There’s something that happened at Super Bowl 59 that you might have missed. It’s understandable. There was a lot going on. You know, like the game. Some kind of halftime show. A president showed up. It was busy.

That supersized kinetic energy of the Super Bowl might have understandably scattered your attention. But this is important and you should pay attention. A member of the Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching staff made history. It was actually the second time. It was quiet history, but it was history nonetheless.

The Eagles’ Autumn Lockwood became the first Black woman coach to win a Super Bowl, the NFL confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

Autumn also made history in Super Bowl 57 when she became the first Black woman to coach in a Super Bowl.

Autumn is the team’s associate sports performance coach and one of only a handful of women to coach in the championship game.

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What does all of this mean? It continues an evolution in NFL coaching. A slow one, to be sure. A really slow one. The NFL has progressed in what has been a long trek to bringing front office and coaching diversity to the league. This is another step in that process.

Lockwood’s background shows a steady climb through the strength and conditioning universe. She worked at the University of Houston and East Tennessee State. Her introduction to the NFL came through the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship as an intern for the Atlanta Falcons in 2019.

Over the past 20 years or so, I’ve asked various team and league officials when they believed we’d have a woman head coach in the NFL. The answers have ranged from never to soon to the NFL will have a woman head coach before the country has a woman president. (That last one is proving prescient.)

It could be decades before that happens because there aren’t that many women in the coaching pipeline. An NFL owner would need to think completely outside of the box. Or a head coach would have to hire a woman as a coordinator and prep her to become head coach. This is what men do in the league all the time. In fact, they hire their sons to do this.

The main barrier, again, is that pipeline. For example, last year the Chicago Bears hired Jennifer King as their assistant running backs coach. She became the first woman coach in the franchise’s more than 100-year history.

Last February, according to the Bears, there were 12 women in full-time coaching roles on nine NFL teams. Those numbers need to increase dramatically.

Yes, there was something remarkable that happened at the Super Bowl. You might have missed it. But it was vital. Lockwood changed NFL history.

What moments like this one do is send the message to girls and women, especially girls and women of color, that they can make it to the highest of sports stages. They belong there.

We’ve seen a lot of attacks on diversity in recent months and days, and we will see a lot more to come. Despite so many of those ugly moments, diversity remains our greatest strength. Both as a country and in the NFL.

What matters most is that Lockwood is good at her job. So good she’s part of the team that’s Super Bowl champions.

Alex Bregman, a constant presence in the American League playoffs for the past decade, is moving on from the Houston Astros — and perhaps providing exactly what the Boston Red Sox have been missing.

Bregman, the two-time All-Star third baseman who played key roles in a pair of World Series-winning teams, has reached agreement with the Red Sox on a three-year, $120 million contract that includes opt-out clauses after the first two seasons.

A person familiar with the agreement confirmed the details to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity, as the deal has not been finalized.

With the departure of Bregman, 30, that epic and controversial Astros dynasty that won World Series in 2017 and 2022 is now down to one core player – second baseman Jose Altuve. It was Altuve – who has signed a pair of extensions with Houston and is locked up through 2029 – who lobbied Astros owner Jim Crane late in the season to retain Bregman, years after the club saw both shortstop Carlos Correa and center fielder George Springer depart via free agency.

But the Red Sox waited it out and designed a package that Bregman couldn’t pass up with spring training camps opening up this week. Bregman will reunite with Red Sox manager Alex Cora, the Astros’ bench coach in 2017, Bregman’s first full season after which they won the World Series and later became ensnared in a sign-stealing scandal.

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For the Red Sox, Bregman gives them one of the game’s consummate winners, a player who likely peaked with a 41-homer, 8.9-WAR season in 2019 yet remains both a lineup and clubhouse cog. He’s played at least 145 games in six of his seven full seasons, including last year when an elbow injury limited him to part-time DH duties.

And he represents the kind of free-agent strike that’s been badly missing in the seven years since the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series, as efforts to build a sustainable winner had the effect of making Boston an unattractive spot for free agents.

