coach

Talk about strange beginnings at Friday’s City Section Division I football playoff opener between Sun Valley Poly and host Marshall.

After the opening kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, Poly coach Boo Williams immediately called a timeout when he saw his double-wing offense lining up with 12 players. After a discussion, the next play was an illegal procedure penalty on the Parrots.

Looking confused, the Parrots deserved an Academy Award for their acting skills, because on their third play, quarterback King Exusdus took the snap from shotgun formation and sprinted 82 yards for a touchdown.

Marshall, seeded No. 5 after its first 10-0 regular season in school history, never figured out how to slow down the Parrots’ run-oriented attack and couldn’t overcome a sore shoulder that limited quarterback Nathaniel Cadet’s ability to pass in a 20-0 loss to 12th-seeded Poly (10-1).

“Who says Poly can’t win a Division I playoff game?” Williams said.

With each short pass in pregame warmups, Cadet grabbed his right shoulder as if he were in pain — and he was. On Saturday, he couldn’t move his arm because of a contusion and sprain to his AC shoulder joint suffered in the regular-season finale last week against Eagle Rock.

All week, Cadet alternated between applying ice and heat to his shoulder. He looked at Instagram and found a shoulder sleeve designed to provide support. He took four Advil tablets. The Barristers badly needed him. He came in with 1,570 yards passing and 24 touchdowns, but on his second pass of the game, he came to the sideline in severe pain revealing the challenge he was facing. He ended up passing for just 55 yards and was intercepted twice.

For Poly — the East Valley League champions under Williams in his first year as coach — the turnaround from a football program with little history of success to competing in City Division I has been meteoric. After problems at the start of the game and a few illegal procedure penalties, the Parrots ran the double wing to perfection, with 290-pound lineman Diego Rodriguez clearing a path like he was knocking down pins with a bowling ball.

Exusdus, usually a receiver, finished with 174 yards rushing in 13 carries. Justice Brown rushed for 86 yards and caught Poly’s only pass, a 26-yard touchdown on fourth down from quarterback Alijah Ochoa.

“One pass, one touchdown, baby,” former Sylmar All-City quarterback Clarence Williams said. He’s the quarterback coach at Poly.

On defense, linebacker Stephon Boyd was all over the field making tackles. Exusdus and Boyd used to attend Birmingham before arriving at Poly this season.

Exusdus is grateful just to be out on the field. He missed all last season attending a continuation school as he tried to improve a grade-point average that he said was once below 1.0. Playing football in his senior year made him start showing up on time to practices and making progress in the classroom.

King Exusdus of Sun Valley Poly takes off on an 82-yard touchdown run.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

“I had to get everything right,” he said. “It motivated me. Seeing friends go Division I fueled me.”

It was a difficult ending for a Marshall team that won the Northern League title and had not won a Division I playoff game since 2000. Poly moves on to the quarterfinals and will face either Chatsworth or Banning.

In a surprise shakeup of the Dodgers coaching staff, hitting coach Aaron Bates and the team are parting ways, as confirmed by a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said after the season that he expected “status quo” for the coaching staff. But, as MLB Trade Rumors first reported, negotiations on a new contract for Bates eventually reached an impasse.

The rest of the Dodgers coaching staff, including co-hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, is expected to return next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

Bates spent 12 years in the Dodgers organization, including four as a co-hitting coach with Van Scoyoc, and four as an assistant hitting coach. Before joining the major-league staff, Bates served as a minor-league hitting director and coach.

This past season, the Dodgers’ star-studded but aging offense ranked No.2 in weighted runs created-plus (111) — a comprehensive offensive stat that adjusts for ballpark factors — behind only the Cubs. But the Dodgers are working to diagnose two straight years of a July and August dip in offensive production.

Their search to replace Bates begins in a unique offseason. When the current CBA expires on Dec. 1, MLB team owners are expected to impose a lockout, during which teams will be restricted from communicating with players. So, if the Dodgers want their new hitting coach to meet with hitters or contribute to their offseason hitting plans, they will have to finalize the hire or promotion in the next few weeks.

The coach who helped guide Jannik Sinner to five Grand Slam titles and the world number one spot is to leave the player’s camp at the end of the year.

Australian Darren Cahill, 61, joined the Italian’s team in June 2022 when Sinner was just outside the world’s top 10 and had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.

But, together with Italian coach Simone Vagnozzi, Cahill has helped Sinner to go on to win five Slams and occupy the world number one spot for 95 weeks.

Injury has meant the 25-year-old has not played since winning Wimbledon for the second year in a row in July, which led to Alexander Zverev recently overtaking him at the top of the rankings.

He is set to return to action at the Six Kings Slam tournament in Saudi Arabia next month.

Swede Magnus Norman, the long-time coach of recently retired Stan Wawrinka, will join Sinner’s team for next season.

“Darren has been an incredibly important part of my journey,” Sinner said.

“Together with Simone and the whole team, we have achieved things I dreamed of growing up.

“He has helped me grow both as a player and as a person, and his guidance will stay with me throughout my career.”

“Working with Jannik has been a special honour and privilege,” Cahill said.

Parker’s managerial career to date has seen three promotions followed by much leaner times in the Premier League.

His first taste of senior management was at Fulham, who he immediately guided back to the Premier League with a play-off final win over Brentford in 2020.

Parker could not keep them up again the following season and left by mutual consent in June 2021. He then became manager of Bournemouth and led them to promotion as runners-up, ironically behind Fulham.

A few weeks into the new Premier League season, the Cherries lost 9-0 at Liverpool and Parker departed three days later.

He briefly managed Belgian side Club Brugge in the 2022-23 season before replacing the Bayern Munich-bound Vincent Kompany as Burnley boss in 2024.

Parker guided the Clarets to the Premier League at the first attempt, with one of the best defensive records in English football history and a 31-match unbeaten streak.

However, he could not keep the team up last season and he departed Turf Moor after their relegation was confirmed.

Parker is highly regarded at West Ham from his four years as a player at the club.

Having emerged at Charlton Athletic, and endured an unsuccessful move to Chelsea in 2004, he joined the Hammers from Newcastle United in June 2007, for a fee of £7m.

Parker went on to make 129 appearances in claret and blue, scoring 12 goals. He also won the club’s player of the year award three seasons in a row.

In 2010-11, despite the Hammers’ relegation from the Premier League, Parker also won the Football Writers’ Association footballer of the year award and was nominated for the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year.

He started the first four Championship matches of West Ham’s 2011–12 campaign, but handed in a transfer request after a bid came in from Tottenham Hotspur.

Parker completed a move to Spurs in order to further his England career, and he went on to be part of Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2012 squad.

He later played for Fulham, before retiring in June 2017.

The New York Liberty have fired Chris DeMarco after just one season as head coach, the team announced Tuesday.

