Chicago Sports

Email
print

The Chicago Blackhawks fired the longtime head athletic trainer of their AHL affiliate following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, the team said in a statement to ESPN.

When reached by ESPN on Sunday, the Blackhawks confirmed that Rockford IceHogs head athletic trainer D.J. Jones’ employment had been terminated in November. According to sources, the person was a member of the team’s ice crew, and the allegations were from an incident that happened years ago.

“Under our new leadership, we have made it crystal clear that nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our players and employees, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of our standards of conduct in our organization,” the team said in the statement. “We have done a lot of work to ensure an environment where employees are encouraged to feel safe coming forward, even if it is about wrongdoing that occurred in the past.

“Recently, when allegations of sexual harassment in 2014 by D.J. Jones, the head athletic trainer for the Rockford IceHogs, were reported to the Blackhawks on October 27, 2021, we adhered to our new protocols and procedures, suspended Mr. Jones, conducted an in depth investigation over 5 days and, following the conclusive results, terminated Mr. Jones on November 3, 2021.”

Jones was in his 16th year with the IceHogs organization. His name has been scrubbed from the team’s website, and his information is no longer available on an internal database for athletic trainers. The IceHogs have promoted their assistant athletic trainer, John Walter, to the head trainer position.

Jones could not be immediately reached for comment. The person came forward with the allegations a day after the law firm Jenner & Block’s report on the Blackhawks was released. In that report were the findings from a lawsuit against Chicago alleging prolonged sexual assault by the team’s former video coach, Brad Aldrich, in 2010 involving Kyle Beach, a 2008 first-round pick by the Blackhawks. The franchise later reached a confidential settlement with Beach.

6h

2d

2dKristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski

2 Related

Jenner & Block, in its independent investigation, concluded that “nothing was done” by senior leaders to prevent the harassment of Beach, which led to resignations from longtime general manager Stan Bowman and vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac. The NHL also fined the Blackhawks $2 million for the organization’s “inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters.”

In the aftermath, the Blackhawks said they were reviewing their internal operating structure and policies for reporting workplace misconduct. The organization has implemented new preventative measures, including comprehensive training and education programs for all employees.

Team owner Rocky Wirtz generated headlines last week after he lashed out at a reporter at a town hall event when asked about how the team planned to avoid power imbalances in the future. Wirtz issued an apology shortly after.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he did not intend to discipline Wirtz, calling it a moment of “frustration.”

“The most unfortunate thing about it is, it’s completely inconsistent with all the work that the Blackhawks are doing,” Bettman said in Las Vegas this weekend at NHL All-Star festivities. “A lot of personnel have left. [President of business operations] Jaime Faulkner and [CEO] Danny Wirtz are really running things day-to-day. They are bringing in a wellness department, they’re having training, there’s counseling, they know they have to do everything right to create an environment that has an open, welcoming and safe culture. And that’s what they’re working on.

“So, I just think it was an emotional moment born out of something that I know has weighed very heavily on Rocky and I think [at] the town hall and what he was really focused on was, how do we take all these things we’re doing to move forward? And I just think this was just pent-up frustration. And he apologized promptly.”

Read More

Sierra Canyon’s Amari Bailey (10) embraces Bronny James (0) after winning the game against Glenbard West. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

Glenbard West remains on top and Glenbrook South is back in the No. 2 spot.

High school basketball owned the Chicago sports scene on Saturday night. There was a sold-out crowd at Wintrust Arena and a nice crowd for the Donda Homecoming event at UIC.

Both events were televised. For the first time in more than two years, there were big events that caught the eye of the casual sports fan. Amari Bailey and Bronny James lived up to the hype in Sierra Canyon’s win over Glenbard West. But the Hilltoppers captured the hearts of Chicago sports fans.

It’s impossible to overstate the impact Glenbard West’s fan base had made on this season. The Glen Ellyn community has ferociously backed its team and breathed life back into a sport that desperately needed an infusion of energy and attention after two years without state championships.

The Illinois High School Association will release its playoff pairings on Friday. Imagine thousands of Hilltoppers fans converging on the state finals in Champaign in March? The Illinois High School Association couldn’t possibly hope for a better start to its new finals format.

