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Abortion research group opposes state reporting requirements amid ‘weaponization’ by lawmakers

The ‘hostile political climate’ of the Trump administration means that states must ‘rethink’ their mandated abortion reporting requirements and ‘vigorously oppose new ones,’ according to the nation’s leading abortion research institute. But one pro-life activist told Fox News Digital such a move would be a ‘serious mistake.’

A Guttmacher Institute policy analysis report published this month concluded that ‘the benefits of state-mandated abortion reporting no longer outweigh the risks, a shift that is likely to accelerate as anti-abortion policymakers double down on punitive approaches to data collection while using the resulting data to further restrict abortion rights and access.’

‘The enactment of abortion reporting requirements for purely political reasons and their increasing weaponization against patients and providers are clear indications that the harms of this mandatory data collection now outweigh its benefits,’ researchers for the pro-abortion rights group said. ‘To prevent further harms, policymakers at all levels of government should work to remove existing reporting requirements and vigorously oppose new ones, along with any attempt to tie federal funding to abortion reporting.’

Guttmacher, which is considered the gold standard for accurate abortion statistics since it provides more comprehensive data and receives more reporting than the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommended that, instead of doing away with reporting altogether, state policymakers should implement a voluntary form of data collection.

Pro-life advocates object to the Guttmacher recommendation.

‘Rolling back state-mandated abortion reporting would be a serious mistake,’ Mia Steupert, research associate at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a pro-life research group, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

‘Considering Dobbs placed the authority to enact protections for unborn children in the hands of the American people and their elected representatives at the federal and state levels, it’s critical to have access to good data so that the impact of those abortion policies can be evaluated,’ Steupert said, referring to the 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

The normative practice of abortion data collection comes primarily from states that report their numbers to the CDC. The data is then compiled to give a snapshot of how many abortions there are nationwide, the age of the mother and how far along she was. However, while most do, not every state requires abortion providers, hospitals and other medical providers to report their numbers.

Currently, 46 states and the District of Columbia have some form of mandated abortion reporting, according to the institute. California, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey do not require reporting.

‘Even the CDC agrees that accurate abortion data is important for public health in terms of measuring unintended pregnancies and tracking changes in clinical practice,’ Steupert said. ‘Ending state reporting requirements would give the abortion lobby a monopoly on abortion reporting, leaving the American people in the dark about the horrific realities of abortion.’

The information gathered in abortion reports varies by state but generally includes details such as the names of the medical facility and clinician involved in the abortion service. Demographic data on the person receiving an abortion, including age, race, ethnicity, marital status, place of residence, gestational age of the pregnancy, the type of abortion elected and number of previous live births are also included. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Guttmacher said their ‘recommendation isn’t an argument against states collecting abortion data, but a discussion of the risks and burdens of how it’s collected.’ 

‘Ending government-mandated abortion reporting does not contradict the collection of rigorous and accurate abortion data. We urge states to consider changing their laws and regulations to switch to voluntary models of data collection, which can produce high quality data while protecting the safety and privacy of patients and providers. We strongly oppose the intrusive and punitive federal abortion reporting mandate laid out in Project 2025,’ the spokesperson said. 

Project 2025 refers to a policy blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank and is not an official Trump administration policy guide.  

The report comes nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – the 1973 decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to abortion – and many states have since enacted abortion bans. 

The Trump administration also rolled back a Biden-era executive order that federally funded abortion services, re-enacting the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal taxpayer dollars for elective abortions.

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FLASHBACK: Biden also paraded electric vehicles at the White House when he drove a Jeep Wrangler in 2021

Democrats pounced on President Donald Trump’s purchase of a red Tesla on Tuesday — even though former President Joe Biden similarly paraded a Jeep Wrangler at the White House in 2021. 

Trump flaunted the vehicle on the White House’s South Lawn with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also heading up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as Tesla’s stock floundered earlier in the week. The share price rose following the White House event.

Democrats decried the move, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labeled the Trump administration the ‘most corrupt administration in American history.’ 

But Biden also conducted a similar event at the White House in August 2021, when he drove an electric Jeep Wrangler on the White House South Lawn as part of a meeting with top executives from General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. 

That event corresponded with Biden signing an executive order aiming for zero-emission vehicles manufactured in the U.S. to make up half of its vehicle production by the end of the decade. 

Musk and Tesla weren’t invited to Biden’s 2021 electic vehicle event. Musk had called out the Biden administration in a post on X at the time, saying, ‘Yeah, seems odd that Tesla wasn’t invited.’ 