DeMarco, who had no prior WNBA experience, led the Liberty through a rocky season that included a Commissioner’s Cup win in June before eventually finishing 26-18 and earning the No. 8 seed for the playoffs. The team swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 2-0 in the first round, becoming the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in league history.

But the Liberty were then swept 3-0 by the Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. The series included a massive Game 2 mistake by the Liberty coaching staff of not knowing they had a reset timeout left to use in the final seconds of the 101-98 loss.

After the Liberty were eliminated, DeMarco said he expected to return for the 2027 season. Instead, the franchise will be looking for its third head coach in three years. This will also be Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb‘s fourth coaching search since 2019.

DeMarco was named coach of the Liberty in December, after the franchise chose not to renew former coach Sandy Brondello‘s contract for the 2026 season. A former WNBA player as well as longtime coach of the Phoenix Mercury, Brondello’s four-year tenure with New York included leading the team to its first ever WNBA championship in 2024.

A former assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, DeMarco arrived to New York with 14 years of NBA experience as well as having served as the coach of the Bahamas men’s national team from 2019 to 2025. When asked during his introductory news conference in December about how he was preparing to coach women for the first time in his career, DeMarco said he had “ordered every book on the New York Liberty you can find online.”

Following their final loss to Atlanta, Liberty stars Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones did not have much to say regarding DeMarco’s future with the franchise other than it wasn’t their decision.

But Stewart, who helped carry the team for much of its injury-laden season, said then that she “1000%” believed the team has the talent to win a championship and described the season as “a missed opportunity.”

“Of course we want to win a championship every single time we step on the court, but it’s really hard in this league,” Stewart said. “And in order to do that, you need to be consistent for the full 44 games … and I don’t think that we were consistent throughout the season. … This is not like cramming for a test, you got to be ready to go since the jump.”

The Liberty’s coaching vacancy is the second in the WNBA after the season. The Sparks fired second-year coach Lynn Roberts after the conclusion of the regular season in September.

Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has signed a new two-year deal.

The 37-year-old former dual-code England international has won 63 of his 99 games since being appointed for the 2024 campaign.

During his time in charge they have twice finished runners up in the Challenge Cup final and were beaten by Wakefield Trinity in last season’s Grand Final.

He confirmed after last month’s Old Trafford defeat that he had “given his word” to owner Simon Moran to stay on for next season.

“It’s a real honour to extend my time at the Wire, and I’m excited to continue leading this club forwards,” he told the club website., external

“I love what we’re doing and believe we’re not far away from achieving what we are all chasing.”

Warrington finished third in Burgess’ first season in charge before slumping to eighth in 2025.

However, with the experienced Steve McNamara brought in as assistant, they bounced back well last season to finish third again and reach a first Grand Final since 2018.

McNamara has since left to take over at Hull FC.

“Sam is a vital part of what this club is building. His trust and passion for youth development have allowed some of our most talented pathway products to thrive in a first-grade environment,” director of rugby Gary Chambers added.

“To reach three major finals in three years shows how close we are to achieving what we all want.”

Bill Bedgood, who coached Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees when he was an All-CIF basketball player at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in 2007, supposedly retired from coaching after the 2023-24 season at Valencia.

So what in the name of short retirements is Bedgood back as head coach at Valencia for this season?

“I think I’m in for life,” he said.

Valencia coach Bill Bedgood wipes away a tear while discussing his decision to step down from coaching duties to be only a dad to his son, Bryce, left, in 2023.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Valencia players couldn’t be happier. Bedgood guided the Vikings to section, regional and state titles in 2023. He’s also on everybody’s list for favorite geometry teacher.

Three Valencia basketball players at Saturday’s Foothill League basketball media day raised their hand when asked if they had taken “Mr. Bedgood” for geometry. All got A’s too.

“Probably my favorite class in high school,” point guard Ali Eldein said.

Eldein insisted he wasn’t saying that to gain more playing time.

Valencia has so much depth this season that the practices are more than competitive. The best player in the Foothill League could be 6-foot-7 senior Steven Irons.

In 2023, after winning the state title with his son, Bryce, on the team, Bedgood wiped away tears after announcing he was going to step down after years of coaching at Bishop Alemany, Notre Dame, Saugus and Valencia.

Now it’s clear he has so much loyalty to Valencia and its students that Bedgood might not be retiring again any time soon.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

West Ham United have sacked head coach Nuno Espirito Santo after their disappointing start to the Championship season.

The 52-year-old has been in charge since September 2025 and oversaw the Hammers’ relegation from the Premier League last season.

Widely seen as favourites for automatic promotion, the London side are currently eighth in the table, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough.

They have won two of their last six games and have lost back-to-back home matches – a 3-2 loss to Southampton and a 3-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa have also left the club.

Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will take temporary charge of the side for their Championship trip to Cardiff City on Wednesday night.

“Following a thorough review of the start to the EFL Championship season, the board of directors believe that a change is necessary at this time in order to ensure that the club’s objectives and expectations remain on track,” a West Ham United statement read.

“West Ham United would like to thank Nuno, Rui and Rui for their hard work and commitment during their time at the Club, and wish them all the very best for the future.

“The process of recruiting a new head coach is already under way.”

More to follow.

More to follow.

Nick Welch Jr., an improving 6-foot-9 senior center at Rolling Hills Prep, is scheduled to announce his college basketball choice on Sunday in Torrance.

Coach Harvey Kitani said, “He is the person we want all our athletes to be.”

Texas Christian, Stanford and California are the finalists for Welch, who enters his senior season much improved after three productive years of high school basketball.

His father, Nick Sr., was a standout player at Air Force.

TCU’s coach, Jamie Dixon, is a former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame star who has spent months returning to the Southland trying to recruit Welch.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

How many rejection letters from the same high school does it take for a football coach to conclude the school doesn’t want to hire you?

Jose Razo, the head football coach at unbeaten Marshall High, applied for the Barristers’ head coaching position in 2019 and 2022, only to be turned down. You’d think that the Marshall grad had gotten the message that somebody didn’t think he could be head coach.

Instead of abandoning a program he had been with since playing linebacker at there since he was 15 years old, he decided to remain as an assistant coach.

“It was never personal for me,” he said. “It was, ‘I’m going to stay and help the kids.”’

When the job opened again in 2025 and Razo interviewed for a third time he told himself, “It’s now or never.”

Razo finally received an email informing him he was being promoted to head coach after 18 years serving as an assistant. Talk about being patient. Talk about having no ego. Talk about complete loyalty to a school.

“He stuck it out for the kids and the program,” said Eagle Rock coach Andy Moran, who coached Razo at Marshall in 2005 and 2006.

Incredibly, it’s Moran and Eagle Rock standing in the way on Friday night trying to prevent Marshall from going 10-0 in the regular season. Moran, who is a mentor for Razo, has never lost to Marshall since leaving in 2012.

