Dolphins’ Channing Tindall eager to prove himself after minimal playing time as rookie

Andy Reid was an unknown assistant in Green Bay when Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie took a chance on hiring Brett Favre’s position coach to revive a struggling franchise in Philadelphia. A newspaper headline greeted Reid’s arrival with a headline that said: “Andy Who?” Everybody knows his name now. Reid won more games (130) than any coach in franchise history during his 14 seasons with the Eagles. He led Philadelphia to nine playoff appearances, six division titles and five NFC championship games. But Reid couldn’t deliver a Super Bowl victory, losing to the New England Patriots after the 2004 season. For that reason, he was underappreciated by many fans and reporters in Philly.

Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith has continued to reshape his defensive staff by hiring Jerry Gray as the assistant head coach for defense. The 60-year-old Gray had been Green Bay's defensive backs coach. Gray and Smith previously worked together as assistants on Washington’s staff in 2007-08 and on Tennessee’s staff from 2011-13, when Gray was the Titans defensive coordinator. Gray brings 26 years of NFL coaching experience to Atlanta, including eight as a defensive coordinator and 16 as a defensive backs coach. The Falcons hired Ryan Nielsen as defensive coordinator on Friday. Nielsen had been co-defensive coordinator with New Orleans.

A Michigan State football player who swung his helmet at a Michigan player in a stadium tunnel has expressed regret. Khary Crump said Tuesday that he’s “just looking forward to wuppin’ some maize and blue” on the field. Crump, a defensive back, was sentenced to probation. He was one of seven Michigan State players charged in a skirmish after an Oct. 29 loss at Michigan Stadium. Crump was the only Spartan facing a felony, but that charge was dismissed in an agreement to plead guilty to misdemeanors. His record will be scrubbed clean and the case will be sealed if he stays out of trouble while on probation.

The San Francisco 49ers head into another offseason with major questions at quarterback after a season filled with injuries to the most important position ended without any of them physically able to throw the the ball downfield. Week 1 starter Trey Lance is close to being fully cleared following two operations on his broken right ankle. Brock Purdy is figuring out how to treat the injured elbow that prevented him from throwing the ball more than a few yards in the NFC title game loss to Philadelphia. Jimmy Garoppolo is set to become an unrestricted free agent in six weeks.

Brazilian volleyball club Cruzeiro has suspended Olympic gold medalist Wallace de Souza after he conducted a social media poll asking his fans whether they would shoot Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the face. The 35-year-old de Souza played on Brazil’s winning team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and has won several other titles with the national team. He is a hardcore supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro, Lula’s far-right opponent. The volleyball player shares Bolsonaro’s pro-gun policies, which the leftist Lula seeks to reverse. Lula took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow victory over Bolsonaro in October’s elections.

Inter Milan warmed up for its upcoming Serie A derby with a 1-0 victory over Atalanta in the Italian Cup quarterfinals. Defending champion Inter will face either Juventus or Lazio in a two-legged semifinal in April. Matteo Darmian scored the only goal of the game in the 57th minute. Hakan Çalhanoğlu also hit the post for Inter. The Nerazzurri face city rival AC Milan in Serie A on Sunday.

Newcastle is a club reborn after its Saudi-backed takeover and is headed to a first cup final this century in a season that could also end in Champions League qualification. Newcastle beat Southampton 2-1 despite a late red card for star midfielder Bruno Guimaraes to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory in the English League Cup semifinals. Newcastle is likely to be facing Manchester United in the Feb. 26 final. Man United leads 3-0 from last week’s first leg at Nottingham Forest. Sean Longstaff scored both of Newcastle's goals. It will be Newcastle's first League Cup final since 1976 and a first trip to Wembley since the FA Cup final against Man United in 1999.

The Big 12 has released its long-anticipated 14-team football schedule. It includes its four new members for 2023 along with Oklahoma and Texas before their eventual departures to the Southeastern Conference. Houston will be the first of the new teams to play a conference game, on September 16 when the Cougars host former Southwest Conference rival and national champion runner-up TCU. The other newcomers play their Big 12 openers the following week, when BYU is at Kansas, Central Florida goes to defending champion Kansas State, and Cincinnati hosts Oklahoma. After playing a round-robin schedule as a 10-team league since 2011, the Big 12 will still have a nine-game conference schedule without divisions.

Max Homa is good at golf. He won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines for his sixth career victory. Homa also is good at communication, whether that's on social media or walking down the fairway. It proved to be the perfect marriage during the third round at Torrey Pines when Homa was interviewed by CBS while playing the hole. Homa says he hopes that can happen more often with other players. In other golf notes, Jason Dufner is playing Pebble Beach. He's the only one at Pebble who got a release to play the Saudi International last year.

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper says Frank Reich’s strong and qualified background as an offensive-minded coach is one of the primary reasons he hired him as the team’s new head coach. And, ultimately, one of the reasons the team passed on bringing back interim head coach Steve Wilks. Tepper says every year the NFL introduces new rules to benefit the offense, and thus it is beneficial to have an offensive coach. Wilks' background was on defense. Reich was introduced as the team's new head coach Tuesday, five days after the team announced his hire.

NASCAR has banned the “Hail Melon” move Ross Chastain used last year at Martinsville to earn a spot in the championship race. Chastain last October mashed the gas and deliberately smashed into the wall so that the energy would speed his car past his rivals. NASCAR said Tuesday the move would draw a penalty in 2023 under a previous rule about compromising safety. It was part of a series of competition tweaks for 2023 that includes the removal of an automatic four-race suspension to a crew chief if a tire comes off a car.