Sports
S. Pearl: Auburn planned for my dad’s retirement
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bruce Pearl’s retirement last month was a surprise to his Auburn team and even his son Steven, who succeeded his father as the Tigers’ new head coach.
But Pearl’s announcement was not a shock to everyone.
Steven Pearl said he didn’t officially know about his father’s decision until the day before the Tigers’ first practice. Bruce Pearl, however, had told Auburn athletic director John Cohen years ago that he had been thinking about retirement.
“Three years ago, [my father] told him, like, ‘Listen, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this,'” Steven said Wednesday at SEC media day. “So [Cohen] has been actively, in his mind, being prepared for this for three years now and going through all the different options of, ‘Do I bring in an outside coaching staff? Do I bring in a big-name guy or watch this grow? Does the staff grow as a unit and stay together and not go chasing other assistant jobs, not go chasing other coaching jobs?’ And he ultimately felt like the staff had earned the right and the opportunity to continue to move this thing forward.”
Bruce Pearl’s retirement followed months of speculation that he would leave coaching to pursue Alabama’s open U.S. Senate seat that had been vacated by Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach who is now running for governor of the state.
Steven said the past three weeks have been, as expected, a frenzy. But he also said his time with his father — he played for his father at Tennessee and spent more than a decade as his assistant — helped prepare him for the role at Auburn, which is ranked 20th in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll.
“As far as when it hit me, it didn’t hit me until I showed up at the gym and [my father] was filming his goodbye video and [Cohen] pulled me aside and he was like, ‘Hey, you’re the guy,'” Steven said. “So then I was like, ‘All right, here we go. Let’s go.’ It all happened really fast, but I’m ready because I spent 38 years watching [my father] do this.”
Steven said the continuity of the staff and the stability of his team has eased his transition. His staff has a combined 40 years of coaching experience at Auburn under Bruce, who is now an ambassador for the university. Every player decided to stay despite having a 30-day window to enter the portal and transfer, according to NCAA rules on coaching changes.
Tahaad Pettiford, a star for a Tigers team that reached the Final Four for the second time in team history last season, said the players found out about Bruce Pearl’s decision when they all received a text message to return to the gym the day of the announcement.
Pettiford said he never once considered transferring after Steven was announced as head coach. But Pettiford is also the only remaining player on the roster who played for Auburn in the team’s loss to Florida in the Final Four.
“It’s definitely something new for me coming into this with 10 new guys,” he said. “It’s definitely different from being the youngest guy on the team last year to being one of the older guys on this year’s team.
“I’m just trying to give them the stuff that I learned last year and trying to pass that down to the new guys, especially some of the freshmen, and trying to give them the blueprint of what we did last year and how we were successful.”
Lisandro Martínez has challenged Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt to repeat their criticism to his face after the pair said Erling Haaland would make the Manchester United defender look like “a little toddler” in the Manchester derby.
Speaking on a podcast ahead of the game, Butt predicted Haaland would “pick Martinez up and run with him” and their battle at Old Trafford would be rememble “a dad after school running down the road with a little toddler.”
Scholes followed up with “he’d score, then throw him in the net.”
But after Martinez kept Haaland quiet during United’s impressive 2-0 win, the Argentinian hit back at the former players — and Scholes, in particular.
“Honestly, he can say whatever he wants,” Martinez said. “I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants. To my house, wherever. I don’t care.”
United are known to be unhappy at the comments from Scholes and Butt, believing it was an attempt to mock Martinez rather than offer any constructive analysis.
Both Scholes and Butt have been at Old Trafford recently with the pair spotted in the directors’ boss alongside Sir Alex Ferguson for United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup the weekend before the derby — a game Martinez played in.
“I think for me, I respect the relations [ex-players] when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television but when you see [them] here face to face, no one says anything in your face,” Martinez continued.
“So for me, I don’t really care what they say. I just put the focus on my performance, the performance of the team and I give everything to this club until my last day.”
Martinez’s display against Haaland — who was substituted early by Pep Guardiola — was key for United as Michael Carrick masterminded victory over City in his first game as head coach.
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The 44-year-old was only appointed on Tuesday and took training for the first time on Wednesday, Still, Martinez said the former United midfielder was able to quickly make an impression on the squad.