Razo remembers asking Moran what he should do after being turned down twice. “They didn’t give it to you because they already have you,” Moran told him.

Said Razo: “I had to prove myself to them.”

Standout quarterback Nathaniel Cadet said every day Razo, 37, passes along insights and offers inspiration to players

“Coach Razo’s loyalty is unmatched,” he said. “He’s a great role model, and his commitment to the team makes players want to play under him. He’s a good father and brings his son to the games. He got a college education, and I believe he comes from a similar background to a lot of our players, so he sets a great example for us.”

Marshall is a school that attracts students from many little communities, but the football team’s success has brought everyone together to form a large community on Friday nights.

Razo deserves a standing ovation for his commitment to the school and his players. There’s not many coaches who would have stuck around when twice told “we’re going in a different direction.”

Rejection usually makes people angry and is motivation to run away.

Razo was different. He stayed, kept teaching and coaching, and waited for his alma mater to give him a chance to lead.

What a lesson of perseverance and patience to pass along to his players.

Marshall always had its coach nearby. Someone just needed to open their eyes. Thankfully, Razo put faith in himself that someone would recognize his talents.

Win or lose on Friday, Razo has proven he deserves to be a head coach.

As questions swirl this week about his future at USC and his potential fit elsewhere, Lincoln Riley didn’t mince words about where he wants to be coaching when asked Tuesday.

“I love it here,” the fifth-year coach said.

“Listen if I didn’t want to be at this place, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. If I didn’t want to be at this place, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave. This is where I want to be. This is the right place for me. I’m the right person to be here. And that’s as honest and transparent as I can be with you guys.”

Whether Riley will actually have a say in that decision remains to be seen. After falling 24-7 to Wisconsin in one of the worst defeats of Riley’s tenure on Saturday, USC can’t afford another loss this season if it hopes to make the College Football Playoff for the first time.

That was the bar all parties at USC appeared to agree on ahead of Riley’s fifth season with the program. The coach himself said in August that expectations should be “through the roof.”

“We do expect to make the playoff,” USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen said in May. “We do expect to have a championship run. We do expect to be competing for championships every single year. I think that’s what’s awesome about USC, is that that’s what we all expect of it.”

That looks unlikely now, with three of USC’s final four games coming against top-10 teams, beginning with No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. It has led to speculation that USC is bound for a breakup with its football coach.

A recent report from USA Today described the relationship between USC and Riley as “an unhappy marriage.”

But when asked about Cohen on Tuesday, Riley heaped praise on the athletic director. He said they had “an incredible working relationship.”

“She’s a tremendous AD,” Riley said. “Even though she’s not the AD I came here with, and I’m not the head coach she hired, [we have a] fantastic relationship. She’s been a huge part of the progress that we’ve made and has been incredibly supportive.”

It’s unclear how long Riley will hold on to that support if USC’s season starts to slip away. A person familiar with discussions around the coach’s future told The Times after USC’s loss to Oregon that “all options are on the table” with Riley. The trajectory of the Trojans’ season has turned downward since.

That’s led to further speculation that Riley and USC could potentially agree to a mutual parting of ways after this season. And that Riley could land at a program like Baylor, which just fired its coach.

Riley still has six years remaining on his contract at USC, according to a person familiar with the deal, due to an automatic one-year extension he accrued after the Trojans earned a New Year’s Six bowl bid in 2022. Buying Riley out of his deal would mean forking over upwards of $70 million, plus more for his assistants.

If Riley were to find another landing spot, though, it would allow the Trojans to offset the otherwise astronomical cost of his departure.

USC coach Lincoln Riley talks with quarterback Jayden Maiava during the team’s win at Penn Sate on Oct. 10.

(Barry Reeger / Associated Press)

Riley said Tuesday that was nowhere near his mind.

“Like I told you guys a lot of times, there’s not a lot of people in college football history that gave up what I gave up to come here,” Riley said. “I came here because this is where I want to be. I came here because I believe in this place. And none of that has changed whatsoever.”

The question is whether USC still believes in Riley.

Inside the locker room, at least, there seems to be no doubt whether Riley should be USC’s coach.

“I know he’s the right guy,” said left tackle Elijah Paige. “I believe there’s not a better leader in the country.”

“He’s the greatest coach I’ve been around,” added freshman wideout Trent Mosley. “We’re all right there with him.”

The UCLA women’s basketball team isn’t concerned about being hunted as the reigning national champions, coach Cori Close said. That’s up to somebody else.

“Having a target on your back means that you’re worried about what someone else is going to do,” she added. “That’s an outcome-based [way of] thinking, and we have to be obsessed with our process, obsessed with our standards.”

As the Bruins prepare to open the season at Pauley Pavilion against Lehigh on Monday, they are focused on getting better every day and following the championship-level process the program established. It’s not their job to worry about what others think about them, forward Sienna Betts said.

“I don’t really care what the media has to say or whatever,” Betts said. “It really is just a matter of what is in these four walls and what we know we’re putting into practice every day.”

UCLA forward Sienna Betts shoots under pressure from Texas’ Breya Cunningham at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas, on Sunday.

(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)

While the Bruins are maintaining the same championship standards as last year, the group tasked with meeting them looks considerably different than last season.

UCLA will begin the 2026-27 season with five players returning from the championship team, Betts being one of them. None of the returning players were starters, with the top six performers getting selected in the 2026 WNBA draft. The rest of this season’s Bruins consists of seven newcomers, including two freshmen and five transfers.

“We’re not trying to repeat an outcome, we’re repeating a process,” Betts said. “We’re our own group and I don’t think it’s fair to put the weight of last year on this group.”

Close’s roster includes the No. 5 transfer portal class in the nation, according to ESPN. The group includes Donovyn Hunter, who transferred from TCU and described the process of transferring as uncomfortable. She also said adjusting to a new system is difficult.

“We’re going to mess up, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re not going to get it on the first try, but knowing that there’s a coach that’s behind you, that knows you’re going to get to that level has been the most important thing for all of those transfers and the freshmen,” Hunter said.

Three of the five transfers are international players learning English, including Elina Aarnisalo, who returned to Westwood after spending a season at North Carolina.

UCLA guard Donovyn Hunter drives to the basket in front of Texas’ Breya Cunningham in Cedar Park, Texas, on Sunday.

(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)

“We spent a lot of time together … so that’s helped us on court and obviously practicing every day,” Aarnisalo said. “… Even though there might be a language barrier, sometimes we’re just spending time together and learning [from] each other so that relationship part comes pretty naturally for all of us.”

Regardless of the language barriers, Betts said building the team’s chemistry is a good start and a work in progress as they enter the start of the season.

“I think our connection on the court, it’s really showing and we’re still just learning how to play with each other. … It takes time,” she said. “The team last year, they were playing with each other for four years and over.”