But that is a long way off. Glenbard West still has four regular-season games left, conference matchups with Hinsdale Central, Oak Park, and Proviso West, and then a newly scheduled game against Simeon on Feb. 18 at Proviso West.

The Hilltoppers’ quest for an unbeaten season ended on Saturday, but their major focus has always been on a state title. That’s still very possible. They are the clear favorites.

JJ Taylor delivers for Donda

Amari Bailey wasn’t the only homegrown talent to have a successful homecoming game on Saturday. JJ Taylor, who transferred to Donda Academy from Kenwood in the fall, led the Doves to an 85-62 win against Chicago Prep at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena.

Taylor led Donda with 23 points and five rebounds. Julio Montes, a Lincoln Park graduate, led Chicago Prep with 25 points.

Milestones

St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey picked up his 600th win with a 63-53 victory against Marist on Saturday. Bailey took over as Shamrocks head coach in 1994.

Several successful high school coaches started their careers on Bailey’s staff at St. Patrick, including Benet’s Gene Heidkamp, Waukegan’s Ron Ashlaw, and Matt Monroe at St. Ignatius.

The big man

Morgan Park’s Lidell Miller has quietly become one of the best big men in the Public League. He’s averaging 19 points and 15 rebounds this season and was fantastic against Westinghouse in the second round of the city playoffs.

He’s the only player that didn’t transfer away after Nick Irvin left to coach at Western Illinois. Miller, a 6-7 senior, gained weight during the pandemic but has been rapidly shedding it. He’s down to 248 pounds and Gardner thinks 230 is possible.

“He can be a really nice stretch four for somebody at the next level,” Morgan Park coach Chris Gardner said. “They need to come see him. The colleges have fallen asleep. If they watch him play and talk with him they will understand. He’s just a great kid. I love him to death. I’d do anything for him.”

Super 25 for Feb. 6, 2022

With record and last week’s ranking

1. Glenbard West (26-1) 1

Lost to Sierra Canyon

2. Glenbrook South (25-2) 3

Dominated Curie

3. Simeon (22-3) 2

Wes Rubin is back

4. Kenwood (21-6) 6

Handled Hillcrest easily

5. Hillcrest (23-3) 5

Rough start Saturday

6. New Trier (24-3) 4

Stumbled vs. Evanston

7. Leo (18-3) 14

Took down Brother Rice

8. Wheaton Warrenville South (25-2) 9

At St. Francis Saturday

9. Curie (21-5) 7

Hosts Lane Monday

10. Rolling Meadows (24-3) 10

Hosts Glenbrook South Tuesday

11. Hyde Park (19-6) 11

At Young on Tuesday

12. Oswego East (27-1) 13

Patrick Robinson is a leader

13. Young (17-9) 8

Lost to Vashon

14. Thornton (17-5) 16

Ty Rodgers is dominating

15. Bolingbrook (22-6) 18

Playing very well again

16. Homewood-Flossmoor (16-7) 20

Beat Brother Rice

17. Larkin (24-3) 17

Hosts East Aurora Friday

18. Clark (19-3) 24

Into the city elite eight

19. Mount Carmel (23-3) 25

Beat DePaul Prep

20. Lyons (20-5) 15

Lost to Oak Park

21. Benet (21-5) 21

Seven consecutive wins

22. Brother Rice (21-4) 12

Lost to Leo, H-F

23. Burlington Central (24-3) 22

Handled Cary-Grove

24. St. Rita (18-8) 23

Beat Loyola

25. Yorkville Christian (14-13) 19

Lost to Peoria Notre Dame

Read More

The Rockford IceHogs’ head trainer was fired in November. | Brad Repplinger/Rockford IceHogs Photos

The team was informed Oct. 27 of harassment by D.J. Jones that allegedly occurred in 2014. Jones was fired a week later, following an investigation.

The Blackhawks fired the head trainer of the Rockford IceHogs, their AHL affiliate, in November for alleged sexual harassment.

D.J. Jones, who had been the IceHogs’ head trainer since 2006, allegedly harassed the victim in 2014, but the incident was not reported to the Hawks until Oct. 27 of this past fall. The team suspended and investigated Jones before ultimately firing him Nov. 3.