When asked at the time why the White House had excluded Tesla, the largest electric vehicle maker in the U.S., White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that Tesla would receive an invitation for future events. 

‘Well, we of course welcome the efforts of automakers who recognize the potential of an electric vehicle future and support efforts that will help reach the President’s goal, and certainly Tesla is one of those companies,’ Psaki said in August 2021’I would not expect this is the last time we talk about clean cars and the move toward electric vehicles, and we look forward to having a range of partners in that effort.’

Meanwhile, the Biden’s administration’s refusal to meet with Musk served as the catalyst for Musk’s departure from the Democratic Party, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported in July 2024 that Musk had voted for Biden in 2020 and had reached out to the Biden White House following his inauguration, but the White House had refused to speak with him. 

The Journal reported that the Biden White House had hesitated to take Musk up on the offer due to concerns that ties to him would upset the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, since Tesla is the only non-union automaker in the U.S. 

Psaki said that for the electic vehicle event it had selected the ‘three largest employers of the United Auto Workers, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.’

Others criticized Trump for his Tuesday Tesla show. ‘I’m sure all the people losing their retirement, jobs, and health care because of Trump are glad to see the White House turned into a car dealership for the richest man on the planet,’ Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in an X post.

Fox Business’ Breck Dumma contributed to this report. 

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Senate to take up Trump spending bill as clock ticks down to government shutdown

The Senate will take a key procedural vote on Friday afternoon to potentially tee up final passage of a crucial stopgap government spending bill to avoid a shutdown as time runs out. 

After tense caucus meetings, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed that he would vote for the House-passed short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), because ‘a shutdown would be a gift’ for President Donald Trump and Republicans. 

The Friday cloture vote was scheduled shortly after his Thursday evening announcement. It will take place shortly after 1:15 p.m. ET.

In order to move forward to a final passage vote, the stopgap bill will need 60 favorable votes to beat what’s known as the legislative filibuster. 

During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services would be halted. However, government functions deemed ‘essential’ would continue. National security protocols, such as border patrol, law enforcement and disaster response, stay active during shutdowns, for example. 

House Republicans managed to pass a CR earlier in the week that would keep spending levels the same as fiscal year (FY) 2024 until Oct. 1. But if a spending bill is not passed by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, the government will enter into a partial shutdown.

While some Senate Democrats, such as Schumer and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., have committed to supporting the CR, far more of their colleagues have publicly stated that they will oppose it. 

 ‘The House bill also irresponsibly fails to impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump Administration,’ Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said in a late Thursday statement.  

‘I will oppose the House budget proposal. The best available solution is a 30-day stopgap funding measure to avoid a shutdown, during which time Congress can do its job to properly pass a bipartisan budget,’ he said. 

Democrats had pushed for a month-long CR, but Republicans didn’t budge from the House-passed plan. 

Before Schumer revealed his intention to support the bill while the rest of his caucus made their own decisions, meetings between the Democrats became so contentious that the press could hear a senator yelling, through thick, heavy wooden doors on Thursday. The voice was identified as that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., by press, but her office would not confirm. 

Earlier Thursday, Fetterman slammed his colleagues for pledging to vote against the short-term bill, joking that their video announcements were ‘spicy.’

‘It wasn’t that long ago before we were lecturing that you can never shut the government down. So, that’s kind of inconsistent,’ he told reporters. 

‘We can all agree that it’s not a great CR, but that’s where we are, and that’s the choice,’ Fetterman explained. 

If the procedural vote on Friday garners enough votes to beat the legislative filibuster, a vote on final passage will be planned for within the next day and a half. It could come sooner if parties reach a time agreement.

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Dollar General CEO warns consumers are cash-strapped and says 2025 won’t be better

Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said on Thursday that inflation continues to hurt the discounter’s customers and that the macroeconomic environment won’t improve this year.

On the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Vasos said customers are expecting value and convenience “more than ever” from the dollar-store chain.

“Our customers continue to report that their financial situation has worsened over the last year, as they have been negatively impacted by ongoing inflation. Many of our customers report they only have enough money for basic essentials, with some noting that they have had to sacrifice even on the necessities,” Vasos said. “As we enter 2025, we are not anticipating improvement in the macro environment, particularly for our core customer.”

Dollar General’s core consumer is “always strained” due to their economic status, but also resourceful, Vasos said.