Even with the added pressure that comes with last year’s championship run, Aarnisalo isn’t worried about the expectations. She’s enjoying the kind of media attention the Bruins are getting.

She’s happy the returning players were able to lift the trophy last year and says the exposure that goes with it is an opportunity to show off the newly reloaded UCLA team.

“We’re making our own process out of this,” she said. “Obviously, the standards are the same, like it’s championship standards, but it’s completely new people, new personalities. [We’re] just trying to create our own storyline for this year.”

Quinn brings new perspective to UCLA

Breeze coach Noelle Quinn directs players during an Unrivaled game against the Laces on Feb. 27 in Medley, Fla.

(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)

After spending 12 years as a professional player and six years coaching in the WNBA, Noelle Quinn has returned to Westwood. She is a two-time WNBA champion, winning a title as a player and a coach.

“I have not been able to find anyone else that has won a conference championship in college, a WNBA championship as a player and as a coach,” Close said. “You don’t think when she talks, they listen?”

The fourth overall pick in the 2007 WNBA draft has had an influence among the UCLA coaches, with Close noting associate head coach Tony Newnan told Quinn during a staff meeting that she was making him a better coach.

On the court, Quinn’s defensive expertise is creating an environment that has helped Bonnie Deas get excited about playing defense.

“I love defense and she brings so much energy to our defensive side of the game,” Deas said. “She’s so switched on with our scout and film, she makes defense really, really exciting.”

Betts describes her defensive presence as calming.

“I love the way she just talks and the way she talks about defense and just the game,” she said. “She brings such warmth to this gym.”

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where it’s beginning to feel like we’ve reached the point of no return for Lincoln Riley. USC’s 24-7 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday was objectively one of the worst of Riley’s tenure as a head coach.

That it came after a bye week only made it a more damning indictment of Riley and the culture he’s built at USC.

The reality is, another loss over USC’s next four games would eliminate the Trojans from College Football Playoff contention for the fifth straight season under Riley. And with three top-10 teams still on the schedule, it feels all but inevitable that USC will fall short of expectations once again this season, a half decade into Riley’s tenure as the Trojans coach.

USC fans, safe to say, are fed up. Many of them, it seems, want Riley fired right now. But the Trojans are technically still in the race, even if they’re just barely limping along, and aside from the brief hit of dopamine and schadenfreude that such a swift firing might provide, cutting ties with a coach before the end of the season is almost always a dangerous idea. It makes even less sense, in this case, for USC — a school that should know by now how sideways a midseason move can go.

Each of the last three Trojan football coaches preceding Riley were fired midseason. And the ripple effects of those firings, you could argue, ended up setting USC back even further.

When USC fired Lane Kiffin in the middle of the night at LAX after a 3-2 start to the season, then-athletic director Pat Haden not only turned the Trojans into a national punchline, but also painted himself into a corner. Interim coach Ed Orgeron ended up turning the season around and earning the endorsement of USC’s entire locker room. (Which you can hear more about on this week’s new episode of House of Troy.) But Haden had no intention of hiring Orgeron, and the decision to move on ended up being a disaster, on multiple levels.

With Steve Sarkisian, Haden had no choice but to cut ties. But this time, he actually did end up hiring the interim coach, Clay Helton, after seeing how Helton had shepherded the program through a difficult season. And of course, that hire ended up being a huge failure.

I’ll never forget the chaos of USC’s 2021 season, after Helton was fired. Interim coach Donte Williams had no idea how to usher a team through a season. The locker room was in disarray. It all felt unfair to the players. The subsequent search did end up yielding Riley — a move that, at the time, looked like a major coup — but because USC was in such a desperate position, it had to offer Riley a huge deal that he couldn’t possibly refuse.

Firing Riley now would leave athletic director Jen Cohen in a similarly tough position, with months of speculation surrounding a high-pressure search. The players, as far as we know, are still behind Riley. Meanwhile, many of the coaches Cohen would probably consider in his stead will have their teams in the playoff hunt through December and even January. One need only look at what’s happened to Penn State to see how that could go awry.

There’s also the matter of Riley’s contract. If USC does fire him, it will be on the hook for his estimated $70-million buyout, plus whatever millions it would owe to the rest of his staff. But there is one way that the school could soften the blow of what would otherwise be a serious expenditure.

If Cohen makes a move, she could wait until the end of the season, when a full picture of the open coaching jobs has come into focus and Riley’s agent has had a chance to take a lay of the land. Maybe then a job would emerge that both Riley and the school agree would be a better fit.

In that case, USC could significantly offset the cost of Riley’s buyout, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak on the matter. That would make the move much more palatable to the people already shelling out millions for a state-of-the-art facility, as well as a $40-million NIL budget.

The dots are easy to connect. The Baylor job already opened Sunday, and the school, according to On3, is looking for a coach with Texas roots. It’s possible, too, that the Texas Christian job opens up by the end of the year if Sonny Dykes, who has ties to Riley, can’t turn things around. Other jobs will surely open up that we’re not even anticipating.

Until a donor waving around a $70-million check starts making demands, it makes more sense to weather the next month with Riley, whatever it may hold. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking.

But for the moment, it’s the rational thing to do.

JuJu Watkins, pictured earlier this year, was back on court for USC on Sunday.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

—USC rushed for negative-17 yards against Wisconsin. Seriously. On the Trojans’ first carry Saturday, King Miller ran straight into a brick wall of the Badger defensive front. And it never really got better from there. Jayden Maiava lost 57 yards on five sacks, which made the rushing numbers look much worse. But it’s not like USC’s other rushers found any room. Miller had eight yards in 11 carries. Freshman Shahn Alston was the leading rusher with 28 yards. And Waymond Jordan, who had been USC’s No. 2, was conspicuously absent. We’ll find out more about that ahead of Saturday. But right now, USC’s rushing attack looks completely out of sorts.

—What was Lincoln Riley thinking on that 58-yard field goal attempt? Riley was asked about that fourth-quarter sequence, which began with a delay of game penalty that moved the Trojans out of field goal range. Riley said that USC was strangely called for the delay because it ran in a player later, then snapped the ball before the referee had given the OK, not after the clock had run out, like a usual delay. Nonetheless, after that, Riley should’ve punted on fourth and 17. Instead, he decided to send out kicker Caden Chittenden to attempt a career long … in the rain. “We knew points were at a premium at that point,” Riley explained. “We just felt like — obviously, a 58-yarder is never going to be crazy high percentages, but we needed points, and to punt it down there didn’t feel like it was the right choice at the time.” Well, they ended up making the wrong choice. Wisconsin scored on the ensuing drive and put the game away.

—USC’s offensive line might’ve been the game’s biggest disappointment. USC boasted some of the best pass protection in college football through the season’s first half, then completely collapsed against Wisconsin. Quarterback Maiava was affected throughout by the Badgers’ pressure. There was barely any room for the run game, either, as Wisconsin simply overpowered USC at the point of attack. Needless to say, not a great week to have written about how great the offensive line was looking!