But Bregman needed a home, and with a $40 million average annual value, will make a significantly higher salary than the $26 million he’d have earned had he accepted the Astros’ standing offer of six years and $156 million. He also turned down the Detroit Tigers’ offer of six years and more than $170 million.

Despite his elbow injury in 2024, Bregman hit 26 homers as his OBP dwindled to .315, and the Astros overcame a slow start to reach the postseason for the eighth consecutive year. Yet their streak of AL Championship Series appearances ended at seven, and they’ve slipped from 106 wins in 2022 to 90 in ’23 and 88 last year.

The Astros still won the AL West, but their reduced win total forced them into the wild-card round, where they were swept in two games by the Detroit Tigers.

Their 2017 championship was marred by the sign-stealing scandal, one that reportedly enveloped most or all of the position players. Altuve and Bregman were chosen to be the initial public-facing veterans of that scandal, the fallout dogging them with boos from opposing crowds since the scandal was unearthed after the 2019 season.

Yet Bregman is on the Red Sox now, tasked with producing at the plate and cultivating a championship culture. He knew little else in Houston.

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Aaron Rodgers’ turbulent run with the New York Jets is meeting an unceremonious end.

As it launches a new era under first-year head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey, the team plans to move on from the 41-year-old quarterback, it announced Thursday. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer was first to report that the team informed Rodgers they do not intend to keep him for the 2025 season.

‘Last week we met with Aaron and shared that our intention was to move in a different direction at quarterback,’ Glenn and Mougey said in a statement released by the team. ‘It was important to have this discussion now to provide clarity and enable each of us the proper time to plan for our respective futures. We want to thank him for the leadership, passion, and dedication he brought to the organization and wish him success moving forward.’

Releasing or trading Rodgers, who has one year remaining on his contract, would leave the Jets with a $49 million dead cap hit.

Glenn made clear upon his hire last month that the team had larger concerns than Rodgers’ fit within the organization.

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‘This thing is not about Aaron Rodgers, folks. This is about the roster,’ Glenn told reporters after his introductory news conference. ‘We plan on building the best roster that we can. So, whatever that may be — guard, tackle, defensive tackle — that’s what we’re evaluating.

‘Listen, everybody’s under the microscope. That’s just what it is.’

The decision brings an end to one of the most turbulent chapters of Rodgers’ professional career. The four-time NFL MVP was traded to New York in April 2023 after his 18-year relationship with the Green Bay Packers reached a breaking point. Rodgers was expected to be a transformative figure for the Jets, who sought to end the NFL’s longest active postseason drought. But he tore his Achilles just four plays into his debut campaign.

His return only extended the disappointment for the franchise. Coach Robert Saleh’s firing after a 2-3 start was the first of many drastic moves made with the intention of implementing a course correction, but the team dropped 10 of 11 games from late September to early December. The franchise extended its playoff drought to 14 seasons and also was dealt its ninth consecutive sub-.500 ledger.

‘I personally want to thank Aaron for his time at the New York Jets,’ Jets chairman Woody Johnson said in a statement. ‘His arrival in 2023 was met with unbridled excitement and I will forever be grateful that he chose to join us to continue his Hall of Fame career. From day one, he embodied all that it meant to be a New York Jet, embraced our fans, and immersed himself in our city. That is what I will remember most when I look back at his time here. He will always be welcome, and I wish him only the best in whatever he chooses to do next.’

In the final weeks of the season, Rodgers spoke reverently about his run with the organization.

‘It’s been the best two years of my life,’ Rodgers said in January. ‘And that’s a perspective adjustment that happened at some point during the rehab process last year. Just the excitement of falling back in love with the game, getting to know these guys in here, getting to know the great men and women who work here, it’s been a lot of fun.’

Rodgers said he would need time after the season to decompress and decide on his football future.

‘I just need some time away to think about my future in the game and my future here, if they want me to be part of the next phase or if they’re ready to move on,’ Rodgers said. ‘Either way, I’m thankful for my two years here.

‘That just comes down to the desire on their side and ultimately my desire, kind of take some time mentally and physically to rest and relax.’

This story has been updated with additional information.

UCLA women’s basketball is having its best season in program history, and it’s all thanks to a center dominating the paint.