“We’ve started to see where [our customer is] getting her sea legs, if you will, on the additional inflation that’s been very sticky out there, and she’s starting to understand her budgets even more,” Vasos said.

Part of the uncertainty, Vasos said, stems from the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the consumer.

When Trump imposed tariffs during his first term in office in 2018 and 2019, Dollar General had to raise some prices in line with others in the industry, Vasos said. But the general store was able to mitigate the impact back then and is “well positioned” to do so again this year, he said.

“Given the already stressed financial condition of our core customer, we are closely monitoring these and any other potential economic headwinds, including any changes to government entitlement programs,” Vasos said.

CFO Kelly Dilts said the company’s 2025 guidance factors in continued economic pressure on the consumer, but does not account for further changes to tariff policy or government initiatives like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which subsidizes food for low-income Americans.

For the fourth-quarter, Dollar General said same-store sales growth of 1.2% was driven entirely by 2.3% growth in average transaction. Customer traffic fell 1.1% during the period, “impacted by ongoing financial pressures of our core consumer,” Vasos said.

Alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, Dollar General said Thursday it would close 96 Dollar General stores and 45 Popshelf stores and will convert six other Popshelf stores into flagship banner locations this year. Popshelf primarily serves higher-income shoppers with lower-priced products.

Shares of Dollar General rose 5% Thursday morning.

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Rich Rodriguez brings hard edge, no-frills approach in West Virginia return

This ain’t about dancing, OK? Don’t get caught in the minutiae.

This is about how badly you want it, and how much you’ll sacrifice to get it. 

“There’s a bigger sense of entitlement with our youth than ever before,” says West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez.

And if you think he’s done there, clutch your pearls. We’re just getting started.

So I ask how he deals with the entitlement, and that sent Rodriguez – in the news earlier this week because, sin of all sins, he told players he didn’t want them dancing on TikTok – to a rare place only few coaches can go in this age of player empowerment.

The place of I Don’t Care.    

“You don’t have to put up with that. We won’t,” Rodriguez said. “That’s just the way it is. It’s not really a conversation. It’s more of a directive. I’m not making a suggestion, I’m giving you a command.”

He pauses momentarily, and chuckles, “Sometimes I’ve got to yell a little louder.”

Welcome, everyone, the return of RichRod in Morgantown. The coach who had West By God one win from playing for the 2007 BCS National Championship, is back in his old stomping ground — and it’s like he never left. 

In some ways, anyway. 

It’s still finding three-star players and developing them into All-Americans (hello, Pat White and Steve Slaton). It’s still doing more with less, while dealing with blue blood football programs with more money and more advantages. 

SPRING POWER RANKINGS: Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Big 12

LOOKING AHEAD: Our way-too-early college football Top 25 for 2025

It’s also still about Chris Borland. 

Years ago, I found Rodriguez at the NCAA annual coaches convention, and he was trying to explain why it didn’t work at Michigan. He brought up Borland, a marginal linebacker recruit because of his size (5-feet-11 on a good day), but a beast of a player hours south of Michigan in Kettering, Ohio. 

Before Rodriguez turned down Alabama and stayed at West Virginia (and Nick Saban later accepted the job), and after he eventually left for Michigan and it went bad, he pointed to Borland as a microcosm of the failure. 

The Rodriguez of West Virginia would’ve snapped up Borland, developed him, and had an All-America linebacker (like Wisconsin did). But the Rodriguez of Michigan passed, opting instead for more stars, and height and weight that fit the mold — and fit what Michigan should be recruiting. 

Instead of what made Rodriguez, and by extension West Virginia, a team that could win it all despite the inherent disadvantages.

He’s not making that mistake again, everyone. And now he has coaching capital.

West Virginia was desperate, and the fanbase was raging and restless after Bill Stewart, Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown couldn’t recapture the magic of RichRod. So the university brought back the one coach who broke its collective heart nearly two decades ago.

Because now it finally made sense.

So if you think Rodriguez, whose coaching motto is Hard Edge, who was 32-5 from 2005-07 at West Virginia before leaving for Michigan, is backing down from players who want to put me before we, you clearly haven’t been following along.

NIL has a place and a purpose in football, he says. It doesn’t run football.   

“You used to be able to tell a player to run through a wall, and he’ll run through it no questions,” Rodriguez said. “Now they want to know why, and when you give him the answer, he’ll say, ‘That’s not what it says on Google.’ I still think good players want to be coached hard. I still think you can be demanding. It’s our job as coaches to get you better than you ever thought you could be.”