—USC’s defense held Wisconsin to 58 passing yards. That’s the fewest the Trojans have given up in a game since holding Michigan to 32 in their Big Ten debut, and in an alternate timeline, it might’ve been seen as a big moment for USC’s secondary. But Badger quarterback Colton Joseph didn’t have an incompletion in the second half, completing his final 10 passes. The most critical of which came on fourth down, when Wisconsin went five wide, with four receivers bunched on one side. The subsequent screen went for a 16-yard touchdown, which was Joseph’s only pass of more than 10 yards all game. Turns out, it’s all he needed.

—Defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart is still limited by an injured foot. The injury continues to linger, and Stewart continues to fight through it. At one point Saturday, he went to the locker room before returning to the game. There’s no questioning Stewart’s toughness, and clearly he’s capable of gutting it out through games. But it doesn’t appear that he’ll be fully healthy again this season without some serious time away from the field.

—USC’s women’s hoops gave a first glimpse of a potential title-winning team on Sunday. The Women of Troy took on Cal in an exhibition matchup that marked JuJu Watkins’ return in front of fans at Galen Center, and Watkins wasted no time making her presence felt, as she went to the hoop 14 seconds into the exhibition. The trio of Watkins, Jazzy Davidson and top freshman Saniyah Hall shot a combined 22 of 45 for 59 of USC’s 78 points. Still, USC barely snuck past Cal.

Notable quotable

“Gritty ain’t pretty. We played the harder football game, brought it to them, and they can’t really do nothing with us. It’s just two different types of football.”

—Former USC running back Bryan Jackson, who scored Saturday’s first touchdown for Wisconsin

Olympic sports spotlight

USC men’s water polo ripped off nine straight wins to start the season, then went 4-3 after that, with two losses to Stanford and one to UCLA, both of which sit just ahead of the Trojans in the national rankings.

The Trojans looked back on track in their final match of the season at home, rolling past Air Force, 21-8. And they still have road matchups against UCLA, Stanford and California that should tell us whether the Trojans are true contenders for a national title.

What I’m watching this week

Olivia Wilde, from left, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton in “The Invite.”

(A24 via Associated Press)

Some of the smartest movies are also the simplest. I kept thinking about that while watching “The Invite” recently. Directed by Olivia Wilde, the story takes place entirely in one couple’s apartment, during one evening spent with their upstairs neighbors.

It ended up being one of my favorite films of 2026 to date, with stellar performances from all the actors involved: Wilde, Seth Rogen, Ed Norton and, especially, Penélope Cruz. Maybe not the best flick to watch if you’re fighting with your significant other. But “The Invite” made me feel all sorts of feelings, which is generally what I’m looking for in a movie.

In case you missed it

Listen now: Podcast ‘House of Troy’ features inside look at highs, lows of USC Athletics

‘I’m disappointed.’ Lincoln Riley laments USC’s struggles in loss to Wisconsin

USC offensive line transforms into one of 6-1 Trojans’ biggest assets

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Ryan at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Murphy lamented his team’s indiscipline in the first half, highlighting that as a contributory factor in leaving them with a mountain to climb.

“Our scrum held up reasonably well. Everyone knows when you come to South Africa your scrum is going to be under pressure so it’s an area we need to get better at.

“We had a way we wanted to play. We probably went away from that early on in the game but we got more towards what we were trying to do towards the back end of the half and in the second half.

“You have to stick in the fight here. Plenty of teams come here and kind of roll over.

“I don’t think we did that, which I’m really proud about, the way the lads stuck to the task.”

A Stuart McCloskey pass looked to have set James McKillop galloping clear on the wing to put Ulster in with a chance of what at one stage appeared a very unlikely victory but the Ireland centre was adjudged to have had part of his foot in touch.

“Stu’s foot was probably just in touch but if he gets that away earlier we’re going into the last two minutes with a lead. But that’s the breaks,” bemoaned the Ulster coach.

Murphy highlighted the breakdown as another area his side could improve on before next week’s meeting with the Stormers in Cape Town.

“We have to learn lessons but we will benefit from these tight battles come the end of the season,” he added.

The province’s Ireland internationals will return home to join up with Andy Farrell’s international squad, which assembles on Monday, while Murphy revealed that seven squad reinforcements would be arriving in Cape Town to bolster his side’s ranks ahead of the game with Stormers.

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany collapsed during training on Friday but is said to be ‘stable’ in hospital.

Bayern Munich expect coach Vincent Kompany to miss an extended period as he continues his hospital treatment for a virus after collapsing on the training pitch.

Speaking at a news conference on Saturday, a day after the collapse, Bayern Director of Sport Max Eberl confirmed Kompany was still hospitalised in a “stable” condition.

Kompany’s English assistant coach Aaron Danks will replace the 40-year-old for Sunday’s Bundesliga match at Freiburg.

Eberl told reporters “examinations were continuing” to determine the nature of the former Manchester City and Belgium captain’s condition with a recovery timeframe yet to be determined.

“Vinnie will be given all the time he needs. We’re not starting to put together any timeframes.

“We need to firstly figure out what it is, and then we’ll discuss calmly what the recovery time is to be. We won’t be talking about days but weeks. We need to all be clear on that.”

Taking Saturday’s news conference in Kompany’s absence, Danks said he had spoken with the former centre back briefly on Friday but only to wish him well.

“I explained to him that we wouldn’t be having no football conversations. It was just checking in on his health and making sure he’s OK.

“All the football operations are in our hands, and we’ll work together as a team to keep the club moving forward.”

Bayern’s second team’s game was postponed on Friday after Kompany’s collapse, but Eberl said the club did not consider trying to postpone Sunday’s Bundesliga game.

“I think the greatest joy for Vinnie would be for us to play well tomorrow and, ideally, get a positive result,” Eberl said.

“That would probably be one of the best things we could do to help him recover.”

Danks confirmed Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, who has been on bereavement leave since Tuesday, would also miss Sunday’s game.

Kompany returned to the dugout for Wednesday’s home clash against Arsenal despite missing the pre-match news conference due to the virus.

Speaking after the Arsenal game, Kompany said his body reacted after he tried to push through the illness.

“I caught a pretty nasty virus last week, and of course, I didn’t listen to my body, and then at some point, my body just said, ‘Enough is enough!’”

The defending champions sit on top of the Bundesliga table before Sunday’s game, one point above Freiburg.

Their next Champions League match is on November 3 in Madrid against Atletico.

It was a potential nightmare scenario. Starting left tackle, Elijah Paige, had been scratched in pregame warm-ups at Penn State. And in his place stepped a true freshman in his first start at USC, forced to find his way in a White Out, surrounded by a hostile crowd of 114,000 strong.

