It was a bad sign when the NBA world, almost unanimously, thought the trade was so absurd that the reporter breaking it had been hacked.

But now, with the Dallas Mavericks firing former general manager Nico Harrison just 11 games into a disastrous start to the 2025-26 season, Harrison has learned a couple of lessons the hard way: the NBA is a star-driven league, and you don’t ship them when you have them.

In many ways, Harrison’s dismissal runs counter to the vision behind the stunning Luka Dončić trade. Point guard Kyrie Irving remains out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and forward-center Anthony Davis – the centerpiece in the deal – has also been banged up. No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg is the youngest player in the league and has been uneven in his debut. And the player Dallas will select with the 2029 first-round draft pick Harrison was able to get from the Lakers is probably still in middle school.

In a functional organization, once a team decides to move forward with the bold decision to trade the face of its franchise, they owe it to themselves to entrust the architect of the move to see it through – to afford that general manager the patience to execute the vision behind the deal.

But the Mavericks have started the season 3-8 and are second-to-last in the Western Conference. The team is dead last in points per game (107.2). Certainly, team owner Patrick Dumont heard the “Fire Nico” calls that rang out during home games, and he certainly has seen a slimmed-down Dončić dominating for the Lakers.

Firing Harrison, in effect, is the admission of a mistake made.

“This decision reflects our continued commitment to building a championship-caliber organization, one that delivers for our players, our partners, and most importantly, our fans,” Dumont said Tuesday, Nov. 11 in a press release.

The reality is that a trade like this has massive implications for years. Dallas does deserve some credit for not compounding its grave error. But Mavericks ownership – and certainly Harrison – bear the most blame for egregiously parting with a generational player; and by all accounts, ownership signed off on the Dončić deal.

Making matters worse, Dončić turns 27 in February and is entering the prime of his career.

Most times in the NBA when there are power struggles between star players and coaches or star players and executives, the ones lacing shots and zipping passes across the court tend to win. Elite stardom is the premier currency in the NBA. And mismanaging that stardom is the easiest way to fumble away a front office job.

Where do the Mavericks go from here?

The team is undoubtedly in a weaker spot than it was. Flagg is a promising young player, and a first-round pick is always a desirable asset. But that pick being deferred until 2029 won’t quell the angst the fan base has. And even then, the Mavericks can only hope that Flagg or that eventual player pan out to be close to what Dončić has been.

Behind Dončić, the Mavericks made a deep run in the 2024 playoffs, falling just short in an NBA Finals loss against the Celtics. Dončić averaged 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists across the five games of that series. The prudent move would’ve been to pay Dončić and continue building around him.

Dallas was only a piece or two away. But Harrison was leery of committing a massive max deal to Dončić, especially given some concerns about his conditioning. Instead, Harrison won’t see any of this through.

It will go down as the biggest mistake in Harrison’s career and has the potential to become a textbook case of what teams should not do.

Elite players make plays. They win games. They sell merchandise and put fans in seats. Their highlights get shared on social media. Elite players increase a team’s valuation, and they keep fans happy and engaged, all of which keeps ownership happy and engaged.

Nico Harrison committed the cardinal sin in the modern NBA; failing to recognize that star players win both on and off the floor.

UNC football coach Bill Belichick doesn’t appear interested in discussing a potential return to the NFL.

Belichick was asked about the New York Giants’ coaching vacancy, which was created on Monday, Nov. 10 after the team fired Brian Daboll after three-plus seasons. Belichick’s response?

‘Getting ready for Wake Forest,’ he said, per the Fayetteville Observer. ‘That’s all I got this week.’

Belichick’s comments come amid speculation the Giants could target the 73-year-old coach as a replacement for Daboll.

Belichick has a rich history with the Giants organization. He spent 12 seasons with the Giants from 1979 to 1990, winning two Super Bowls as part of Bill Parcells’ staff and helping turn New York’s defense into the Lawrence Taylor-led ‘Big Blue Wrecking Crew.’

Belichick parlayed his success into head coaching jobs with the Cleveland Browns and, eventually, the New England Patriots. He won six Super Bowls in New England, while his 302 regular-season wins rank third-most all-time behind only Don Shula (328) and George Halas (302).

Despite that, it appears his allegiance currently remains to UNC, as the first-year college coach shared when asked about how he addresses his future with current players and recruits.

