, and won’t coach in games until after her job as Chelsea’s head coach ends along with the European season in May. But Hayes’ December visit with Horan and the rest of the team helped clarify the process, Horan says. It also gave Horan a chance to open up the lines of communication, to admit that sometimes she didn’t feel like she had full control, that she hadn’t been handed the reins.

“I always felt like I was someone that could really touch on every single player and get the best out of them and try to make them the best that they could be,” Horan says. “I’m not going to be like the rah-rah speeches, all that nonsense. Becky (Sauerbrunn) and me are probably a little similar in that. I’m probably a little more crazy on the field. I want to make sure I’m the leader that I want to be, and no one’s trying to make me something else.”

Before Andonovski gave her the armband — a move made in part because longtime captain Sauerbrunn missed the World Cup due to a lingering foot injury — Horan told him that getting the armband wouldn’t change her, or how players could talk to her. What it would change, she told him, is the tone it would set. She wanted to be a role model.

“I’m not going to be a coach’s captain, I’m going to be a players’ captain,” she told Andonovski. So if that wasn’t what he wanted, then he shouldn’t make her a captain.

Horan has lived up to her word since interim head coach Twila Kilgore stepped in, leaning on Morgan, Lavelle and Sonnett to make them part of the transitional process. She has empowered the team’s relative newcomers, too. The normally-reticent 23-year-old center back Naomi Girma said Horan “encouraged me just to find my voice.”

“A lot of these new young players are going to have big freaking roles, even in this Olympics,” Horan says. “How the hell do we get the best out of them to go put us on the podium? It’s been a crazy place, but this is a really exciting role for me because I’ve felt like this is what I’m meant to do.”

The team has four months until Hayes takes over, and six until the Olympics. The sprint is very much on for this massive group project to re-establish the team at the top, before looking ahead to 2027 and a World Cup that could be hosted at home. Every voice matters to Horan, from Horan to Lavelle to Morgan to Girma to Shaw and beyond.

“We need to be doing everything we possibly can to be improving, to make each other better, holding the standards,” Horan says. “We need to change every bit of culture that we had prior to the last World Cup and going into this Olympics because we need to win. And that starts now.”

(Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images)

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Sports

Philip Rivers’ former teammate expresses one concern he has with 44-year-old’s return to Colts

Published

3 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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Philip Rivers’ former teammate expresses one concern he has with 44-year-old’s return to Colts

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There is a good chance Philip Rivers sees some action on Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Seattle Seahawks in a must-win game for the AFC South team.

Rivers, 44, joined the Colts earlier this week as the team deals with a quarterback crisis. The potential Hall of Famer hasn’t played since the 2020 season, but when the Colts needed him the most, he answered the call and dove into a playbook to get game ready.

But what can any NFL fan think Rivers is going to provide for the Colts at 44? He’s changed so much since the 2020 season, as his opponents on the field. The Seahawks also have one of the best defenses in the league.

Shawne Merriman #56 of the San Diego Chargers walks on the sideline in the game against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 15, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Shawne Merriman, Rivers’ former teammate, told Fox News Digital that he expected him to play well but was concerned about one thing.

“It’s a tough week for him to get back. But I’ll tell you this, Phil’s upside was never his athleticism. It was always his competitiveness,” he said. “He’s the most competitive player I’ve ever played with, that’s one. And two, it was his preparation and his mental and his knowledge of the game of football. Those two things would always got Philip to be that elite quarterback. It was that. So, it’s not gonna be that much different as far as him moving around the pocket.

“The concern I do have is you can’t replicate football without playing it. So, you can have a coach out there, I’m sure he was throwing the football around with his high school kids. I’m sure that he was working out, but you can’t replicate football. So, I think he’s gonna go out there and look good. I think he’s gonna go out there and actually look like he did five years ago.”

When the rumors started that Rivers was potentially going to come to Indianapolis for a workout, Merriman said he wasn’t surprised.

Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers looks for an open receiver during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)

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The former San Diego Chargers star said when he spoke to Rivers during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it didn’t feel like the quarterback was completely finished with the game.

“I wasn’t shocked. And, this is why – a couple of years ago, I put on Twitter that Phil was still ready to play and this was I think in 2023,” he said. “And everybody’s like, ‘What? Well, yeah, right.’ He’s been gone out of the game I think three years at that point and then literally a week later or two, it pops up that the San Francisco 49ers, their quarterback situation with all their injuries, that they were thinking about bringing in Philip. And I said, I told you.

“I had a conversation with Philip and he didn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m coming back to play,’ but when you talked to him, it sounded like he was ready. It sounded like he was talking about the game in the present moment.”

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Merriman said he got together with Rivers and Drew Brees during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony and it didn’t like Rivers was exactly finished with football.

“So, I’m not surprised at all and it’s the right decision by the Indianapolis Colts.”

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

Sports

UCLA’s Donovan Dent could be rounding into form just in time for Gonzaga showdown

Published

4 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

UCLA’s Donovan Dent could be rounding into form just in time for Gonzaga showdown

Sometimes even Donovan Dent needs to be told he’s Donovan Dent.

“I just keep reminding him of who he is,” Skyy Clark said of his message to his UCLA teammate who has been pushing through a tough opening stretch as a Bruin.

The most highly coveted point guard in the transfer portal, Dent arrived on campus with the pedigree of an All-American honorable mention who was expected to immediately elevate his new team. Among his many talents were strong three-point shooting and an ability to blow by defenders to the rim.

He’s been looking more like that version of himself the last few games after a slow, injury-marred first month, a trajectory the No. 25 Bruins (7-2) will need to continue Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle if they hope to beat No. 8 Gonzaga (9-1).