But when Vlad Dyakonov learned he was stepping in, a couple of hours ahead of kickoff, his coaches were surprised by how little it seemed to faze him.

“Some of us [coaches] were like, ‘Does he realize what he’s getting himself into?’” coach Lincoln Riley said, with a grin. “He didn’t flinch, man.”

You could say the same, generally, about USC’s entire front through the first half of this season. After years of shallow depth, unfortunate injuries, and transfer misfires at the position, USC’s offensive line has been the stabilizing force propelling its high-powered attack to a 6-1 record.

USC running back King Miller carries the ball as the offensive line blocks during a win at Penn State on Oct. 10.

(Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images)

That’s a testament primarily to offensive line coach Zach Hanson, who, in his fifth season, has now fully rebuilt the room in his image.

“He’s a very steady guy,” Riley said of Hanson. “He’s not a guy who fluctuates a lot day to day, so our players kind of feed off of that. There’s a steadiness to our group.”

USC is also entering the brutal back half of its schedule with that group as healthy as it has been all season. As the Trojans take to the road Saturday looking to build momentum off the big win over Penn State and subsequent bye week, they’ll have all five starters available along the offensive line against Wisconsin. Paige is set to return, as is left guard Hayden Treter, who missed the last two games.

It comes at an ideal time, considering the pass rusher they’ll have to contend with Saturday. The Badgers have just eight sacks as a defense this season, but boast one of the best pass rushers in the Big Ten, senior Sebastian Cheeks. Cheeks leads the conference with 28 quarterback pressures.

Few teams, though, have been better than USC through seven games at protecting the quarterback. The Trojans’ starting offensive line has only given up one more combined pressure (29) than Cheeks has accumulated himself this season, while only allowing seven sacks in seven games.

“We’re a unit,” center Tobias Raymond said. “So everyone is feeding off each other.”

USC offensive lineman Elijah Paige blocks during a game against Oregon at the Coliseum on Sept. 26.

(Ben Liebenberg / Getty Images)

With Cheeks and a handful of other fearsome pass rushers approaching on USC’s upcoming Big Ten slate, right tackle Justin Tauanuu said the Trojans used the bye week to get back to the basics up front.

“Going against great players like that, you have to go back to fundamentals,” Tauanuu said. “Fundamentals will triumph over everything else.”

USC hasn’t looked like a line in need of much instruction this season. Jayden Maiava has faced pressure on just over 20% over his dropbacks, which ranks 10th among all quarterbacks nationally. It’s also a considerably lower rate of pressure than any USC quarterback has faced in recent years. The previous low, under Riley, was 30.5% with Miller Moss at quarterback in 2024.

Part of that success is Maiava’s penchant for getting rid of the ball quickly. But his protection has certainly been a critical aspect of his success this season. Because when pressure has managed to reach him, the USC senior has been much less effective as a passer. According to Pro Football Focus, Maiava has a completion rate of just 39% under pressure versus 79% when he has a clean pocket.

Blitzes also haven’t bothered USC’s passing attack much, either. Another product of the line’s impressive performance to date. Maiava has essentially had the same amount of time to throw when blitzed (2.7 seconds) versus when not blitzed (2.78 seconds).

Creating room in the run game has been a different story. USC has been considerably less effective on the ground this season than in recent years — a fact that Riley said was front of mind during the bye. The Trojans rank ninth in the Big Ten in rush yards per attempt (4.33) and 10th in rush plays of 20-plus yards (5).

“We definitely can run the ball better,” Riley said. “We’re gonna need to run the ball better. Good is not good enough for us.”

As a whole, though, it’s hard to imagine USC being in a better place up front this season. Especially considering where the position stood at the start of Riley’s tenure. The coach tried, at first, to build the room through the transfer portal and saw mixed results. After that, injuries ravaged an otherwise thin room.

But now the depth Hanson has built over the past few years is paying off. USC has already weathered injuries, including a season-ending injury to last year’s starting center, Kilian O’Connor. Meanwhile, several highly touted linemen are still currently buried on the depth chart, among them five-star freshman Keenyi Pepe, whose progression Riley said has been impressive.

“If you just kind of look at the makeup of it, we don’t have transfers,” Riley said. “We have a lot of guys who were kind of homegrown in this program. We have a good healthy young group. Zach has obviously had a big role in putting that whole group together.”

Three NFL head coaches were each fined $250,000 Wednesday for their conduct toward game officials. Yet apparently nobody has to whip out a checkbook quite yet.

The fines are on hold and could be rescinded altogether if the coaches behave themselves going forward, according to multiple reports.

The New England Patriots’ Mike Vrabel, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Nick Sirianni and the New York Jets’ Aaron Glenn were hit with the fines, which were put into abeyance pending future interaction with officials.

The NFL did not disclose the specific behavior that prompted the organization to single out those coaches, although all three have had visible sideline beef with officials this season.

Vrabel left the coaching box to confront an official late in the first half of the Patriots’ 29-26 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 5, losing his cool over a defensive holding call against Patriots’ cornerback Marcus Jones. Vrabel was hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Referee Bill Vinovich said afterward that Vrabel was flagged for using profanity toward an official. Vrabel told reporters that Vinovich “was a little sensitive. I told him it was a terrible — I’m not going to say effing call. I’ve said that 87 times since I’ve been a head coach. It was nothing derogatory.”

A week later, Glenn went on a tirade while surrounded by three officials during the Jets’ victory over the Browns. Sirianni has had several sideline temper tantrums, including one Sept. 28 after Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was called for intentional grounding.

Troy Vincent, the NFL executive vice president of football operations, told reporters Wednesday at the owners meetings in New York City that sportsmanship was a discussion item. The fines appear to be sending a message that relationships between coaches, game officials and players need to be more civil.

The NFL suspended game officials Jeff Seeman and Adrian Hill on Oct. 5 following separate incidents of unprofessional conduct toward players. Seeman appeared to curse at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, and Hill confronted Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson after being inadvertently knocked down.

New Zealander Stephen Fleming, England’s new Test coach, has suggested the national team should be led by someone from England.

Fleming, who will take charge of his first series in South Africa in December, is the latest overseas coach to lead the England men’s team.

Since 1999, only two Englishmen – Peter Moores (twice) and Chris Silverwood – have been in charge of the Test side, while Ashley Giles had a spell as white-ball coach.

In the same time period England have been led by two Zimbabweans, in Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower, and Australian Trevor Bayliss – while Fleming has succeeded his fellow Kiwi Brendon McCullum, who remains white-ball coach. Another Australian, Matthew Mott, also had time in charge of the white-ball team.

Fleming’s backroom team, announced last week, is heavily weighted towards homegrown coaches.

Former England opener Marcus Trescothick, who was in interim charge of the Test team earlier this year, is joined by ex-England wicketkeeper James Foster and former spinner Richard Dawson.