“It’s so different, so different,” he said. “Different mentality, different guy. He [Carrick] knows what this club really means. He sent us that message that he played here for a long, long time.
“He won everything. He is a big legend. He wants to help the club and I think we were in a tough situation and it was the best moment to change that.”
The Pakistan Super League (PSL) governing council’s working committee held a late-night meeting to discuss key matters for the upcoming season, including the player auction and retention policies, sources told Geo News on Sunday.
According to insiders, the committee agreed to introduce a player auction for PSL 11 and also finalised the rules for player retention.
The committee’s decisions will be sent to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi for final approval, with the option of convening a full governing council meeting if required.
Sources revealed that the defending champions Lahore Qalandars, along with Quetta Gladiators, Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Hyderabad, voted in favour of the player auction model.
Peshawar Zalmi and the Sialkot franchise also voted in favour of the ‘drauction’ system, sources said.
It was also confirmed that the five existing franchises agreed on retaining four players each, one in each category, with one player eligible to be brought into a lower category and designated as a brand ambassador, sources said.
The new franchises, meanwhile, will select their remaining players from the general player pool through the auction system. Two new franchises, however, insisted on zero retention.
“The remaining players will be auctioned, and franchises will pick their players in the auction,” sources said.
The final formula for the PSL 11 auction and retention rules will be submitted to Mohsin Naqvi, with an official announcement expected within the next one or two days.
Sources said there is a possibility that it will not be made mandatory to include a player from the Emerging category in the playing XI.
The PSL auction is likely to be held during the first week of February, sources said.
Earlier, Naqvi advised franchise owners to increase the players’ salary cap as the marquee league enters a new era with the addition of two new teams.
Highlighting the rise in franchise market value, he encouraged teams to adopt the auction model.
“Conduct an auction of players in the PSL 11 draft and select players of your choice — they will benefit from it,” Naqvi told franchise owners during the meeting.
PSL 11 is set to begin on March 26, marking a significant milestone as the league expands from six to eight teams with the inclusion of new franchises from Sialkot and Hyderabad.
The historic PSL 2026 auction, held at the Jinnah Convention Centre on January 8 this year, saw FKS Group and OZ Developers secure ownership of the new franchises for Rs 1.75 billion and Rs 1.85 billion, respectively.
Trump arrives at 2025 Army-Navy game
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and others arrive at the Army-Navy game just outside of Washington, D.C., and salute during the national anthem.
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President Donald Trump said Saturday that he plans to sign an executive order protecting the broadcast slot for the Army-Navy football game.
Trump’s announcement on Truth Social comes amid a push to expand the NCAA College Football Playoff, which could potentially affect the Army-Navy game’s traditional time slot.
“The Army-Navy Game is one of our Greatest American Traditions — Unmatched Patriotism, Courage, and Honor!” Trump wrote. “This incredible Tradition is now at risk of being pushed aside by more College Playoff Games, and Big TV Money. NOT ANYMORE!”
PROTESTS ERUPT OUTSIDE ARMY-NAVY GAME AMID TRUMP’S ATTENDANCE
President Donald Trump walks onto the field with Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland, Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, left, and Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, right, unseen, before the start of the 126th Army-Navy NCAA college football game on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Baltimore. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
The president said his executive order will secure an exclusive four-hour broadcast window in December for the event that cannot be challenged by another postseason football game.
“Under my Administration, the second Saturday in December belongs to Army-Navy, and ONLY Army-Navy!” Trump said. “I will soon sign a Historic Executive Order securing an EXCLUSIVE 4 hour Broadcast window, so this National Event stands above Commercial Postseason Games. No other Game or Team can violate this Time Slot!!!”
President Donald Trump (C) greets players after the coin toss and before the start of the 126th Army-Navy Game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Trump praised the rivalry, adding that “on the battlefield they are America’s unstoppable Patriots, defending our Country with tremendous Strength and Heart.”
“We must protect the Tradition, and the Players, who protect us,” he added. “Please let this serve as Notice to ALL Television Networks, Stations, and Outlets.”
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President Donald Trump walks onto the field for the 126th Army-Navy Game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen on Dec. 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Trump attended the 126th installment of the rivalry game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Dec. 13, his seventh appearance at the game. The Navy Midshipmen captured the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with a 17-16 victory over Army.
The president said he will also attend the College Football Playoff championship Monday in Miami, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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