Sports
ACC notebook: Bill Belichick says UNC 'way ahead' of '25 team
Jul 17, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, talks with the media during interviews at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Bill Belichick has plenty of reasons to be upbeat about his second season at the helm of North Carolina, including 40 true freshmen entering the program, a new offensive coordinator in Bobby Petrino and a new starting quarterback.
Following a 4-8 campaign last year that featured 70 newcomers, including 40 portal players, this year’s squad has just 20 players from the portal.
Speaking to the media on Friday at ACC media days in Charlotte, Belichick said the difference between this year’s squad and last year’s is “night and day.”
“Overall as a football team, our culture, our program, our ability to operate as a team is much higher than it was a year ago,” he told ESPN, “and our talent level is higher.”
Belichick was not hired until Dec. 11, 2024, making it extremely difficult to recruit high school players for the 2025 season. This year, of the 40 incoming freshmen, 31 enrolled early.
After the spring portal last year, players moved around and it was much more difficult for programs to develop chemistry. The spring portal has since been eliminated by an NCAA vote.
“We had so many new players coming in that had never even been in spring ball,” Belichick said. “At least most of our players now have been in spring ball. … So we’re way ahead.”
“We’ve had the same team the whole year,” receiver Jordan Shipp said. “We didn’t get 40 guys in December. All of them leaving and get another 50 in May. So I mean, just being able to have the same team for the whole offseason … that’s what’s going to really separate us from last year, being able to build that chemistry.”
For the second straight season, North Carolina will open against TCU, which handed Belichick and the Tar Heels a 48-14 loss to kick off his tenure on a sour note. This year the game will be in Ireland in Week 0 and will give UNC a strong idea where it stands in 2026.
“It’ll definitely be a challenge for us,” Belichick said. “They do a good job. It’s the overall team competitiveness and toughness that TCU has. That’s really what you got to be ready for.”
–Pitt’s Narduzzi accuses Miami of tampering with Heintschel
Along with revealing that he reached out to Duke head coach Manny Diaz before Miami’s pursuit of All-ACC quarterback Darian Mensah, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said the Hurricanes tried to tamper with his star freshman QB Mason Heintschel.
“Miami tried to get Mason (Heintschel) Thursday before (the portal closed the following day), and we were able to hang on to him and shut them down,” Narduzzi told The Athletic. “Shoot, I talked to Manny that Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Hey, watch out. I hear he’s going for your guy next.’ And sure enough, they stole him.”
Diaz, on the other hand, was not as accusatory regarding Miami’s pursuit of Mensah.
“It’s an unanswerable question because ultimately what it came down to, and this is why it was never an issue for us, is you can only say what you can prove,” Diaz said. “So to me it doesn’t matter. And that’s why our issue was never with any other school. The school was very consistent.”
–Diaz: Duke deserved CFP bid in 2025
Duke head coach Manny Diaz had some choice words for those who did not believe the Blue Devils should have been in the ACC title game last year.
“I heard we made the news. I heard we got a rule named after us,” Diaz said regarding the new conference tiebreaker system the ACC unveiled this week. “It’s pretty cool, right? The Duke tiebreaker rule.
“I just want to start my remarks by addressing our thoughts on that. Inherent in the narrative of changing a tiebreaker for the conference championship game is the assertion that last year’s team was undeserved of being in the championship game. You hear that word, that now there will be more deserved teams in the championship game.
“I want to push back against that narrative. I think it’s not just false, I think it’s insulting.”
Miami, which made it all the way to the national championship game before losing to undefeated Indiana, was left out of the ACC title game, which saw Duke beat Virginia for its first conference championship.
Regarding the ACC’s new tiebreaker formula for its title game, a team’s “body of work” and head-to-head results will determine which teams will play for the crown. That “body of work” will be determined by the Team Success Ranking from SportSource Analytics, which the CFP also uses.
–SMU’s Lashlee feels Duke belonged in CFP
Along with congratulating Duke on its ACC conference championship, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said Friday that the Blue Devils deserved to make last year’s College Football Playoff over James Madison.
James Madison, which won the Sun Belt championship and was ranked No. 24, joined No. 20 Tulane (which won the American Conference championship) in the CFP. In the previous CFP formula, the five highest-rated conference champs received automatic berths, so Duke — which had five losses and was not ranked in the CFP standings — was left on the outside looking in.
“When you win the ACC the way they did, and who they beat, they should have been in instead of a team from the Sun Belt,” Lashlee said of Duke. “Hopefully, things get learned, and that doesn’t happen again. We should have been a two-bid league.”
This season, the champions of four power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12) will receive automatic berths, along with the highest-rated team from a Group of 6 conference (American, MAC, Pac-12, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Conference USA).
–Field Level Media
Sports
As LHP Max Fried ramps up, Yankees' wait continues for limited Aaron Judge
Jul 5, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried throws a live bullpen session before a game against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images Reinforcements are near for the New York Yankees.
Manager Aaron Boone could have left-handed ace Max Fried back in the rotation by the trade deadline and Aaron Judge might not be far behind.
Fried was the starter Friday night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, his first in-game action since he was placed on the injured list with a bone bruise after an outing May 13.
Fried was on a pitch count “in the low 50s” on Friday, Boone said. He’s already scheduled for at least one more start at Triple-A next week before the Yankees reassess his status.