Nothing about this reunion will be easy. West Virginia slipped late under Holgorsen, and then ran out of gas under Brown. The program that had elevated to national prominence under Rodriguez, struggled against rivals Pitt and Penn State and couldn’t compete in the Big 12. 

The roster has been turned over, and Rodriguez doesn’t yet have a quarterback. Heck, he may even turn it over at some point in 2025 to freshman Scott Fox Jr., who enrolled early and has been a revelation of sorts in spring practice. 

It should come as no surprise that Fox was a three-star recruit, and overlooked by blue blood power conference schools. He wants it. It’s important to him. 

“There’s a lot of more things in your life than this sport. Your family, your religion,” Rodriguez said. “But when we’re practicing, when we’re playing, that next play is the most important thing in your world.’

Or as his friend Mike Leach always said, if you’re not coaching it, you’re allowing it.

In a few weeks, they’ll open up Milan Puskar Stadium for the annual spring game, and they’ll lock arms in the stands and sing ‘Country Roads’. The rebirth will have begin.

Somewhere in that crowd will be Rodriguez, call sheet in hand, looking for some help. 

“I’m going to go in the stands and give fans a chance to call plays,” Rodriguez said. “I did it at Arizona, and when they called a play that didn’t work, I booed them at the top of my lungs. What a terrible call! Fire the bum!”

He’s laughing now, because it’s good to be back home and good to be wanted. And good to have that coaching capital again.

He’s talking about competing at a high level early, and not settling. About toughness and intensity and a core belief that players want to be coached hard.

All of those key building blocks of football that have gotten lost at times in a social media world. 

“I’m still sticking to it,” Rodriguez said. “(Players) have to get refocused on exactly what the hell they’re supposed to be doing. They’re not on that team to be the best dancer on TikTok.”

The world of I Don’t Care has returned to West Virginia. 

Don’t get caught in the minutiae.

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

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Who is Vanessa Trump? Ex-wife of Trump’s son tied to Tiger Woods

Golfer Tiger Woods has been in the news lately after his latest injury setback as he is out for the foreseeable future after having surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon.

The 49-year-old Woods’ love life is of interest to some as well, as reports have surfaced about his latest companion, Vanessa Trump, who is the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr.

Woods has been linked to numerous women since his divorce from Elin Nordegren in 2010, including skier Lindsey Vonn and Erica Herman, whose lawsuit against the 15-time major winner was dismissed in 2023.

Who is Vanessa Trump?

According to media reports, Trump and Woods have been seeing each other since late last year, although neither have publicly spoken about the relationship.

Trump, 47, (born Vanessa Kay Pergolizzi), was married for 12 years to Donald Trump, Jr. before they divorced in 2018. They have five children: Kai, Donald III, Tristan, Spencer and Chloe. Kai Trump, 17, was seen with Woods on the final day of the Genesis Invitational in February and has committed to the University of Miami to play golf in 2026.

Trump was a model and an actress and has mostly stayed out of the limelight, but she did attend the Republican National Convention to watch Kai deliver a speech.

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Dr Oz to face Senate grilling on Capitol Hill in bid to run Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, will face questions in front of the Senate Committee on Finance Friday morning. 

Following the hearing, the committee will schedule a vote to send Oz’s nomination to the full Senate, where approval is likely, considering the Republican majority.

If confirmed, Oz would be in charge of nearly $1.5 trillion in federal healthcare spending. Medicare, a federal healthcare program for seniors aged 65 and up, currently provides coverage for about 65 million Americans, according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Medicaid, which assists people with low incomes, covers roughly 72 million Americans, according to Medicaid.gov.

A former heart surgeon who saw his fame rise through his appearances on daytime TV and 13 seasons of ‘The Dr Oz Show,’ Oz later transitioned into politics, launching an unsuccessful bid for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat in 2022. He ultimately lost to John Fetterman, then the state’s lieutenant governor. Oz graduated from Harvard and received medical and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Oz is expected to be grilled by Democrats during the hearing over his financial ties to a myriad of healthcare-related companies, several of which pose potential conflicts of interest for the potential CMS director.

Oz has committed to divesting many of his financial interests that pose the most obvious risk of impropriety, such as his hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in United Health Group, a major private health insurer. He also said that if he were confirmed, he would forfeit the nearly $25 million in stock options he obtained as an advisor to a company selling health and beauty supplements.