Lauren Betts was a top-ranked recruit out of Aurora, Colorado, who committed to join a highly-stacked Stanford team under Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer, adding a potential star to one of the best frontcourts in the country. 

However, Betts didn’t spend much time on the court. Her confidence was affected and it didn’t feel like a good fit. She entered the transfer portal after one season at Stanford. UCLA pushed hard to make her a Bruin, feeling like she could help the team take that next step toward a championship.

Now, in her second season at UCLA, Betts is elevating the Bruins and the team is eyeing its first Final Four berth. If Betts keeps up her standout play, there won’t be anything stopping UCLA from reaching Tampa. 

Because there isn’t anything like her.

“Lauren Betts is maybe the most unique player in college basketball,” said Southern California coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

What makes Lauren Betts so good?

At 6-foot-7, Betts is among the tallest players in Division I; only 14 other players are listed at that height.

Betts makes sure to use her towering size to her advantage. If she isn’t setting up a screen near the top of the key, she’s positioning herself near the basket, waiting for the ball to find her hands. Once the rock gets to her inside, she has incredible footwork; she can either use some finesse or easily reach over defenders to put the ball in the hoop. 

It often looks too easy for Betts with only one defender on her. As teams try to limit her, another defender will be brought in for a double-team. Sometimes, yet another is brought over to put three players around her. Still, she’s able to find the bucket, or she finds wide-open teammates who knock down jumpers.

“That presents a certain amount of challenges and decisions that you have to make and how you want to guard (Betts),” said Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff, who saw her total 19 points and 14 rebounds in a Bruins win over his Buckeyes. “She’s a really hard match-up, especially us, with her size and managing. She’s got nice hands and great touch around the basket.”

Betts leads the Bruins in several statistical categories, and is 24th in the country in points (19.6), 29th in rebounds (9.7) and fifth in blocks (2.9) per game. She’s also one of 35 players nationally with at least 10 double-doubles this season. It’s no surprise she is on the Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year midseason team.

So far, Betts is living up to the hype she generated as a senior at Grandview High School, becoming another big-time star in Los Angeles. Across town, USC guard JuJu Watkins has emerged as the next big star of the sport — but you can’t forget about Betts in that conversation.

It’s been a joy to watch Betts blossom for USC forward Kiki Iriafen, who was a teammate with Betts at Stanford before she became a rival with the Trojans. Iriafen remembers playing alongside Betts and thinking she was a great player with a high ceiling. 

“You can double her but she can still pass. I think she’s a great passer, she’s very unselfish, she scores very efficiently,” Iriafen said. “She’s a player that you can’t stop her, but you have to try to slow her down.”

Iriafen said she is proud of what Betts has become and always will be a major supporter. Unless they’re playing against each other in the crosstown showdown – which strangely makes her a rival.

The key to taking down the Bruins is to get Betts out of the game – or at least limit her. But not much has worked yet. There are plenty of options to go about it, but as Gottlieb says, the evolution of Betts’ game is what makes the task even more challenging than before.

“It is really impressive to be really good and then improve,” Gottlieb said. “She was already good, but she’s improved, which has obviously helped UCLA take a step and probably be the best that they’ve ever been.”

As UCLA enters the home stretch of the season and prepares for the NCAA Tournament, it knows if Betts is in rhythm, the Bruins have a good chance of hoisting the team’s first national championship trophy.

Even better news? (Or, worse if you’re not a fan of the blue and gold?)

Betts has already committed to play her senior season. So, good luck trying to stop her next year, too.

In January 2022, Cori Close and UCLA visited Lindsay Gottlieb and Southern California at the Galen Center in a matchup between middling crosstown rivals. The attendance in that game was 1,982 people in the 10,258 capacity arena. 

Three years later, it’ll be hard to find an empty seat in Los Angeles.

A sold out crowd will be on hand to watch two of the best teams in the country finally meet Thursday night when top ranked and undefeated UCLA visits No. 6 USC in one of the biggest matchups in women’s college basketball.

“It’s great for LA,” Gottlieb said. “The energy is gonna be off the charts.”

The Bruins and Trojans meet annually, but there is certainly extra juice pumped into their upcoming matchup. 