There is less clarity around the return of Judge (rib) and another big bat, Giancarlo Stanton, who has resumed running but has no timetable for advancing to baseball workouts.
Judge was told to pause riding a stationary bike but has the green light to walk on a treadmill with a slight incline. He’s not ready to take batting practice or resume even stationary baseball activities.
He said Friday the latest imaging of his fractured rib on his right side showed “some improvement,” but he isn’t cleared for workouts due to the risk of re-injury.
“We’re not there yet. We’ll just continue to wait, let it heal,” Boone said. “I feel good about the fact that he’ll be back. It’s just a matter of when.
“Obviously we all want Aaron Judge back in the lineup. As I’ve said we have a lot of capable players. We finished the (first) half on a high note. We have to continue to play well and hopefully win ballgames knowing that at some point he’ll join us.”
Judge, a three-time American League MVP, has 17 homers and 38 RBIs in 59 games.
Sidelined since April 24 when Stanton hurt his calf against the Houston Astros, he’s not expected to be in the lineup this week. He has played only 24 games this season with three homers and 14 RBI. His current injured list stint is his seventh since joining the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season.
Boone said the Yankees are being patient with two other injured arms. Left-hander Carlos Rodon threw a 10-pitch bullpen session on Friday to provide the Yankees a live check of his progress recovering from inflammation in his left elbow.
Right-hander Clarke Schmidt is a potential discussion for August, Boone said. He’s recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. The Yankees scheduled Schmidt to throw against live hitting for the first time since the 2025 elbow surgery.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates-Guardians postponed due to poor air quality
Haze covers the sky at the Cleveland Guardians’ Progressive Field as a result of Canadian wildfires on Friday, July 17, 2026. Cleveland’s scheduled game against the Pittsburgh Pirates was postponed. The Friday contest between the Pittsburgh Pirates and host Cleveland Guardians was postponed due to air quality conditions.
The game has been rescheduled for Saturday as part of a split doubleheader. The rescheduled contest is slated to begin at 1:10 p.m. ET and the regularly scheduled game will be pushed back to 7:10 p.m., three hours after initially scheduled.
The air quality in Cleveland was poor on Friday due to smoke coming from Canadian wildfires.
Cleveland right-hander Gavin Williams (10-4, 3.81 ERA) and Pittsburgh righty Jared Jones (1-1, 4.37) were the scheduled Friday starters and figure to be slotted into Saturday’s pitching plans.
All-Star right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (9-3, 3.49) of the Pirates and left-hander Joey Cantillo (8-4, 3.56) are listed as the starters for Saturday’s second game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Bryson DeChambeau penalized 2 strokes, agent claims he could withdraw from Open
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Bryson DeChambeau reacts after making a birdie putt on the ninth green during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bryson DeChambeau was handed a two-stroke penalty upon completion of the second round of the Open Championship on Friday in Southport, England, after R&A rules officials determined he had taken actions to improve his lie out of tall, native grass on a shot 13 holes earlier.
Rather than waking up in second place and the final pairing for the third round on Saturday, DeChambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, claimed on Friday night his fiery client instead wait until the sun rises again to decide whether to even participate in another hole at Royal Birkdale.
“He’s a lot of things. He’s not a cheater,” Falkoff told reporters as daylight ran thin Friday. “He’s a big boy. He’ll see how he feels. But he certainly feels he was unfairly penalized.”
DeChambeau, Falkoff claimed, plans to make the decision about returning to finish the final major of the season on his own and without input from others.
DeChambeau vehemently disagreed with the ruling when officials shuttled him back to the scene of the alleged misdeed before he could enter the scoring trailer to sign his second-round scorecard.
A popular but divisive figure in the world of golf, the member of LIV Golf originally posted a 4-under 66 to take second place at 7 under, one shot behind Australia’s Lucas Herbert. Now, DeChambeau will enter the weekend three behind Herbert instead of one, his bogey 5 at the fifth hole changed to a triple-bogey 7.
Following a session on the range commenced immediately after DeChambeau and his team left scoring, the narrative was less about the infraction and more about what comes next.
Walk away from a major championship with trailing the leader by three shots with 36 holes to go? Falkoff said Friday DeChambeau was “100 percent” serious.
Golf Channel broadcast cameras showed DeChambeau appear to tell rules officials “I just won’t play tomorrow” before they boarded multiple carts to return to the scoring trailer and the R&A released its decision.
DeChambeau hit his drive at the par-4 fifth hole far right and eventually found the ball in a native area. Replays showed the two-time major winner stamping down on different patches of tall grass near his ball. It may have affected not the lie of the ball, but the path for his eventual swing.
After news broke that officials were considering a two-stroke penalty, DeChambeau went back to the scene on the fifth hole with his caddie, agent and two rules officials to discuss the sequence of events. TV cameras captured a discussion several minutes long, and at points DeChambeau could be seen gesticulating and getting animated.
More than an hour after his round ended, the R&A, who organize The Open, finalized their official decision. A new score was reflected on the massive leaderboard between the 18th green and where DeChambeau stood ripping golf balls on the driving range.
–Field Level Media
As LHP Max Fried ramps up, Yankees' wait continues for limited Aaron Judge
Pirates-Guardians postponed due to poor air quality