‘I’ve been asked about it from time to time. Look, I’ve been down this road before. I’m focused on Wake Forest; that’s it,’ Belichick said. ‘That’s my commitment to this team and next week it’ll be to our next opponent. So, I’m here to do the best I can for this team.’

The Jacksonville Jaguars collapsed in the second half of their Week 10 matchup against the Houston Texans en route to a 36-29 loss.

That loss drops the Jaguars to 5-4 and three games behind Indianapolis in the divisional race. Jacksonville’s playoff hopes now likely hinge on a wild-card berth in a crowded field featuring the rising Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

Jacksonville will have to try to keep up with those teams without its top rookie, Travis Hunter.

Hunter missed the last two games with a knee injury, and the team confirmed today that the No. 2 overall pick will be out for the rest of the season following surgery to repair his right knee.

‘Earlier today, WR/DB Travis Hunter underwent successful surgery to repair an isolated lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury in his right knee,’ the team stated in a post on X. ‘Beyond the LCL, there was no additional damage to the knee. Hunter will miss the remainder of the 2025 season, but is expected to return within six months to full football activities.’

Jacksonville traded up in the 2025 NFL Draft to select Hunter at No. 2 overall, giving up a future first-round pick in the process. The Heisman Trophy winner was viewed as a potential two-way starter after doing so in college at Colorado with great success.

Hunter caught his first NFL touchdown in Week 7 as he consistently saw more playing time on offense than defense in his rookie season. That touchdown was his lone score of the season and will be the only one from his rookie year.

With the timeline the Jaguars provided, Hunter should be on pace to return to the field for minicamp next offseason, barring any unexpected setbacks.

What happened to Travis Hunter?

Hunter injured his right knee during a practice on Oct. 30. He was initially ruled out for the Jaguars’ Week 9 game against the Las Vegas Raiders and was placed on injured reserve. That move required him to miss at least four games.

Hunter was initially expected to return later in the season, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. But the injury required surgery, and the highly-touted rookie will be out for the rest of the 2025 season.

Travis Hunter stats

Hunter lined up primarily on offense ahead of his injury with mixed snap counts on defense. Here’s how he did on both sides of the ball in seven games of action this year with defensive data from Pro Football Focus:

Offense

Targets: 45
Receptions: 28
Receiving yards: 298
Receiving touchdowns: 1

Defense

Tackles: 14
Passes defensed: 2
Targets: 15
Catches allowed: 9
Yards allowed: 96
Touchdowns allowed: 0
Quarterback rating when targeted: 78.8

The second unveiling of the 2025 College Football Playoff rankings saw Indiana hold strong at No. 2, despite a harrowing last-minute drive to beat Penn State and Texas Tech impress with its beatdown of BYU.

CFP committee chairman Mack Rhoades joined the ESPN reveal show for his weekly breakdown. Here’s what the Baylor athletic director said:

On Indiana staying at No. 2, Texas A&M staying at No. 3

‘Yeah, one of our longer discussions in our meetings. Indiana, gave them the edge again defensively. We talked about that last week. Certainly, offensively as well. You think about Indiana’s body of work and wins going at Oregon, against Oregon in Eugene, you know, the Iowa win. We certainly looked at the Texas A&M win in South Bend, that’s a big win for them. The win versus Missouri on the road, you know committee talked a little bit about, Missouri, not the Missouri team that they’ve been. Their third quarterback playing, playing their third quarterback, a true freshman, and just Indiana found a way to find a way. Mendoza, you know, down the stretch, second-rated quarterback passing efficiency. So those were all the things we talked about and gave Indiana the edge.’

A Miami Hurricane course correction

‘Miami, I think, Rece you said, we had some teams lose, and again the conversation with Miami has been about their consistency — their consistency especially on offense. They’ve been really, really good on defense. Obviously the head-to-head with Notre Dame comes up, and so a lot of conversation about Notre Dame, seven straight, you know, better defensively than what they were at the beginning of the year. So all of those things played into it. We’ve got great respect for Miami. When you think about the eye test, they’re really talented, both sides of the ball. Just need to be a little more consistent on the offense.’

What’s keeping Texas Tech out of the top 4?

‘I think what a convincing win against BYU, both sides of the ball. I think offensively, you know, in the red zone, they’ve left some points off the board, kicked a lot of field goals. But Rece, they are a really good football team. Their front seven defensively, we think as good as there is in the country. Behren Morton, he’s playing with a bad leg. A really, really tough kid, but you know, offensively is what’s probably kept them out of the top four, top five.

