By MARK LONG

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE — General manager Trent Baalke is out in Jacksonville after the Jaguars failed to land second interviews with three of their top coaching candidates.

Team owner Shad Khan made the announcement Wednesday, hours after Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen withdrew his name for consideration for the Jaguars job and agreed to a new contract with the Buccaneers. Coen had been scheduled to interview with the Jaguars on Wednesday.

“Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately,” Khan said in a statement. “Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons.”

Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and will “continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach,” Khan said.

It had become clear that Baalke was impeding Jacksonville’s coaching search, with Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking other jobs without a sit-down interview with the Jaguars. And Coen’s call may have forced Khan’s hand when the OC canceled a visit to Jacksonville and chose to keep his current job in Tampa Bay.

Jacksonville had narrowed its search to Coen, Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh. Graham and Saleh are scheduled for in-person interviews on Thursday and Friday.

Khan insisted after firing Doug Pederson earlier this month that Baalke’s retention as GM would not affect the coaching search. He was wrong.

“I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville and look forward to introducing a new head coach who will make that happen for our players and fans alike,” Khan said.

The 60-year-old Baalke developed a less-than-spotless reputation around the league, and three of the five coaches he hired in San Francisco and Jacksonville — Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly and Urban Meyer — had one-and-done tenures.

Baalke’s drafts were mixed. He hit on quarterback Trevor Lawrence, right tackle Anton Walker and receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round. But he chose defensive end Travon Walker over Aidan Hutchinson and whiffed on first-rounder Devin Lloyd as well as several second-day picks: offensive tackle Walker Little, safety Andre Cisco, center Luke Fortner and linebacker Chad Muma.

His free-agent classes were equally spotty, with the latest one being among the least productive in team history.

The Jaguars committed more than $150 million, including roughly $90 million guaranteed, to sign seven free agents. The group included receiver Gabe Davis, journeyman cornerback Ronald Darby and oft-injured defensive lineman Arik Armstead. None of them made the Jags better.

The unceremonious ending to his time in Jacksonville was the latest black eye for a GM whose resume includes working alongside five consecutive coaches who were fired: Meyer (2021), Doug Marrone (2020), Kelly (2016), Tomsula (2015) and Jim Harbaugh (2014). Baalke worked as a football operations consultant to the NFL for three years between front-office stints with San Francisco and Jacksonville.

Jaguars fans have long called for Baalke to get the boot. They even organized a “Klown Out” during the 2021 season finale to protest Khan’s decision to keep Baalke in place before he hired Pederson.

With Baalke finally out of the picture, Jacksonville could double-back on Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Under NFL rules, the earliest they can interview again is next week because their teams are in conference title games.

Nonetheless, the Jaguars (4-13) will move forward with three fewer candidates in play. The question now becomes how much more attractive is the job without Baalke in the mix?

They have a young quarterback (Lawrence) with upside, a budding star at receiver (Thomas Jr.), a few defensive building blocks (cornerback Tyson Campbell and pass rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker), a relatively new practice facility, a $1.4 billion stadium renovation upcoming and a hands-off owner with deep pockets.

They have the fifth overall draft pick in April and roughly $50 million in salary-cap space for 2025, play in arguably the NFL’s weakest division (AFC South) and work in a state with plenty of sunshine and no income tax. They also went 3-10 in one-score games — an indication they could be a quick fix.

But Khan is committed to playing at least one home game annually in London — even though it may put the team at a competitive disadvantage — and will play home games in 2026 in front of a reduced capacity and play all of 2027 away from Jacksonville.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/22/jaguars-and-gm-trent-baalke-agree-to-part-ways-amid-coaching-search-chaos/

The unique “Elam Ending” rule twist will again be utilized for the five varsity boys basketball games in Saturday’s Kalyn High Master’s Classic at The Master’s Academy.

On the first stoppage of play with three minutes or less remaining, the game clock is turned off and a target score to win is established. It will be eight points more than the team in front has. So if a team is leading 76-70, the first to 84 points gets the victory.

The concept is designed to encourage teams that are trailing to continue efforts to outscore the team that leads — rather than foul to stop the clock. It’s been used in recent NBA All-Star games.

This year’s Master’s Classic matchups look to be entertaining.

Kissimmee Osceola (18-1), ranked No. 4 in 7A, plays 3A No. 9 Lake Highland Prep (16-4).