Last season, both teams finally made the jump into the upper echelon of the sport. Lauren Betts transferred from Stanford to UCLA and made an immediate impact, while JuJu Watkins was a freshman sensation and brought the hype back to the storied program. Both teams spent the majority of the season in the top 10 and were high seeds in the NCAA tournament before missing out on the Final Four.

After getting a taste of that success, UCLA and USC came into this season with high expectations and have lived up to it so far. The Bruins stunned defending champion South Carolina in November en route to a 23-0 start, the longest win streak in school history. The Trojans have been a well-oiled machine with a 21-2 record, the best start to a season in more than 40 years.

And looking at the stats, it’s clear to see why each team has been so dominant. UCLA has the sixth-best field goal percentage (49%) while third in defensive field goal percentage (33.2%) and USC leads the country in blocks at seven per game. They are both top 15 in scoring offense and both win by an average of 26 points per game. UCLA leads the country with an average rebound of margin of 15.3, and the Trojans also crash the boards just as good.

Betts has been the leader for UCLA in nearly every statistical category, with now-experienced guards in Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez helping out. Watkins, a top-five scorer in the country, has a star forward in Kiki Iriafen also dominating alongside a talented group of freshmen.

Neither team has had many issues in the new Big Ten, with USC’s loss to Iowa the lone one in the conference. In fact, it’s been the incumbent conference members struggling to deal with the Los Angeles schools.

Take for example Ohio State. The Buckeyes came into Los Angeles with one loss. They played their game against both teams, forcing 23 turnovers in each contest.

They lost both games by double-digits and left California winless.

“They’re both terrific teams. They’re both extremely talented, they’re both deep, they’re both well coached,” said Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff after facing UCLA and USC. “When they play each other, the games they’re going to be close and very competitive, because they’re both very good.”

What UCLA vs. USC means

Neither UCLA or USC are shying away from the magnitude of Thursday’s matchup, and the city isn’t either. The game is sold out and plenty of stars are expected to be in the crowd. Gottlieb expects a wild environment with high intensity from start to finish.

Iriafen said it will be like a “baby” March Madness game for the Trojans, knowing it’s a type of team it would have to face if it wants to win the program’s first national championship since 1984.

“This is a huge game,” she said. “UCLA is undefeated. We have a lot on the line. We’re trying to defend our home court.”

It’s the same view for the Bruins. Close called the game ‘a Final Four dress rehearsal.’

Of the 23 victories, the last 22 have been by double-digits and most of the time, complete blowouts. This is a game that feels like can go down to the wire with back-and-forth blows. Pressure does seem to be on the Bruins to remain the only undefeated team in the country and maintain their No. 1 ranking. But Close views that pressure as a privilege and something her team has to lean into.

‘We need that experience,’ Jaquez said. ‘We need to experience other teams going on runs and tying the games, and it’s just going to help us in March.’

As the home team, the Trojans also are trying to continue the momentum it’s built since losing to Iowa nearly two weeks ago. Some players felt like since then, the team has really come together and figured out its identity. 

“We’re kind of at a turning point, starting to put different pieces together,” said USC guard Talia von Oelhoffen. “What better week than rivalry week to really put it all together, and have a little bit of extra, something to play for?”

Iriafen also views the game as a moment the whole city can appreciate. The devastating wildfires that ravaged the area last month were consistently on the mind of each team as they attempted to play while the region was under crisis. Now as the recovering period is underway, she wants it to be a night that showcases the best of the city.

“It’s honestly a great way for the city of LA to all just come together and watch some great basketball,” Iriafen said. 

There’s no shortage of starpower in Los Angeles. From Shohei Ohtani to LeBron James, there’s plenty of reasons to watch the city’s teams. But a game that features Watkins and Betts? 

That is a must-watch, and that’s why the Bruins vs. Trojans will be the biggest sporting event the city can have. National championship contenders just 13 miles apart battling it out for city supremacy. 

‘What a cool thing − just right now − to have earned the right to have all basketball eyes on Southern California for women’s basketball,’ Close said.

And the best part of it all? We’ll get two meetings of this, and possibly more in March.