On rest of ACC lack of strength

‘We look at each team on its own. We don’t look at conferences. We look at each of the teams. And I think for the ACC, when you look at their nonconference schedule, there really are no signature wins other than Miami versus Notre Dame. And so when we’re having that conversation, we do look. We look at schedule strength, record strength, that’s certainly one of the metrics that come to play.’

I don’t have the time or bandwidth to deal with the internal machinations of the Big Ten’s financial fleecing of itself. So let’s begin with the obvious.

Is Tony Petitti trying to kill the Big Ten all by himself?

Just when you think it couldn’t get worse than the last dolt of a conference commissioner asking players to run two seasons in nine months during a global pandemic, who ruined the Big Ten’s reputation with something called the Alliance before bolting for the NFL, Petitti has decided to hang his tenure as Big Ten commissioner on allowing the Wolf through the door.

The Wolf of private equity. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you financial stupidity: the Big Ten, the richest and most financially secure conference of all — by a wide margin — desperately trying to jump in bed with private equity in exchange for a piece of each school’s valuable, and ever-increasing, media rights. 

And by jump in bed, I mean sell its soul. 

Because once those private equity sharks, whose entire reason for being is — how can I say this? — making money above all else, are allowed one foot in the door, the Big Ten will cease to exist as we know it. One foot becomes one more favor, and then another, and the next thing you know, the sharks are swimming in what was once an oasis.

And for what? To win games? 

Look, if the 16 Big Ten athletic departments who receive full shares of media rights money can’t exist on a projected $75 million in fiscal 2025 (increasing every year of the deal that ends in 2030), there are more than 100 FBS schools who are dying to try — including Oregon and Washington, the most recent Big Ten additions who are being phased in financially over the course of the media rights deal. 

I mean, what in the Ten Year War is going on?

Here’s the problem with Petitti’s end around: He’s trying to pull it off in the middle of the most drastic change in the history of college sports, using both the distraction of the ever-evolving framework and the desperation of member institutions who don’t yet know how to get their arms around the unwieldy beast. 

It’s quite the manipulation when you think about it. 

These universities who had to deal with former commissioner Kevin Warren convincing their presidents the SEC was the boogeyman and was coming for their cash — and that’s why they had to destroy the Pac-12, and the perfectly imperfect college football framework, by proxy — now have a commissioner who continues to make baffling moves that aren’t in the best interest of the legendary conference.

You want more money? Expand the playoff to 16 teams — like the SEC and every other FBS conference wants — and get more media rights money from your television partners. 

You want more money? I’m staring at millions given to Oregon and Washington, who were added to the league because some dolt decided to grab USC and UCLA without thinking it through — and then realized the two schools that were, in many cases, three time zones from the conference footprint needed travel partners.

In my best Deshaun Foster, “We’re in, uh, L.A.”

Los Angeles. 

The best part of Petitti’s shell game is it took USC and Michigan — apparently the only rationally thinking members of the stoic and stodgy conference — to grind the gears and slow the roll of running the conference off a financial cliff.

The Big Ten is calling this proposed $2.4 billion deal with the devil a “plan” — because plan sounds like something that was analyzed and scrutinized and is an agreeable structure. Not a deal, which sounds more like somebody is winning and somebody is getting the short end of it. 

Let me explain, as easily as possibly — again, without getting into the weeds of it all — who’s winning and who’s losing: if you’re trying to pass this deal without each university’s board of trustees digesting the specifics, you might be on the short end of it.

The fact universities at some schools are using presidents and/or athletic directors to sign off on this deal is remarkably reckless. University presidents are hired to raise money, athletic directors are hired to spend it. 

My god, this can’t be real.

The Big Ten reported $928 million in revenue last year, and in fiscal 2025, USA TODAY Sports projects the revenue to jump to $1.2-1.4 billion. Billion, with a B.

There isn’t a revenue problem in the Big Ten, there’s a budget problem. 

And then there’s Petitti, opening his arms to private equity sharks whose sole purpose in life is making deals in which they benefit. They’re not just giving you $2.4 billion out of the goodness of their heart. 

And they sure as hell aren’t doing it without influence, unintended or otherwise. They’re doing it because they’ve got a big fish on the line, one who’s hungry and needs to feed.

No matter how many souls it takes down with it.   

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke publicly for the first time about the death of defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, saying he was ‘devastated’ by the loss.

