College Football
Rams receiver eager to take skills to NFL
FORT COLLINS – Colorado State junior receiver Rashard Higgins will enter the NFL draft.
Higgins leaves as the school’s all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Rams coach Mike Bobo wished him well on the CSU football Twitter page, posting a statement that says “Rashard will always be a Ram, and I have no doubt he will be successful as he joins his fellow former Rams proudly representing Colorado State in the NFL.”
During his sophomore season in 2014, Higgins was an All-American with 96 receptions for 1,750 yards and 17 touchdowns. He had 66 catches for 933 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
NFL
Kelly to the 49ers, as three teams name new coaches
SANTA CLARA – The San Francisco 49ers have hired Chip Kelly as their new head coach.
The former Eagles coach will replace fired coach Jim Tomsula. Kelly emerged as the favorite among several experienced candidates that included Mike Shanahan and former Raiders coach Hue Jackson, hired Wednesday to coach the Cleveland Browns.
The 52-year-old Kelly was fired by Philadelphia after Week 16 with one game left in his third season as coach. The former University of Oregon coach was 6-9 in 2015 following two 10-6 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA – Kansas City offensive coordinator Doug Pederson accepted the Philadelphia Eagles’ offer to become their coach.
Pederson can’t be officially hired as long as the Chiefs are in the playoffs. Kansas City plays at New England on Saturday.
Pederson started nine games at quarterback for the Eagles in 1999 and began his NFL coaching career as an assistant under Andy Reid in Philadelphia in 2009. Pederson followed Reid to Kansas City in 2013.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Ben McAdoo was named the New York Giants coach.
The Giants confirmed the hiring on Thursday, a little more than a week after Tom Coughlin stepped down after 12 seasons.
The 38-year-old McAdoo has been the Giants offensive coordinator the past two seasons. He will formally be introduced at a news conference on Friday morning.
Rams fans sue team, allege false statements
ST. LOUIS – A lawsuit filed by four Rams fans from St. Louis claims owner Stan Kroenke and others lied about their desire to keep the team in St. Louis, violating Missouri law.
The suit was filed Wednesday in St. Louis Circuit Court, one day after NFL owners voted to allow the Rams to relocate to Los Angeles.
The suit alleges that Kroenke and chief operating officer Kevin Demoff made false and misleading statements indicating the team had no intention to move. It says that based on what is now known, that violates Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act, which prohibits false statements in the sale or advertisement of trade or commerce.
The suit claims the Rams violated the law in connection with ticket and merchandise sales.
SOCCER
Fire take Harrison with 1st pick, then trade him
The Chicago Fire selected midfielder Jack Harrison out of Wake Forest with the first overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft, then traded him shortly thereafter to New York City FC.
Harrison, a former Manchester United academy player from England was the ACC offensive player of the year last year as a freshman with the Demon Deacons, with eight goals and 11 assists.
The Fire then traded Harrison to NYCFC for the fourth pick in the draft and selected Stanford’s Brandon Vincent, a left back who is currently in the U.S. national team’s January training camp.
Associated Press