The news wasn’t disclosed or known publicly until Sunday, when ESPN reported the harassment had been toward a member of the IceHogs’ ice crew.

“Under our new leadership, we have made it crystal clear that nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our players and employees, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of our standards of conduct in our organization,” the Hawks said in a Sunday statement to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“We have done a lot of work to ensure an environment where employees are encouraged to feel safe coming forward, even if it is about wrongdoing that occurred in the past. Recently, when allegations of sexual harassment in 2014 by D.J. Jones, the head athletic trainer for the Rockford IceHogs, were reported to the Blackhawks on October 27, 2021, we adhered to our new protocols and procedures, suspended Mr. Jones, conducted an in-depth investigation over 5 days and, following the conclusive results, terminated Mr. Jones on November 3, 2021.”

The timing of the allegations being reported to the Hawks is notable, as it occurred the day after the Jenner & Block report on the investigation into the Hawks’ 2010 sexual assault cover-up was released, prompting the subsequent firing of then-general manager Stan Bowman.

John Walter has been promoted to the IceHogs’ head trainer position, with Patrick Chun hired in December as the new assistant trainer.

Read More

The Chicago Blackhawks fired the longtime head athletic trainer of their American Hockey League affiliate for sexual harassment, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Jesse Rogers on Sunday night.Read More

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is on the defensive over the resolution censuring GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The conservative National Review found the censure wording “political malpractice of the highest order coming from people whose entire job is politics.”

WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee censure of Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney — supported by the two Illinois members of the RNC — has the potential to cause far more political problems for GOP candidates in Illinois than for the Republicans the party punished for their membership on the Jan. 6 committee.

What happened: On Friday, the RNC on a voice vote approved a resolution to censure Kinzinger, of Illinois, and Cheney, of Wyoming, and “no longer support them as members of the Republican party.”

Illinois National Committeeman Richard Porter and Illinois National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte, members of the RNC, supported the measure.

Backfire: The censure resolution has backfire potential for Republicans because it said that Kinzinger and Cheney, the only two Republicans on the Jan. 6 panel, are participating in “a Democratic-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes.”

The problem: This “ordinary citizens” statement. Obviously, the Democrats can exploit this — the ad writes itself about violent rioters being “ordinary citizens.” On the other side of the coin — Republicans in primaries trying to out-Trump their competition — and make heroes out of the Jan. 6 mob — got a gift.

Who are the RNC’s “ordinary citizens?” Since the RNC wording is vague on that, a reasonable takeaway is that it is a reference to the mob attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6 to prevent Vice President Mike Pence from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.

Details matter.

On Saturday and Sunday, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, on the defensive, labeled media reports quoting from the resolution a “lie.” She didn’t clarify anything.

DeMonte told me in an e-mail, “Yes. I voted for the resolution.”

“Unfortunately,” she said, there has been “false reporting” because the RNC “denounces all acts of political violence and lawlessness.”

However, that’s not mentioned in the resolution, mainly a 10-paragraph manifesto against Biden and Democrats in Congress with the “ordinary citizens” thrown in.

Porter told the New York Times, “The nominal Republicans on the committee provide a pastiche of bipartisanship, but no genuine protection or due process for the ordinary people who did not riot being targeted and terrorized by the committee.”

Accusing the press of “false reporting” is an attempt to deflect attention from the RNC’s self-inflicted wound.

In another email, DeMonte said, “Leave it to the liberal news media to falsely publish baseless and false propaganda.”

I appreciate DeMonte exchanging emails with me Saturday and Sunday. Let’s keep the communication open.

But this is not about how the “liberal” press is reporting the story.

Political malpractice: That’s the conclusion of the conservative National Review.

Their editorial, posted Saturday, concluded, “Fair-minded people can, of course, criticize” some of the Jan. 6 committee’s actions. “To say that investigation and prosecution are justified is not to defend every aspect of the hundreds of criminal prosecutions, or to bless the Democrats’ norm-breaking partisanship on the January 6 committee.

“But the RNC has issued a statement, purportedly in the name of the entire party, denouncing “a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” and “Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes.” This will, quite predictably and not wholly unreasonably, be read as an argument that the action of the mob was nothing but “legitimate political discourse” and that nobody should be prosecuted.