Jones’ comments, made Nov. 11 on 105.3 The Fan, follow the suspected death by suicide of Kneeland, 24, in Frisco, Texas, last week.

‘Just hard to believe the content that was on the other phone in the middle of the night when we all got the news,’ Jones said.

‘I think we all have unfettered feelings about the people we love, people we work with, and this is just a time when you acknowledge that there’s no answers,’ Jones said on the radio. ‘It makes you want to live life to the fullest. It makes you want to look for the very best in what we have for each other. And in some way make sense out of these times in terms of what they can mean from helping those that are here on Earth right now.

‘All of those things are very natural, come to mind, but his death is such a national awareness thing that it takes on some of that light when we think about how we go forward.’

Teams around the NFL paid tribute to Kneeland during Week 10 by holding moments of silence prior to kickoff. The Cowboys were on a bye week.

According to the Cowboys’ official website, the team held an ’emotional’ in-person meeting on Monday.

Cowboys to honor Marshawn Kneeland with helmet decal

Jones revealed the Cowboys will honor Kneeland by wearing a special helmet decal for the rest of the season.

The Cowboys travel to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders on Monday night. It’ll mark the Cowboys’ first game since Kneeland’s death.

‘From the standpoint of the team, from the standpoint of going back to work, there’s no doubt in my mind that they will do so in memory of what he was all about,’ Jones said.

‘He was very unique in his zest for life, and he was very unique in his passion for the game. And of course the saddest thing for someone like me is the fact that he was only 24 years old. You think about all of the time that we’re going to miss him, and he’s going to be missed by the people around him, he was just getting started.’

ESPN’s ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Nov. 11 was being filmed live from the Marines depot at Parris Island, S.C. on Veterans Day. So the Commander-in-Chief called.

President Donald Trump joined the program and touched on a number of topics, including college sports. He was asked whether he felt former Alabama coach Nick Saban would be a choice to fix college sports.

“Well I know him, and I got to know him because he brought his team to the White House,’ Trump said. ‘He won a lot, and I got to know him. He’s a fantastic guy, and you know he’s somebody they should really get involved in college sports in terms of making sure it all works out because what’s happening, it looks like it’s not working out too well. Colleges, for most of the people, a lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated, you know that, it’s a shame. It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics, and a lot of those training grounds are being lost.

‘And you know, Nick knows this stuff better than anybody. He’d be, and he’s really active in it. I think they ought to let Nick Saban take a good, strong look at it, and we all, I could tell you, from my standpoint, I’d listen to what Nick has to say. I know him well, and he’s a fantastic guy, and what a great coach.”

Trump’s vision for college football

Trump’s vision for college sports aligns more with a Democrat-sponsored Senate bill. The SAFE Act is a far-reaching bill that requires the Federal Trade Commission to oversee college sports. It is nearly the polar opposite of the Republican-sponsored SCORE bill in the House, which seeks antitrust exemptions from the federal government to make and enforce rules on NIL, player movement and eligibility.

The SAFE Act also provides for the expansion of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to college sports, allowing conferences to pool media rights in an effort to increase revenue and provide funding for all sports. The SAFE Act ensures all sports will be paid for, and not eliminated due to a lack of funding.

In a follow-up, McAfee asked the president about NIL and the big business of college sports and its sustainability.

‘I think we all understand that the players deserve money, I think we all understand their value, but I think an actual market with guardrails would be something that would be really good,’ McAfee said. ‘This could be something, along with stopping wars, and building in tariffs and $17 trillion, maybe just put that on your desk.’

“Well it is a very serious problem because even football where they give quarterbacks $12 million, $13-$14 million… all of a sudden you’re going to be out of control,’ Trump said. ‘And even rich colleges are going to go bust because you’re not going to be able to do this. And you know they had the old way, they gave scholarships, they did lots of good things, but there could be some form of payment.

‘But when they start bidding up the costs, look the NFL and all the leagues have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports, and when the guard comes along that weighs 350 pounds and he’s phenomenal and they say it’s the difference between having a great team and a lousy team, they gave him $10 million, that’s going to start happening pretty soon. All of a sudden you’re going to have like NFL-type payrolls. I don’t care how rich the colleges are, you don’t make that much money, even the most successful. They’re not going to be able to do this.