As the administrator of CMS, Oz would make decisions related to how the government covers procedures, hospital stays and medication within the federal healthcare programs, as well as the reimbursement rates at which healthcare providers get paid for their services. 

On Thursday, Trump’s pick to lead the NIH and FDA, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Marty Makary, respectively, were approved in committee and will now face impending votes by the full Senate.

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Clinton-era law ‘weaponized’ by Biden against pro-lifers must go, Pence group urges House GOP

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s nonprofit conservative coalition, Americans Advancing Freedom (AAF), is urging House Republicans to ‘end the weaponization’ of a Clinton-era law that they say unfairly targets pro-life activists.

The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton in May 1994. The FACE Act made it a federal crime to use force, threats or obstruction to interfere with individuals seeking or providing abortion services, which includes blocking access to clinics, threatening or using violence against patients or clinic workers, and damaging abortion-related property.

In one of his first actions since taking office, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly two dozen pro-life activists who were serving multiyear sentences for participating in 2020 pro-life demonstrations at abortion clinics. Three of those pardoned were elderly. The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) had charged them with violating the FACE Act. Trump said during the pardons that the advocates ‘should not have been prosecuted.’

‘Congress must do its part to support President Trump’s effort to end the weaponization of government by repealing the FACE Act in its entirety,’ reads the AAF memo, sent to Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday afternoon. ‘There’s no question that the Biden Administration weaponized the FACE Act against pro-life Americans.’

‘During the Biden Administration, pro-life Americans faced early morning SWAT team raids, unjust prison sentences, and alleged mistreatment while in custody,’ the memo continues.

Last month, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing, ‘Entering the Golden Age: Ending the Weaponization of the Justice Department,’ where Peter Breen, the executive vice president and head of litigation at the Christian nonprofit law firm Thomas More Society, testified that one of his clients was subject to such SWAT raids and a lengthy prison sentence.

‘The Biden DOJ engaged in a systematic campaign to abuse the power of the federal government against pro-life advocates, while that same DOJ ignored hundreds of acts of vandalism and violence against pro-life churches, pregnancy help centers, and other advocates,’ Breen said.

While the tide is turning in a different direction from the previous administration’s pro-abortion agenda, conservative lawmakers are now looking at the FACE Act as the next step in the pro-life movement. In January, Trump also revoked two previous executive orders from the Biden administration that expanded abortion services. The new order reaffirms the policy established by the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal taxpayer dollars for elective abortions.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, re-introduced legislation in January around the same time to repeal the law. 

Roy’s office presented data indicating that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions between 1994 and 2024 targeted pro-life individuals. He is supported in this effort by 32 co-sponsors in the House, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

In 2023, several media outlets reported that under the Biden administration, the DOJ initiated at least 15 criminal cases under the FACE Act involving approximately 46 pro-life defendants since January 2021, with victims in all but one case being abortion-rights supporters.

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Most overpaid men’s college hoops coaches

The decision to promote Hubert Davis as Roy Williams’ successor seemed inspired after North Carolina went all the way to the national championship game in Davis’s debut, eventually losing to Kansas in a battle of college basketball blue bloods.

Since then, however, the Tar Heels’ results have come in short of expenses and expectations.

That UNC could miss the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years has raised serious questions about Davis’s ability to keep this program among the nation’s best. At $3.75 million in total compensation for the 2024-25 season, Davis is the highest-paid coach at a public university in the ACC — without the recent results to show for this investment.

The list of the sport’s most overpaid coaches begins with Davis, who is in danger of becoming just the second UNC coach since 1975 to miss the tournament twice in the span of three seasons.

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

Winning twice in the ACC tournament could get UNC into the 68-team field and take some of the heat off Davis amid another forgettable season. But the administration and fan base expect much more, of course, and it’s hard not to compare Davis’s struggles to get things off the ground with the way Duke’s Jon Scheyer — hired one season after Davis — has the Blue Devils surging toward a No. 1 seed in this year’s bracket. Davis will be under extreme pressure to deliver in the regular season and postseason in 2025-26.

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State

Hurley has three NCAA Tournament appearances in his decade at Arizona State and now six losing seasons, capped by this year’s extremely disappointing 13-17 finish. In a make-or-break year for Hurley’s job security, the Sun Devils finished one spot from the bottom in the new-look Big 12 and failed to win more than one league game in a row after posting solid non-conference victories against Grand Canyon, St. Thomas, New Mexico and Saint Mary’s. They lost in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Hurley earned $3.54 million in compensation this season.

Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska

The Cornhuskers’ late-season collapse from firmly inside the bracket to off the bubble entirely erases the good vibes from last year’s tournament appearance and raises the temperature on Hoiberg’s seat heading into the 2025-26 season. The former Iowa State and NBA coach has the support of his athletics director and remains popular with the fan base, so Hoiberg will be given the chance to turn things around. But at 80-108 overall and with just one tournament bid in his six seasons — and this year’s team finishing third from the bottom in the Big Ten — the returns on the program’s investment haven’t been there. Hoiberg ranks fifth among Big Ten coaches in compensation at $4.75 million, including a one-time payment of $500,000, as part of a contract that runs through the 2029 season.

Jamie Dixon, TCU

The most recent document related to Dixon’s salary, from the 2022 calendar year, showed the TCU coach making $4.1 million, including bonuses. That compensation would rank fifth in the Big 12 in 2024-24, behind Kansas’s Bill Self, Baylor’s Scott Drew, Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson. That’s lofty company for a coach who has four tournament bids since behind hired in 2016 but has yet to get TCU out of the opening weekend. After making three appearances in a row, this year’s team flirted with the bubble before ending the regular season with four losses in five games, including a dreadful road loss to Colorado, to sit at 16-15 entering the Big 12 tournament. TCU lost, 69-67, to Colorado in the opening round.

Fran McCaffrey, Iowa

Give him credit for longevity: McCaffrey has been at Iowa since 2010, winning one Big Ten tournament title, posting eight 20-win seasons and making seven trips to the NCAA Tournament, though the Hawkeyes haven’t advanced past the round of 32. But Iowa has been on a recent slide, winning 19 games in 2022-23, another 19 games with an NIT appearance last year and bellyflopping at 16-15 and in a tie for 12th in the Big Ten this season. McCaffrey is making $3.4 million this season.

Follow colleges reporter Paul Myerberg on social media @PaulMyerberg

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Ex-Cowboys DE blasts team: Wasn’t going to win a Super Bowl there

In an era where player honesty and accessibility is at an all-time high, there are few things left secret nowadays. If a player is upset or ready for a trade, we’ll know. If Lawrence has no love lost for the Dallas Cowboys, he’ll certainly share that.

And that is exactly what Lawrence did on Thursday.

The former Cowboys star arrived in Seattle to sign his contract with the Seahawks on Thursday, beginning a new chapter in his career. A second-round pick in 2014, Lawrence has only ever worn the star on his helmet in the NFL. After 11 years, Lawrence can be considered somewhat of a Cowboys expert — and that expertise told him they aren’t winning big anytime soon.

‘Change of scenery is always good, but Dallas is my home,’ Lawrence said in an interview with Hawks Blogger. ‘Made my home there, my family lives there. I’m forever gonna be there, but I know for sure I’m not going to win a Super Bowl there. So yeah, we here.’

As expected, those comments weren’t received well in Dallas.

‘This what rejection and envy look like!’ Micah Parsons wrote on X. ‘This some clown (expletive)!

Lawrence didn’t waste time firing back at his former teammate, taking a shot at Parsons in the process.

‘Calling me a clown won’t change the fact that I told the truth,’ Lawrence replied. ‘Maybe if you spent less time tweeting and more time winning, I wouldn’t have left.’

The 32-year-old Lawrence is hoping to return to form in 2025 after playing just four games last season thanks to a foot injury. He’s made the Pro Bowl four times in 11 seasons, appearing in 141 games and recording 61.5 sacks.

Lawrence said he discussed the idea of retirement after an injury-riddled season, but ultimately decided he would return.

‘Yeah, it was definitely one of those moments,’ Lawrence said. ‘Had to sit down with the wife and talk about it, but just understanding who you are as a person, it goes a long way. Understanding me, I still have a lot left in the tank. I definitely didn’t want to kick the bucket too soon and now all my energy is burned on the couch. And I didn’t want to live that life.’

He added that the decision to continue was made a couple days ago when opportunities started presenting themselves.

‘Just seeing these opportunities coming around, people still believing in my type of ball, people still want to see me out there on the field,’ Lawrence said. ‘If that’s what they want, give it to them.’

Now in the Pacific Northwest, Lawrence will look to give the people exactly what they want while trying to compete for a Super Bowl – something the Cowboys haven’t done since the 1995 season.

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