Master’s (16-4), No. 9 in 2A, plays 7A Dr. Phillips (9-10).

East River, enjoying the best season in program history, will play traditionally strong Holy Trinity (10-11). The Falcons, who set a school record with last season’s 16-11 record, were 16-4 going into a Tuesday night game against Sanford Seminole (10-9).

Oviedo, No. 7 in 6A, plays 1A No. 5 Victory Christian (15-5). The Lions were 13-8 going into a Wednesday game against 7A No. 11 St. Cloud (18-3).

Here is Saturday’s schedule at TMA:

JV: Hagerty vs. Master’s, 9:30 a.m.

JV: Winter Park vs. Master’s, 11

Holy Trinity vs. East River, 12:20 p.m.

Osceola vs. Lake Highland, 2 p.m.

Winter Park vs. Master’s girls, 3:30

Hagerty vs. Orlando Christian Prep, 5

Dr. Phillips vs. Master’s 6:30

Oviedo vs. Victory Christian, 8

Osceola County’s boys basketball boom features Osceola High, St. Cloud and more

Competitive cheer

Seven area cheer squads earned automatic berths into the FHSAA state tournament with victories in the Region 2 competition at Hagerty High.

The host Huskies won their division, as did Deltona, Freedom, Lake Brantley, Lake Mary, Oviedo, and Winter Park.

Runners-up that advance to semifinal competition are Boone, Bishop Moore, Colonial, DeLand, East Ridge, Foundation Academy, Horizon, Lake Howell, and Orlando University.

The state meet will be held Jan. 31 – Feb. 1, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Undaunted Evans knocks off Orlando power Oak Ridge in boys basketball

Hot hoops Friday

Montverde Academy (13-3), No. 3 in MaxPreps’ national academy Top 10 rankings, travels to Miami to play Christopher Columbus (17-3), MaxPreps’ No. 1 team in its traditional high school rankings, in a Friday 6 p.m. game that will be televised by ESPN2. Montverde topped the three-time defending state champ Explorers 59-57 in the December final of the City of Palms Classic.

Elsewhere on Friday, Windermere (17-3), No. 2 in FHSAA 7A rankings behind Columbus, is home against Apopka (15-5).

Oak Ridge (13-7), No. 3 in 7A, comes off a wild 100-94 homecourt loss to Evans to play at 6A No. 4 Edgewater (12-8).

Evans (17-4), riding high again at No. 2 in 6A, plays at 6A No. 4 Lake Howell (16-4). The Trojans dealt Oak Ridge its first Orange County setback since a 2022-23 season loss to Olympia, in a Monday MLK Dream is Real Classic showdown.

Girls basketball

Dr. Phillips has more losses than any other team in the Class 7A girls basketball top 10. But the three-time defending state champ Panthers have played a brutal schedule and showed over the weekend that they can play with anybody.

The Panthers faced more top-tier talent when they traveled to Atlanta for a MLK Classic. They defeated Parkview of Georgia and then put a big scare into Peach State power Hebron Christian (18-1) before losing 69-65. Hebron is ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps.

DP, 12-9 going into a Wednesday game vs. Leesburg, completes its regular season with a Tuesday home game against Jones (13-6).

Girls wrestling

Host Freedom finished second to Brooksville Hernando in the Florida Girls Elite 8 Duals tournament. Weight class winners for the Patriots were:

Josie Reeves, Hananeel Gregoire, Genesis Escorcia, Eduarda Franklin Soares, Ceajah Brown, Elody Rodriguez, Jikayla Hutto, Mekialla Mauvais and Rotchiva Clermont.

Daytona State stars

The top three scorers, and five of the top seven, for Daytona State’s streaking junior college men’s basketball team are sophomores who played for Orlando area high schools.

Isaiah Dorceus, a 2023 Windermere High alum, leads the No. 4 JUCO team in the nation at 15.5 ppg, followed by Eduardo Placer (CFCA) 11.3 and Dylan Diaz (Lake Minneola) 10.9. Twins Ryan Bewley (West Oaks) 10.2 and Matt Bewley (West Oaks) are averaging 10.2 and 8.7.

The 6-foot-9 Bewley brothers, who left West Oaks to land a money-making deal with Overtime Elite as juniors in 2021, signed with Chicago State in August but were ruled ineligible by the NCAA.