‘Bad things are going to happen unless we figure this out. That’s why a guy like Nick Saban, now I’ve worked with Nick, but a guy like Nick Saban and some others getting together because they’re going to have to do something. Colleges can’t afford it. And what they’re doing, I don’t want to use any particular sport because it’s degrading, but they are really terminating a lot of sports, you know, sports you would call them lesser sports. But big sports, good sports. Sports where there have tremendous interest, they’re getting rid of them, and frankly the college football is very big, but as big as it is, if they don’t do some very powerful caps, these colleges are all going to go out of business, no matter how rich they are.”

The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks remain the top two teams ahead of their Week 11 matchup.
Philly and Green Bay rank as the NFC’s next two teams right now.
After winning seven straight games, the New England Patriots have jumped to the third spot in the rankings.

NFL power rankings entering Week 11 of the 2025 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Los Angeles Rams (1): Beware a near-perfect Matthew Stafford on Sunday, Seahawks − he’s thrown 20 TD passes against zero picks over the past six games, a first in NFL history (as is his current three-game heater with at least four TD passes and zero INTs in each contest). Best team in the league? We could find out in LA this weekend.

5. Philadelphia Eagles (4): It wasn’t pretty, but Monday night’s win at Green Bay pushed them back atop the projected NFC playoff field. This offense clearly still isn’t hitting on all cylinders.

6. Green Bay Packers (5): It wasn’t pretty, and Monday night’s loss to Philly pushed them nearly out of the projected NFC playoff field. This offense clearly still isn’t hitting on all cylinders.

7. Buffalo Bills (7): A terrible loss to Miami and a foreboding remaining schedule very likely mean this team will have to take the wild-card route this year in its ongoing pursuit of the ever-elusive Lombardi Trophy.

10. Indianapolis Colts (11): If it seems like it’s been forever since a team rode a sensational running back and a strong defense to a Super Bowl − taking whatever a sometimes inconsistent quarterback provided − well, it’s actually only been nine months.

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10): The perennial NFC South champions (and current leaders) finish out with a very manageable schedule … once they get past road games the next two weeks against the Bills and Rams.

13. Houston Texans (14): Like the Ravens, they’re a two-time-defending divisional champion that’s fought its way to a 4-5 record. Maybe the Texans can also make a charge back to the top if they get their QB1 back soon, too.

15. San Francisco 49ers (16): Only percentage points out of the NFC’s final wild-card spot, none of the Niners’ next four opponents currently has a winning record.

16. Los Angeles Chargers (20): For all of their injury issues on offense, the Bolts’ defense has been quietly dominant of late − allowing just 591 yards and 40 points total over the past three weeks. OLB Khalil Mack just joined late Hall of Famer Kevin Greene as the only players to ever record at least 35 sacks with three different franchises.

18. Chicago Bears (18): Their NFL-best +14 turnover differential is nearly double the next-best teams, the Jags and Bucs at +8. But how sustainable is that formula for a Chicago team that’s been barely escaping some of the league’s worst squads?

21. Cincinnati Bengals (22): With his practice window now set to open, QB Joe Burrow will apparently be back in action some time during the next three weeks. Cincy fans would be thankful if turns out to be on Thanksgiving night in Baltimore.

22. Arizona Cardinals (21): At least they don’t have to see the Seahawks again this year, the Cards just getting toyed with amid their ninth straight loss to the NFC West’s fiercer birds.

23. Dallas Cowboys (23): A team that lives in the spotlight is about to really feel its glare. Coming out of their bye, the Cowboys will still be saying goodbye to Marshawn Kneeland while trying to welcome Quinnen Williams − all while facing the prospect of playing five consecutive nationally televised games, four in exclusive broadcast windows. That’s a lot of scrutiny, even for ‘America’s Team.’

26. Miami Dolphins (27): How this league can pivot. A week ago, it seemed like coach Mike McDaniel could be gone at any minute. Now? He and his team are fresh off trouncing the Bills and suddenly favored to win the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game staged in Spain.

29. New York Jets (31): Uh, trust the process. Right?

30. New York Giants (25): They’ve got an interim head coach, probably an interim QB if Jaxson Dart can’t clear concussion protocol and interim skill players elsewhere on offense for the remainder of the season. But trust us, this is a plum job.

31. Las Vegas Raiders (29): Three targets for TE Brock Bowers in Thursday night’s three-point loss at Denver? The Silver and Black deserved to lose.