“It will be used against hundreds of elected Republicans who were not consulted in its drafting and do not endorse its sentiment. To the extent that the party did not intend this as the meaning — and RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, already doing damage control, says it was not meant that way — its wording is political malpractice of the highest order coming from people whose entire job is politics.”

Background: Why two Republicans on the Jan. 6 panel? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year vetoed putting Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. on the panel, so House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled his the three other GOP picks, leaving Pelosi free to tap Kinzinger and Cheney. Jordan was seen from the start as part of the probe — and he has emerged as a “material witness” for the Jan. 6 panel.

What the censure means for Kinzinger: Nothing. He’s not running again. His future path, wherever it leads, is not impacted by the censure. Might help him in fundraising.

Said Kinzinger in a statement, “Rather than focus their efforts on how to help the American people, my fellow Republicans have chosen to censure two lifelong Members of their party for simply upholding their oaths of office.

“They’ve allowed conspiracies and toxic tribalism hinder their ability to see clear-eyed.”

Read More

It was pretty simple on Sunday: Win and Donovan was in. But in losing to the 76ers, Miami jumped the Bulls in the overall conference standings, which meant Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was the All-Star coach for the East.

Billy Donovan’s schedule for next weekend just cleared up.

Thanks to a win by the Heat on Saturday, combined with the Bulls’ 119-108 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday, Donovan is no longer in line to coach in his first ever All-Star Game, with that now going to Miami coach Erik Spoelstra.

“I definitely do now,’’ Donovan said with a laugh after the game, when reminded that he now had a weekend off. “That’s over and done with now.’’

The concerns with this Bulls team, however, are far from “over and done with,’’ even in an afternoon that they remained very short-handed.

No Zach LaVine (back), no Coby White (groin), and then the usual four that have been in the training room for a while in Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Derrick Jones Jr., and Patrick Williams.

Not that Philadelphia has been overly impressed with whoever the Bulls roll out at them this season, going 3-0 in the series with one game left, but this latest matchup really allowed the 76ers to exploit some weaknesses.

First, they outshot the Bulls from three, hitting 12-for-24 (50%) compared to the home team going 7-for-26 (26.9%), and then they were just more physical, especially in the high pick-and-roll game.

To the credit of the Bulls (33-20) they did handle that set better in the second half, but it still exposed a lack of options that they can throw at the likes of a Joel Embiid, who continued to haunt this team in finishing with 40 points and 10 rebounds.

“I feel like we need to set the tone rather than letting them hit first,’’ Bulls wing Javonte Green said of the mentality that was lacking early. “We made that adjustment at halftime, and I feel like it was improved in the second half.’’

Not enough to get Donovan and his coaching staff an all-expenses paid trip to Cleveland for All-Star Weekend.

Just don’t blame DeRozan.

All the veteran did was remind his teammates of what was at stake for Donovan before the game for some attempted extra motivation, and then go out and drop a season-high 45 points, as well as grab nine rebounds and hand out seven assists.

“I knew about it,’’ DeRozan said, when asked if he knew what was on the line for his coaches. “Brought it up to the guys. It would have been special, those guys deserved it. I told Billy [near] the end of the game that I was going to try and do my best to get this game for him because I would have loved to see those guys have that opportunity. Those opportunities don’t come around often. We just fell short of it. It sucks, but just have to keep on pushing.’’

And pushing with this group of players.

DeRozan made it very clear that he doesn’t want to see his front office look to go out and add players at the trade deadline. Even on the same day that division-rival Cleveland went out and acquired Caris LeVert from Indiana, DeRozan was looking to stand pat and be patient with the injured Bulls players.

“We’re missing Lonzo Ball, one of the top point guards in the league,’’ DeRozan said. “Alex Caruso, one of the best defenders in this league. Patrick Williams, one of the young stars in this league. We haven’t had those guys. And we have them, they’ll be back. We don’t need to worry or stress about having nobody else. Those three right there, I guarantee every team in this NBA wished they had those three guys. We’ll be fine.’’

When asked directly if he wanted the front office to stand pat, DeRozan responded, “Yeah, only you all [the media] talk about that. We don’t talk about it.’’