Jonathan Trott, an Ashes winner with England, is about to begin a spell in charge of England Lions. Both Trott and Dawson were in the running for the Test job before Fleming was appointed.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former New Zealand captain Fleming said it will be a “priority” of his tenure to help develop English coaches.

“I do believe that primarily the national team should be coached by a national representative,” said Fleming.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity, but there will be some development in terms of the coaching, and you can see by our staff.”

As well as Fleming and McCullum filling the head coach roles for the men’s national teams, England’s selector, Marcus North, is Australian.

In September it was announced that another Australian, Leah Poulton, will become the managing director of England women. Between 2020 and 2023 England women’s head coach was Lisa Keightley, the former Australia international.

In addition to developing the coaches on his own staff, Fleming said he will also occasionally invite county coaches and former England players into the set-up.

“There are some really key people who have come back into the system and I’m really pleased about that,” he said.

“I look forward to working with them, but it is a real focus and it’s an ambition as well that you will also get county coaches who will be introduced at certain times and you will get past players that will be asked to come back as well.

“It’s really inclusive and a comfortable nature of using what’s around, but also driving what should be driven within the county game and the English game.”

When Joe Cascione walked into the athletic director’s office at Los Angeles Mission College with the idea of starting a women’s tennis team, he knew how it would sound. He had spent his entire life in baseball—27 years as a coach—and had never coached women or a racquet sport.

“I told him, ‘I have an idea. I’d love to start a women’s tennis team. I don’t have any background in tennis, but I think I can surround myself with people who know the technical side of the sport, and I love it so much that I think we can do well,’” recalled Cascione, a successful former baseball player at Pierce College and Cal Lutheran.

It was understandable that few understood the decision.

“Everyone thought I was going through a midlife crisis,” Cascione said with a laugh. “They’d say to me, ‘What are you doing? You’re having a breakdown.’”

College administrators also wondered if it wouldn’t be better to have a women’s soccer team, given the demographics of the San Fernando Valley. But Cascione presented them with a list of potential players who could attend Mission College.

“At first I was against it,” recalled Steve Ruys, director of athletics at Mission College. “I told him that women’s soccer was better for this area. But he was persistent.”

In the front row, from left to right, bottom, are the Mission College sophomores: Jaelyn Rivera, Priscilla Grinner, CiCi Díaz, Kirsten Bonzon, Amy Nghiem and Natalia Ponce. In the second row, from left to right, top, are the four new team members: Dsyray Chan, Daisylynne Castaneda, Julieta Sierra and Lena Onejeme.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Four years later, the gamble paid off in a big way. Last April, the Mission College Eagles won the first California Community College Athletic Assn. (CCCAA) state team championship in the school’s history, and they did so with a perfect 25-0 record.

Not only did they win the community college’s first championship, but they did so with local players and against powerhouse schools—some of which even fielded international players. Unlike other schools, Mission College does not have its own tennis courts and rents courts at a nearby park to practice and play its home matches.

In CCCAA tennis, colleges face off against each other in team matches. Each match consists of a set number of singles and doubles matches, and the winner is determined by the team’s cumulative score.

In the final of a four-day tournament in Ojai, Mission College faced Sierra College — the top seed from Northern California and also undefeated — and won a dramatic match. The Eagles dominated the doubles, but Sierra fought back in the singles and took a 4-3 lead.

Then, Genesis Nochez (West Ranch) tied the series at 4-4, and everything came down to Josilyn Rivera (Birmingham) in a head-to-head match against Autumn Holmes of Sierra. To add to the drama of the day, Rivera lost the first set, bounced back with a 6-1 victory in the second and clinched the championship in a tiebreak she won without giving up a single point, for a final score of 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-0).

In addition, the duo of Jaelyn Rivera (Birmingham) and Priscilla Grinner (Granada Hills) were crowned state doubles champions after defeating a Chabot College pair.

Amy Nghiem takes a shot during Mission College practice at El Cariso Regional Community Park in Sylmar.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“I had always thought about winning the Ojai tournament, but I never thought it would actually happen,” said Grinner, 19, a two-time CIF champion with Granada Hills.

“Winning that tournament meant everything to me and my family; it was like giving back to the community where I grew up, and that meant so much to me,” said Jaelyn, 20, Josilyn’s older sister.

Amy Nghiem was one of Mission College’s key players. The Granada Hills Charter alumna joined the Eagles alongside her teammates Grinner and América Fragoso, both from Granada Hills.

Cascione was also named Western State Conference coach of the year.

For the players, the sense of teamwork that the coach instilled was vital to building a competitive program.

“The coaches encourage us to be our best. Without our teammates, without that connection, without that camaraderie, and without all the time we spent together, it wouldn’t have been possible,” Grinner said of the championship.

Jaelyn Rivera serves during her team’s practice at El Cariso Regional Community Park in Sylmar.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Cascione stepped down as head baseball coach at Mission College in 2019 after 19 years at the helm of the program. Then came the pandemic — and with it, a year and a half to reflect on what the next step in his athletic and professional life would be. The answer lay in the other sport he had loved since childhood, as he had always played tennis in his free time.

“If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably choose to play tennis instead of baseball,” confessed Cascione, who was twice named State West Conference coach of the year in baseball. “Baseball was my life, and I owe it everything. But there’s something about tennis. When I was seven, I’d watch it on TV and enjoy every minute of it.”

But convincing the first female players to join a new tennis program — in the midst of a pandemic and without its own courts — was no easy task. In the community college system, recruitment is crucial, and competing against schools such as Glendale, College of the Canyons, and Pierce—which have their own facilities—is always an uphill battle for Mission College.

“I couldn’t tell them, ‘We’re going to be a good team,’’ Cascione said. “I really didn’t know. ”

Nor was it easy to convince a tennis player to join a program led by a baseball coach. That’s where another of Cascione’s strengths came into play: his candor.

“The only thing I kept telling them was, ‘You’re going to work hard, and you’re going to have a coach who’s going to push you to your limits and who’s going to be there for you every time we’re on the court,’” Cascione said. “There has to be a belief that, even when things go wrong, you’ll hear your teammates cheering you on. And that’s not something you mention just once or twice; it’s something we talk about almost every day in this program.”

Seven young women accepted the challenge in the first year and nine in 2023. Faced with a lack of dedicated facilities, Cascione applied the same philosophy he used when his baseball team had to rent a field: adapt and overcome the obstacle.

In its first season, in 2022, the team surprised everyone by finishing second in its division in the State Western Conference. Since that first season, Cascione has worked to bring the team-oriented mindset he preached in baseball over to tennis.

“I think he’s very articulate,” said Grinner, who hopes to transfer to Cal Lutheran after this year to play alongside her teammate Jaelyn. “He’s able to explain things to you and encourage you even when you’re feeling really, really down, and I think that’s one of his best qualities.”