The New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll, opening speculation about Bill Belichick as a potential replacement.
The Giants have a promising young quarterback in Jaxson Dart and other key players, making the job appealing.
General manager Joe Schoen will lead the coaching search, which may complicate a potential hire of Belichick, who typically desires full control.

Bill Belichick’s best opportunity to return to the NFL is officially open.

Or, at least with the firing of New York Giants coach Brian Daboll on Monday, Big Blue suddenly has a huge name to consider in the search for a new general.

It’s tempting enough. Giants co-owner John Mara has admitted how thin his patience has become when assessing the prospect of winning big again. With the team floundering at 2-8, following another embarrassing, meltdown loss on Sunday at Chicago, the G-Men have bucked a trend by cutting Daboll loose during the season.

Their recent history of flop hires – before Daboll, there was Joe Judge, Pat Shurmur and Ben McAdoo – fuels the thought of bucking another trend. Rather than hoping an unproven coach catches fire in the Big Apple, maybe it’s time to go old-school like Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch did with Tom Coughlin in 2004 and turn it over to the UNC coach who has won big in the NFL before.

OK, Belichick never won big without Tom Brady.

Yet he’s currently riding a two-game winning streak! And with the Giants, he’d walk in the door and inherit a promising young quarterback in Jaxson Dart.

Belichick, who won two Super Bowls with the Giants as Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator before seizing six crowns in New England with TB12, might even excite the fan base. Sure, his Giants glory was a long time ago. Google it, kids.

OK, maybe Belichick would excite the most seasoned season-ticket holders, longing for the good ol’ days. I mean, his 4-5 Tar Heels are trending in the right direction.

Go ahead, Giants. I dare you to hire BB as your next coach.

After landing all of one interview with an NFL team after his split with the Patriots in early 2024, Belichick, admittedly or not, could have added motivational juice for the Giants job. It would present a full-circle chance to put one over on the rest of the NFL again while pursuing the all-time record for career coaching victories (347, including postseason) that for decades has had Don Shula’s name on it.

Besides, Belichick, eligible to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 with his 333 career wins, reportedly has expressed interest in the past of returning to the Giants. Considering that he would be 74 when next season begins, he’d surely align with Mara and Tisch on the patience meter.

Quick fix. Yeah, that’s the ticket. And with several other key pieces in place to go along with Dart, including electrifying wideout Malik Nabers, fireball running back Cam Skattebo and defensive studs Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter, it is an appealing set-up for any coach.

If there was a reason that Belichick’s buyout with his North Carolina contract was just $1 million – which screams of a keep-my-options-open exit door – this is it.

Belichick didn’t wait to get rejected again by NFL teams during the last hiring cycle before bolting to the college ranks. Back then, though, the NYG job wasn’t open. Now it is.

Some side irony: Remember Belichick’s unintentional role in the class-action lawsuit that Brian Flores filed against the NFL and several teams, including the Giants, for allegedly conducting sham interviews to comply with the Rooney Rule?

According to Flores’ suit, he learned the Giants had decided on Daboll from a text-message exchange with Belichick, his former boss. Belichick congratulated “Brian” for landing the job.

Oops. Belichick congratulated the wrong Brian…apparently at the precise time Flores was prepping for an interview with Giants brass.

And it turns out the Giants picked the wrong Brian, with Flores seemingly improving his stock as Vikings defensive coordinator. Now, if only Brian can resolve his still-pending legal matter and emerge as a legitimate candidate for the job.

Then again, history is not in Flores’ favor. The Giants have never had a Black coach. Talk about bucking trends.

A Belichick reunion in East Rutherford, New Jersey, might have better odds than Flores getting a chance. Still, it’s such a long shot that Belichick winds up with the gig.

It’s significant that in dumping Daboll, the Giants kept general manager Joe Schoen on board to lead the search. That means that Schoen – despite the big decision that backfired in 2024, letting Saquon Barkley walk as a free agent who powered the trek to a Super Bowl crown for the division-rival Eagles – is staying.

Sure, it seemed that Schoen was on just as thin ice as Daboll as this season began. But the GM has collected some key building-block talent and maneuvered deftly to trade back into the first round in the spring to draft Dart. And even if his fingerprints are on some questionable draft picks, it wasn’t Schoen who made the coaching blunders that contributed to the G-Men losing double-digit leads in four defeats this season.

If the Giants were going to oust Schoen, too, this would have been the time. After the season, the process for the next draft will be deep into the woods. That was probably at least some of the rationale employed by the Dolphins recently in cutting the cord with GM Chris Grier.

