College Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke says Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski is stepping away from the team to have lower back surgery.
The school announced Monday that Krzyzewski will have the procedure Friday and that associate head coach Jeff Capel will take over in his absence, starting with a home game Wednesday night against Boston College.
Krzyzewski will have a fragment of a herniated disk removed. The school says Krzyzewski tried several treatment options during the past month before deciding on surgery.
The winningest men’s coach in Division I history had four surgeries during the offseason to replace his left knee, repair his left ankle and fix a hernia.
College Football
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Lane Kiffin isn’t sticking around to run Alabama’s offense in the national championship game, bringing an end to a successful but sometimes tense three-year pairing with Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.
Saban said Monday that Kiffin will leave to focus on his new job as Florida Atlantic’s head coach. Incoming offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will replace him for the Jan. 9 game against Clemson in Tampa, Florida.
Sarkisian, who was fired from USC last season, had already been announced as Kiffin’s successor.
NFL
ENGLEWOOD — Denver linebacker Zaire Anderson says he didn’t regain feeling in his arms or legs until he was on the way to the hospital after being carted off the field during the Broncos’ 24-6 win over the Oakland Raiders.
Anderson dived while covering a punt and jammed his neck when his helmet struck teammate Quentin Gause’s hip. The stadium grew quiet and teammates knelt on the field in prayer while the second-year pro from Nebraska was strapped to a backboard and carted off.
Anderson, who said he still has tingling in both shoulders, was knocked unconscious on the play and when he came to and tried to get up, “it felt like gravity was just holding me down,” he said.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, expected to be one of the top targets for teams looking to replace head coaches, could be available for interviews late this week.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Monday “I’m sure he will be contacted by some teams.” Denver and the Los Angeles Rams are among teams which could have interest in Shanahan.
Quinn has scheduled practices on Wednesday and Thursday. He said Shanahan or any other assistant would be available “at the end of the week” to speak with another team.
Skiing
PARIS — Olympic skiing champion Jean Vuarnet, who helped pioneer the aerodynamic tuck position for downhill racers but suffered tragedy with the deaths of his wife and son in a doomsday cult murder-suicide, has died, the French Olympic Committee announced Monday. He was 83.
Vuarnet died of a stroke, a statement said.
The Frenchman won Olympic gold in the downhill at the 1960 winter games in Squaw Valley, California. Rejecting wooden skis, he was the first skier to win an Olympic gold on metal skis. He was also the only competitor in that race to use the speedier low tuck position, squatting down with knees bent.
Associated Press