Said assistant coach Yulia Zhytelna, “First and foremost, he’s a baseball coach, and on the court he shows exactly who he is — in the way he talks, how he cheers, and how he addresses the girls. He doesn’t try to hide anything; that’s just who he is, and I’ve loved that about him.”

Recruiting the talented Nghiem was one of the championship team’s greatest successes. Cascione himself gave her a tour of the school.

“It’s not a very big school, but they’ll go above and beyond for you. They’ll stand by you,” said Nghiem, who also highlighted the team’s culture of camaraderie. “We all went to practice every day. Even if you were sick, you were there. You didn’t have to practice, but you were there. You always supported each other.”

Mission College, located in an area with a strong Latino presence in the northern San Fernando Valley, competed against programs with a long history, their own facilities and international players —such as Glendale, College of the Canyons, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Santa Monica — so the coaching staff was key to instilling a positive mindset in the players, without letting them get pigeonholed.

“Not many people see us as a community capable of achieving something this big,” said Jaelyn. “So being able to bring the title home to this community really shows the people around us—our peers, our community, and our ethnic group — that it’s possible to achieve something when you put in all your effort.”

Cascione, originally from New York, has lived in the San Fernando Valley since childhood and attended St. Genevieve High in Panorama City. He emphasizes that his coaching staff, which is also deeply rooted in the community, understands the realities of their players’ lives.

“Many of these young women face challenges in various ways. Many hold down two jobs; some come from broken homes and need our support,” said Cascione, who was mentored by Bob Lofrano at Pierce College and Rich Hill at Cal Lutheran.

His assistants, Porfirio Cervantes and Zhytelna — a former Cal State Northridge player who is now a professional — also maintain strong ties to the Valley community.

“I’ve seen the girls’ motivation, especially among the freshmen,” said Zhytelna, the female voice on the coaching staff and a mentor to the players. “I’ve seen in their eyes that they want to give their best.

“At the end of the day, tennis is just a game, and you have to enjoy it — because that’s how the best experiences come about, when you’re enjoying yourself.”

At a community college, where the players change every one or two years, continuity depends on the culture being passed down from one generation to the next.

“The most effective way is through the players themselves,” explained Cascione. “The sophomores pass it on to the newcomers. We talk almost every day about being a great person, a great sister, a great daughter and they have to believe that all of that contributes to making a great tennis player and a great team.”

For Cascione, the success of the tennis program at Mission College — a school with fewer than 10,000 students — boils down to one word: belief.

“The moment you let someone tell you that you can’t, you’re letting negativity in,” said the coach. “Here, we dream big. Sometimes we’ll fall short, but we’re always going to give it our all.”

The results are already beginning to show across the entire athletics department. Mission College recently launched its men’s tennis program — also featuring local players — using the same formula that led to the women’s team’s success.

Mission College is currently in the first phase of construction on its own facilities, which will include soccer and softball fields. Phase two will include tennis courts.

The Southern California college basketball kickoff luncheon was held on Wednesday at the Downtown Athletic Club, and sitting at one of the tables dressed in suit and tie was someone as knowledgeable as any coach in the room.

Former Fremont High, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Los Angeles coach Dave Yanai, 83, was there. He won the John R. Wooden Award’s Legends of Coaching honor in 2021. He was inducted into the City Section Hall of Fame in 2023.

Asked if he’s still watching basketball, Yanai said, “A lot.”

He was the first Japanese American to be a head coach in college basketball. His nephew is Harvey Kitani, a future City Section Hall of Fame basketball coach who was at Fairfax and now Rolling Hills Prep.

Yanai still has much to offer. You just have to ask.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

It was already going to be a short week, but Sean McVay navigated unexpected business that affected the start of preparation for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.

After Monday night’s defeat by the Buffalo Bills, the Rams on Tuesday released struggling kicker Harrison Mevis, and signed Blake Grupe. Then left tackle Alaric Jackson was suspended by the NFL for punching a Bills player on the field after the game.

“You’re always ready for inevitable things to come up,” the Rams coach said Thursday.

McVay referenced a congratulatory phone call he received from then-Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin after the Rams hired McVay in 2017.

“He says, ‘How’s that tube?’” McVay recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’

“He said, ‘That tube of [s—] that never stops coming down over your head when you’re a head coach.’

“But honestly, it’s part of it.”

The Rams hope that Grupe can clean up the kicking game and relieve criticism of the Rams’ struggling special teams. McVay said this week that he has “a lot of confidence” in special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, and that “no changes” are going to be made to that staff position.

“You’re continuing to figure out some of our identity,” McVay said Thursday, adding, “I have seen the intentionality from the group that I’m looking for.”

Grupe was signed off the New York Jets practice squad. Last season, he was released by the New Orleans Saints in late November after he made only 18 of 26 field-goal attempts. The Indianapolis Colts signed Grupe and he made all 11 of his attempts.

“For these last five weeks, I’ve been staying ready, been doing what I need to do to take advantage of an opportunity,” Grupe said.

Veteran David Quessenberry is on track to start in place of Jackson, who was initially suspended for two games without pay for striking Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb in the face after the Rams’ 37-34 overtime defeat. Jackson appealed the suspension and the league reduced it to one game on Wednesday.

Quessenberry, 36, is a ninth-year pro. But he has not started a game since 2023, when he played for the Minnesota Vikings.

Quessenberry played only 18 snaps on offense last season, none this season.

But McVay said Quessenberry was a “consummate pro” who has played “a lot of meaningful snaps” in his career and worked with the Rams’ first-team offense when Jackson has been held out while managing blood-clot issues.

“This is kind of why I’m here, when things like this happen,” Quessenberry said. “So I’m ready to go. This is what I’ve worked for. I’ve played this position my whole life. Go out there on Sunday and play ball. I’m fired up.”

This will be the first game without Jackson since last season’s late December game against the Atlanta Falcons. With D.J. Humphries starting at left tackle, the Falcons swarmed Matthew Stafford. Humphries was called for two crucial penalties, the Falcons sacked Stafford three times and intercepted three passes.

“He’s proven himself in this league,” Stafford said, adding, “ton of trust in what he’s capable of.”

Rookie lineman Keagen Trost practiced Thursday for the first time since he was placed on injured reserve before the season because of a hamstring injury suffered in the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Trost, a third-round draft pick out of Missouri, could be activated to the roster.

“It’s been a little bit of time since he’s played football,” McVay said. “But if he’s feeling good, expect him to be up for the game.

“But not at the expense of putting him in a situation that, if he did have to play, wasn’t good for him.”

Offensive lineman Justin Dedich, who has been on injured reserve because of a hand injury, also is eligible to return. But interior linemen such as guards Kevin Dotson and Steve Avila have remained physically sound.

“We’ll pray that we stay healthy,” McVay said, “but at some point we’ll start his clock and get him in there.”