Maybe Schoen would be good for Belichick, running the personnel department like some of the former, key Patriots staffers once did in supporting the coach. Yet it’s tough to imagine Belichick wanting anything less than full control, which was undoubtedly a barrier to him landing with another NFL team after leaving the Patriots.

Back to Jersey for Belichick? Hey, bring it on. It would provide great theater to see if Belichick can recapture his NFL magic.

Just don’t hold your breath the desperate Giants are crazy enough to make that move.

But at least they have been dared to do it.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell

The Dallas Mavericks fired general manager Nico Harrison after a 3-8 start to the season.
Harrison’s firing comes nine months after he traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks are reportedly considering several candidates with ties to the franchise to fill the role.

The Dallas Mavericks saw enough.

The team fired former general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday, Nov. 11, just nine months after he orchestrated the controversial trade that offloaded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick.

So now the Mavericks, who have started the season 3-8, are stuck to sort through an uncertain future. And that task will fall primarily to the person the franchise opts to install in Harrison’s place.

To do that, rumblings coming out of Dallas indicate that the Mavericks may try to tap into their rich alumni network to fill the role.

Here are five candidates the Dallas Mavericks might target to replace Nico Harrison.

Michael Finley

Currently an assistant general manager and vice president of basketball operations with the Mavericks, Finley will be a co-interim general manager alongside fellow assistant GM Matt Riccardi. Finley, 52, is a two-time All-Star who played nine seasons (1996-2005) with the Mavericks.

Finley remains one of the Mavericks’ leaders in several statistical categories. Harrison did oversee Finley’s August 2021 promotion to his current role, so Finley will likely need to distance himself from the Dončić trade.

Matt Riccardi

The other co-interim who’s helping fill the void left by the Harrison firing, Riccardi will have a similar concern to Finley; if he wants to convince the Mavericks that he’s the best long-term option, Riccardi must similarly sell his case to ownership that he was against the Dončić deal.

Harrison also oversaw Riccardi’s hiring and eventual promotion, so Riccardi has similar ties to Harrison. Prior to taking a job with Dallas in August 2022 as senior director of pro personnel, Riccardi was with the Brooklyn Nets for 12 seasons, holding six different positions. He started as a team assistant in January 2010, working his way up to director of scouting operations and general manager of the Long Island Nets, the team’s G League affiliate.  

Dennis Lindsey

A longtime NBA executive, Lindsey has held several roles with the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Mavericks and Detroit Pistons, where he currently serves as the senior vice president of basketball operations. Lindsey’s career spans back to 1996, when Houston hired him as a video coordinator and scout.

Eventually, Lindsey became the Rockets vice president of basketball operations and moved to Texas to a similar role.

He was San Antonio’s vice president and assistant GM for five seasons, and the Spurs made the playoffs each of those seasons, culminating in a pair of Western Conference finals appearances.

Lindsey was the Jazz general manager for seven seasons.

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, the year the Mavericks went to the NBA Finals, Dallas hired Lindsey as a senior advisor.

Jason Kidd

The current head coach of the Mavericks, Kidd is another former Mavericks player – and one who was actually teammates with Finley. Kidd has served as the Mavericks coach since 2021 and has compiled a 182-157 record (.537) with the team. Known as a coach who emphasizes communication and play-making from the point guard position, Kidd’s time as a 10-time All-Star indicates that he’s uniquely suited to understand the demands on star players.

Dončić thrived under Kidd, particularly during the 2023-24 season when Dallas went to the Finals. Dončić posted career high in points (33.9), assists (9.8) and rebounds (9.2) that season, finishing third in MVP voting.

Kidd was involved in player evaluation conversations with the Mavericks’ front office, so while this would indeed be a new role, he at least has some experience with personnel decisions.

Dirk Nowitzki

Hired as a special adviser to the Mavericks in June 2021, Nowitzki is arguably the most beloved Maverick of all time. A 14-time All-Star, one-time MVP and Hall of Famer, Nowitzki was the centerpiece of Dallas’ 2010-11 team that toppled the Miami Heat to win an NBA title.

Despite his deep ties to the Mavericks – Nowitzki played all 21 seasons of his NBA career in Dallas – would still be a rather unconventional hire. Although he’s plugged into the team, he has not served in any front office or talent evaluation role, other than his consulting gig with the team. Nowitzki is currently an analyst for Amazon Prime’s NBA studio show.