Read More

Illinois and Purdue get after it again. | Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

The Illini are on the road again — and loving it.

In a basketball conference as rugged as the Big Ten, you’re going to get dinged up. There will be injuries along the way — not to mention absences related to COVID-19 — and there will be losses. Ding, ding. There’s no way around it.

First-place Illinois — which has used nine different starting lineups already — is no exception.

But with a Big Ten record of 10-2 — and with 13 wins in their last 15 league road games going back to last season — the Illini keep demonstrating a special ability to withstand whatever they have to. That goes for playing without Andre Curbelo or Kofi Cockburn. It goes for dealing with hostile crowds. And it goes for living up to the intense, demanding style of their coach.

“I clench my jaw every time we talk about road games,” Brad Underwood said.

His jaw is going to get a heck of a workout heading into Tuesday’s visit to Purdue, which is a game back at 9-3 and owns a potential tiebreaker edge after its 96-88 double-overtime win in Champaign last month. That was the game of the season in the Big Ten — and easily one of the best in the country — but the rematch is even more momentous.

Can Zach Edey, Jaden Ivey and the Boilermakers ding the Illini twice? There’s no question they’ve got the talent to do it. But who’s dinging whom here? After all, the Illini are on the road again — and loving it.

“I mean, you’ve got to,” Underwood said. “It’s hard to do.”

Here’s what’s happening:

MON 7

Suns at Bulls (7 p.m., NBCSCH)

Back-to-backs are trouble for NBA teams even when back trouble — as in Zach LaVine’s — isn’t part of the equation. Who’s in and who’s out against the league’s No. 1 team?

Olympic figure skating (7 p.m., Ch. 5)

The men’s short program is featured, with the great Nathan Chen — who has three world titles and six straight U.S. titles under his belt — in blow-the-roof-off-the-joint-or-bust mode.

Olympic hockey (10:10 p.m., USA)

The U.S. women take on world champion Canada, which scored — ahem — 23 goals in its first two preliminary-round games. Some say a gold-medal clash between these squads is inevitable, but are the Canadians unbeatable?

TUE 8

Wisconsin at Michigan State (6 p.m., BTN)

A pair of Big Ten contenders go at it, and the victor will be in prime position for the stretch run. But really, this is just an aperitif because of, well, look at what’s next.

Illinois at Purdue (8 p.m., ESPN)

The Boilers took the first meeting — a double-overtime classic in Champaign — but that was with Coburn in foul trouble for most of the way. Winner gets a bead on a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Olympic skiing (10:35 p.m., Ch. 5)

U.S. superstar Mikaela Shiffrin — planning to ski in all five alpine events and make all kinds of history — goes for gold in the slalom.

WED 9

Bulls at Hornets (6:30 p.m., NBCSCH, ESPN)

With no Lonzo Ball-LaMelo Ball storyline to follow, we’ll just have to settle for seeing if the Bulls can effectively chase around the team that tops the East in scoring and three-pointers made and attempted.

Blackhawks at Oilers (7 p.m., NBCSCH+)

The Hawks spin out of the All-Star break with a three-game losing streak, no hope of making the playoffs and organizational dysfunction up to their ear holes. Other than that, they’re in tremendous shape.

Georgetown at DePaul (8 p.m., FS1)

The only thing standing in the way of another last-place Big East finish for the Blue Demons is Patrick Ewing’s moribund squad. “Hoya paranoia” takes on a whole new meaning when you’re 0-10 in league play.

THU 10

“NFL Honors” (8 p.m., Ch. 7, NHLN)

The best players and moments of the 2021 season will be recognized in Los Angeles, though it could get kind of awkward when Aaron Rodgers has to remove his Groucho Marx glasses and accept the MVP award.

Bucks at Suns (9 p.m., TNT)

What a matchup, but be warned: It might not be quite as exciting as their last meeting in Phoenix, when Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the alley-oop slam heard ’round the world to seal Game 5 of the Finals.

FRI 11

Timberwolves at Bulls (7 p.m., NBCSCH)

It’s no walk in the park dealing with Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, especially with Patrick Beverley lurking around and looking for trouble.