“He’s been showing a lot of flashes of who he is as a person, as a player, and we’re all rooting for him,” Clark said. “I think it’s only going to get better.”

Having a week between games might help. UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he’s been working with Dent on his shooting form, which curiously has been an issue for someone who made 40.9% of his three-pointers and 78.4% of his free throws last season at New Mexico.

Those numbers have dipped considerably, Dent making just one of 13 three-pointers (7.7%) to go with 62.8% of his free throws. He barely was making half of his free throws before a recent stretch in which he’s converted 10 of 13.

Perhaps the biggest concern has been Dent’s inability to embarrass defenders like he did as a Lobo.

UCLA guard Donovan Dent drives to the basket against Oregon forward Dezdrick Lindsay, left, and center Ege Demir, right, during the Bruins’ 74-63 win on Dec. 6.

(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)

“In the Mountain West, he was able to get to the rim in a way that he’s not able to get to the rim at our level, it’s just not going to happen,” Cronin said. “At the high level, it’s really hard. You can’t finish on some of the big guys you could finish on in that league — maybe in the bottom half of the league, you could just take everybody to the rim. First of all, they allow you to bump the dribbler; it’s more physical the higher up you go — it just is. It’s not a knock on it, it’s just the way it is. You know, the Power Four leagues now plus the Big East, the physicality is amazing.

“And in the NBA you can’t blow on a guy, but in college, it’s physical, and that’s what people try to do is beat him up, that’s the game plan. And everybody has the same game plan, like, we know, we talk to people, be physical, beat him up, be as physical as you can with him.”

Cronin said he’s been encouraged by what he’s seen over the last two games, in which Dent averaged 15 points and 5.5 assists with 3.0 turnovers while leading the Bruins to victories over Washington and Oregon. He’s also put abdominal and lower-leg injuries behind him.

That’s not to say that Dent can’t boost his game another notch or two.

“He’s got to have more confidence in his three-point shot, his pull-up shot and focusing on his defense on the ball, using his quickness for that,” Cronin said. “So there’s just different ways he can affect the game, which is going to be [key] for him to have a [professional] career anyway. He’s been pushing through it, he’s been working on it, I thought the last couple of games his effort’s been great.”

If Dent needed a template for perseverance amid high expectations as a transfer, he could find it in Clark. After arriving from Louisville, Clark struggled with his shooting and never scored in double figures over his first nine games as a Bruin.

Then came a 15-point breakthrough against Arizona in mid-December and an 11-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist showing two weeks later in a victory over Gonzaga.

“I had a slow start last year when I first came here and then as the season went on it started to get a little [better],” Clark said. “So, I just keep telling him about that and keep sticking with it.”

Money matters

Cronin said UCLA raised more money playing in neutral-site games against Arizona, California and Gonzaga than it would have by participating in the Players Era Festival.

“They raise money for our program to buy players,” Cronin said of neutral-site games with a laugh. “I mean, everybody else can talk about recruiting, you know, write about why kids pick schools — I don’t have time for it. I’m too old, I’ve done enough, it’s comical. We’re semipro, our guys do go to school, [but] guys pick schools because they get paid, so these neutral-site games help raise money. So next spring, when we sign a guy in the portal and you go interview him and he tells you he really bonded with me, and I’ve known him for two weeks,” you’ll know why he signed.

Etc.

Cronin, on the scheduled 8:30 p.m. start time against Gonzaga: “I mean, it’s ridiculous. I mean, why don’t we just play at midnight? … My dad’s real happy about it. He’s 84, he’s gonna have to take two naps on Saturday to be able to watch us play Saturday night.” … Cronin said the Bruins would honor UCLA alumnus Dave Roberts, manager of the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers, at a home game this season. … Six years after he uprooted his family from Cincinnati, Cronin said he would be happy to assist new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney with the logistics of moving across the country to Los Angeles: “I don’t know anything about football, but I can help him on where to live and just have his wife call us, we’ll help her.”

Sports

Sherrone Moore’s alleged mistress reportedly received massive pay raise in 2025

Published

16 hours ago

December 11, 2025

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Sherrone Moore’s alleged mistress reportedly received massive pay raise in 2025

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The alleged mistress of former Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore received a massive pay bump between 2024 and 2025.

The individual allegedly linked to Moore, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as an Executive Assistant to the Head Football Coach at the University of Michigan, earned just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.

Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore leaves the field following the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Nov. 29, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)

That’s a 70.62 percent increase year-over-year — even higher than the figure circulating social media right now via UMSalary.info.

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As OutKick’s Trey Wallace reported, Moore was fired with cause on Wednesday in his second season as the Wolverines’ head coach. The move came after an investigation surrounding Moore’s alleged “inappropriate relationship” with a staffer.

And it’s hard to imagine the massive salary bump she received didn’t raise some eyebrows within the department.

“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately,” Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manual announced on Wednesday. “Following a university investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore reacts from the sideline during a college football game against the USC Trojans at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 21, 2024 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

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Less than an hour after his termination, police were called to a residence to detain the former coach under possible assault charges. Moore allegedly threatened to harm himself and others before being taken into custody.

As of Thursday afternoon, Moore is being held at Washtenaw County Jail. No charges have been filed yet, but he is expected to appear in court on Friday to be arraigned, according to Pittsfield Township police department.

Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore is shown on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland, on Nov. 22, 2025. (Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images)

OutKick reached out to the University of Michigan and its athletic department regarding the staffer’s 70 percent pay raise, but they didn’t immediately respond.

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