Daytona State, averaging 101.3 points per game, were 16-2 with 14 consecutive wins going into a Wednesday game at Polk State College of Winter Haven. DSC is home vs. Hillsborough CC on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Boys soccer: Lake Nona, Bishop Moore, Timber Creek, Windermere, Ocoee lead pack

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.

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MIAMI GARDENS — Any Miami Dolphins follower’s memories of offensive lineman Andrew Meyer’s rookie season with the team will probably be limited to general manager Chris Grier’s comical first quote about the center making the roster as an undrafted free agent in 2024.

“He looks like a truck driver,” Grier quipped, before offering a more detailed response that shed light on why the Dolphins felt the UTEP alum was worthy of a spot on the team’s 53-man roster.

The man who might give the appearance of a truck driver — maybe for his burly build combined with buzzcut and beard — hasn’t had the chance to truck defenders as a blocker in a regular-season game for Miami yet, though.

Meyer, who turned 25 on Jan. 14, was inactive for 14 of the Dolphins’ 17 regular-season games and did not see action in the other three.

Nonetheless, after impressing franchise decision-makers with his training camp and three preseason games in August 2024 — and despite plenty of roster movement with players coming on and off injured reserve and others coming in and out — the Dolphins never found it worthwhile to cut Meyer and risk him getting poached by another team.

“I do appreciate them keeping me around,” Meyer told the South Florida Sun Sentinel as players cleaned out their lockers to conclude the season earlier this month. “It obviously shows that they think I have a lot to offer. It’s kind of like a matter of time when I’m going to get my chance, when I’m going to get to do those things.”

It’s clear the Dolphins feel there is value in developing Meyer, whom they view as a center but could be a versatile lineman that can play either guard spot on the interior of the offensive line.

“He’s got personality, he’s tough, he’s smart,” Grier said before the season. “He loves ball. He’s a grinder. And every day he just got better and better.”

Meyer knows he must be doing something right to earn the organization’s trust. As guards Liam Eichenberg, Robert Jones and Isaiah Wynn enter free agency, he can strive to take the next step and compete for a bigger role in 2025.

“As of now, I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” Meyer said. “I think that I’ve kind of found a routine that’s helped me out, helped me stay here. I’m going to keep doing that, maybe amp it up a little bit, but I’m doing a lot and I think as long as I just stay on the platform saying I’m going to find my fit here, I’ll get out there eventually.”

With his first year on the sideline came knowledge gained.

“You learn how to go about your business, how to be a pro,” Meyer said. “Everybody talks about it, and I think that that’s one benefit to not being active. You kind of get to sit back and really observe everything that’s going on around you. Obviously, I want to be active, I want to be out there, I want to be playing, but that was the one benefit, is that I get to sit back and see how other guys go about their business and how they handle being a professional. It’s going to help me a lot in these upcoming years.”

Included in that in the offensive line room is a rookie season where he got to see how veterans in their 30s, five-time Pro Bowler Terron Armstead and Kendall Lamm, go about their business.

“It’s unmatched,” Meyer said. “At the end of the day, experience is everything, and those guys have as much experience as you’re going to find in the NFL. Just being able to get advice — and not only football stuff — but how you handle yourself off the field, on the field, with your family, all that stuff. The advice given from them isn’t worth any of my money. It’s just that valuable to have. It’s awesome having those guys around.”

As for looking like a truck driver, the San Diego native did say at the start of the season he always preferred the 10-hour drive between home and UTEP to flying back and forth.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/22/making-dolphins-but-never-playing-as-undrafted-rookie-andrew-meyer-looks-to-develop-into-contributor-in-2025/

After braving a lightning quick Windermere start from the opening kick of the game, Lake Nona’s undefeated boys soccer team held on and finally broke through in the 61st minute of a 1-0 victory in a regular season finale for two talented teams.

The Lions (11-0-4), ranked No. 1 in the FHSAA’s Class 7A power rankings, prevailed despite being down to 10 men for the final 13 minutes of last Friday’s game.

Junior defender Patrick Penkava knocked in a header in the 61st minute to break the deadlock. Lake Nona then had to survive a man down after senior midfielder Fernando Masciolli was sent off with a red card in the 67th minute.

Junior goalkeeper Murillo Mello was under siege right from the very beginning, but made timely saves in the first half to keep 7A No. 9 Windermere (9-3-4) off the board. He finished the game with four saves for his sixth clean sheet of the season.