Olympic hockey (10 p.m., USA)

A Team USA vs. Canada matchup would’ve been cooler with NHL players involved as originally planned, but you know what they say — the name on the front of the jersey means more than the unrecognizable one on the back.

SAT 12

Blackhawks at Blues (7 p.m., NBCSCH)

Sure, the rivalry has more bite when both teams are good. But you never know when Stu Grimson and Kelly Chase might hop over the boards and beat the hell out of each other.

Lakers at Warriors (7:30 p.m., Ch. 7)

Does it make a person bad if he occasionally enjoys pity-watching the hilariously doomed Lakers? Asking for a friend.

SUN 13

Northwestern at Illinois (1 p.m., BTN)

The Wildcats are just 2-14 in Champaign in the 2000s. Then again, nobody said this was going to be their century.

Northern Iowa at Loyola (3 p.m., ESPN2)

The Ramblers have won 11 of the last 13 games in this series — the only losses coming in overtime — but UNI is nipping at their first-place heels in the Missouri Valley.

Super Bowl: Bengals vs. Rams (5:30 p.m., Ch. 5)

Rams get it done on their home field? A “who dey?” kind of day instead? Are those potato chip crumbs in your navel? Enjoy.

Read More

Glenbrook South’s Spencer Brown (0) controls the ball past Curie’s Taevion Collier (21). | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

All the scores from around the area.

Please send scores and corrections to preps@suntimes. com.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

CHICAGO PREP

Cristo Rey at Rochelle Zell, 4:30

LAKE SHORE

Cruz at Yeshiva, 1:30

ESCC TOURNAMENT

Carmel at Notre Dame, 6:00

EVERGREEN PARK

Evergreen Park 80, Marist 73

Lemont 58, St. Laurence 54

Mount Carmel 67, Oak Lawn 56

Richards 48, Lake Forest Academy 39

Homewood-Flossmoor vs. Brother Rice, 5:00

Oak Forest vs. Leo, 6:30

UNITED CENTER

East Dubuque 49, Beecher 44

Read More

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus speaks to press about the changes and future for the Bears during a press conference at Halas Hall, Monday Jan. 31, 2022. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times | Anthony Vazquez, Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The last six Super Bowls — counting Sunday’s Bengals-Rams matchup at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles — have featured five different first-time head coaches who were in their first three years with their teams.

Before he was named the Jets’ head coach last year, Robert Saleh had never held the position at any level. If there was one thing that surprised him in his first season, it was how often he needed to do things that had nothing to do with game-planning — from meetings to press conferences to public-facing events required of the face of the franchise.

“The administrative part is probably the biggest thing in terms of making the adjustment with a constant to-do list that you’ve got instead of being able to watch tape,” he said last week, where he was coaching the Senior Bowl. “But it’s a blessing. It’s one of 32, so I’m one of those guys, I count my blessings every day. I’m very fortunate.”

So is Matt Eberflus. The Bears hired him late last month to be their 17th head coach. Like Saleh, he had never held a head coaching role at any point in his career.

In the NFL, that’s not disqualifying. Far from it.

In fact, the last six Super Bowls — counting Sunday’s Bengals-Rams matchup at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles — have featured five different first-time head coaches who were in their first three years with their teams.

The Bengals’ Zac Taylor — who just five years ago was the Rams’ assistant wide receivers coach — is at the end of his third season with the Bengals. A quarterbacks guru by trade, he coached the position for the Dolphins and University of Cincinnati before joining the Rams in 2017. The next year, he was named their quarterbacks coach.

Sean McVay, his boss with the Rams, reached the Super Bowl four years ago in his second season as a head coach. He’ll return Sunday after beating the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan, who three years ago made the Super Bowl in his second season.

Four years ago, Doug Pederson’s Eagles won the Super Bowl in his second season. The year before that, the Falccons’ Dan Quinn lost the Super Bowl at the end of his second year. Pederson is the only one of the five who’d been a head coach at any level before their NFL gig — and that was at Calvary Baptist Academy, a high school in Shreveport, La.

The number of first-time coaches reaching the title game are unique to the NFL. In the same time period, two first-time managers reached the World Series in their first three seasons: the Nationals’ Dave Martinez and the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts. The NBA has had three such coaches reach the championship the last six seasons: the Raptors’ Nick Nurse, the Warriors’ Steve Kerr and the Cavaliers’ Tyronn Lue. Kerr made the Finals in each of his first five seasons, Lue in each of his first three.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell got his first head coaching job a year ago, though he was an interim head coach with the Dolphins in 2015. Speaking at the Senior Bowl, where he too was coaching, Eberflus’ defense speaks for itself even if he doesn’t know the Bears’ new head coach well.

“I know what his system is about,” he said. “I know what he believes in. And I know where he came from. So I know he’s a helluva coach. He’s very demanding. It’s all effort, energy, smart football. It will be … it’s gonna be tough.”

The good news, for Campbell and the Bears alike, is that experience isn’t a prerequisite to leading a team to the Super Bowl.

“There’s going to be four, five teams that you know there’s a damn good chance they’re going to be [in the playoffs],” Campbell said. “Other than that, anything can change. You don’t know how your schedule’s gonna be laid out, you don’t know what’s gonna happen with the injuries. You don’t know how much you develop or they develop, or a lack of developing. You take it as it comes. All we gotta do is improve as a roster and keep developing. And anything can happen.”

Read More

It wasn’t just hope for the Bulls coach, as Donovan confirmed a Sun-Times report that Williams was progressing ahead of schedule from wrist surgery and could see some regular-season action on his current timetable. Donovan also said that the timetables haven’t changed for Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso or Derrick Jones Jr.

Coach Billy Donovan was feeling pretty confident on Sunday that the Bulls would be adding a starting power forward in time for what he hopes will be a deep playoff run.

It just might not be before Thursday’s trade deadline, and it likely won’t be coming from outside the organization.

As the Sun-Times reported last week, there was growing momentum that injured second-year forward Patrick Williams (left wrist surgery) was progressing quicker than expected, and could even get back in time to get some regular season games under his belt.

Donovan confirmed that.

“I think there’s a possibility, absolutely,’’ Donovan said of a Williams return. “I feel pretty good about the way he’s progressing from what I heard. What that exact date would be? I think there’s a very strong possibility if he continues to progress that he’ll be back before the season ends.

“There may be an opportunity if everything kind of falls right, I don’t know maybe 10 or 12 or 14 games left in the year, maybe we could have our whole team back.’’

That would mean not only Williams, but Derrick Jones Jr. (finger), Lonzo Ball (knee surgery) and Alex Caruso (wrist surgery).

Wishful thinking from the coach, but also shared throughout the entire front office.

That’s just one of the underlying factors that make this week’s trade deadline tricky for the Bulls. They know they currently have holes that could lead to an early playoff exit, but they also know they have four players in the training room that go a long way in covering up the weaknesses.

The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Williams being the biggest, as far as the lack of size in the frontcourt.

Donovan again pointed out that his “Big Four’’ of DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine and Ball have only played 17 games together, so deciding if that sample size was enough, and then projecting Williams into it, were all being weighed.

“Yeah, just in my conversations with [executive vice president of basketball] Arturas [Karnisovas] and [general manager] Marc [Eversley], everybody really likes the group and likes the chemistry in the group,’’ Donovan said about the trade front. “When there’s stuff that’s going on that [Karnisovas] really needs to talk to me about, where there’s stuff that’s real, we end up having those conversations. That has not happened at all. I know that he and his staff have been in a lot, and they’re working, doing what they need to do, but it’s just allowed me to focus on our team.’’

The Bulls do have Tuesday off, so that was looking like the day that the front office could be pulling the entire coaching staff in for a trade deadline state of the union discussion.

Back attack

The back soreness and spasms were still enough of an issue for LaVine that he was ruled out of his second consecutive game.

The Bulls have a back-to-back, hosting the Suns Monday night, but Donovan wasn’t going to speculate on the All-Star guard being available for that one.

“I think he’s worked pretty hard on just getting treated,’’ Donovan said. I don’t know about [Monday]. I think a lot of it is going to depend. He got treatment [Saturday], and again [Sunday morning]. But I just don’t really have an update on how close he is.’’

Coby White also missed his second-consecutive game, dealing with groin soreness. He did go through a pregame warm-up, but it was determined that he needed more time.

Read More