With the victory, Lake Nona clinched back-to-back undefeated seasons. The Lions were 15-0-2 before losing to Palm Harbor University 1-0 in a region quarterfinal last year. That team was coached by Jon Bartomioli, who left after the 2023-24 season. This one is coached by Anton Sealey, a UCF grad and former defender for England’s Reading F.C. professional team and the Orlando City S.C. academy.

Anton was more than pleased with the way his team weathered the first half storm that Windermere brought.

“We have some special players in some key positions. That helped us a lot in the first half,” said Sealey. “We did a good job of adjusting to what (Windermere) threw at us and the boys stemmed the tide a little bit.”

In a hard-fought game like this, between two dynamic teams, any result is possible.

“Football is cruel. Sometimes you are doing so well and the result can still go against you. But tonight I thought we did well. I thought we deserved something from it,” said Sealey.

The two Metro Conference squads now go their separate ways for district tournament play, which began for boys and girls teams Wednesday.

Sealey said the key for going further is avoiding slow starts and a reliance on Mello to keep them in games until the attack gets going.

On the other side, Windermere looks to buckle up and make another playoff run that could see the Wolverines play Lake Nona again in a Region 2 playoffs game. Last season Windermere was a region champ before losing a triple-overtime state semifinal against Boca Raton.

Led by scorers Francesco Sanchez (21 goals) and Alfredo Adrian (17 goals), the Wolverines are looking to settle unfinished business and reach the state final.

The key to that will be getting better in the final third, said Windermere assistant coach Nick Dinon.

Windermere led the game in shots (11-2) and shots on target (4-2) but was shutout for the second time this season.

“We could have easily made this a 3-0 game our way in the first 20 minutes,” said Dinon. “We had some excellent opportunities. We connected on some good passes and had some decent possession at times, but we need to work on our decision making a bit here and there.”

Chris Martucci

Bishop Moore soccer coach stays busy while TFA prevails in triple OT | Varsity Weekly

Playoff picture

Here’s details on districts involving Orlando area schools. The top seed is listed for each district, followed by the championship game date and location, according to MaxPreps brackets.

Class 7A District 2

No. 23 Spruce Creek (14-5-5).

Final: Jan. 30, 5 p.m., at Seminole HS.

Class 7A District 3

No. 5 Ocoee (10-2-7).

Final: Jan. 28, 6 p.m.

Note: No. 14 West Orange (7-4-3), state runner-up last season, played Ocoee to a 1-1 tie.

Class 7A District 4

No. 6 Timber Creek (11-3-1).

Final: Jan. 29, 6 p.m., at higher seed.

Note: The Wolves, No. 21 Hagerty (9-1-3) and No. 31 University (12-2-2) have not played each other.

Class 7A District 5

No. 9 Windermere (9-3-4).

Final: Jan. 29, 7 p.m., at Olympia HS.

Note: Windermere was state runner-up last season.

Class 7A District 6

No. 1 Lake Nona (11-0-4).

Final: Jan. 29, 6 p.m., at Freedom HS.

Note: Lions won 1-0 vs. tourney host, No. 36 Freedom (8-6-2).

Class 7A District 7

No. 11 Celebration (11-3-1).

Final: Jan. 29, 7 p.m., at higher seed.

Class 6A District 4

No. 10 Horizon (11-4-3).

Final: Jan. 30, 6 p.m., at higher seed.

Class 6A District 5

No. 13 Oviedo (10-3-3).

Final: Jan. 28, 6 p.m., at Lake Howell HS.

Note: Lions won 5-1 vs. second seed, No. 20 Winter Springs (13-3-1).

Class 6A District 6

No. 6 Viera (10-3-1).

Final: Jan. 29, 6 p.m., at Viera.

Class 6A District 7

No. 23 Lake Gibson (15-5-3).

Final: Jan. 29, 7 p.m., at higher seed.

Class 5A District 5

No. 20 Leesburg (12-2-1).

Final: Jan. 30, 8 p.m., at Ormond Beach Sports Complex.

Class 5A District 7

No. 13 Kissimmee Gateway (15-1).

Final: Jan. 28, 7 p.m., at higher seed.

Note: first-year Innovation (9-5-4) is second seed.

Class 4A District 6

No. 2 Bishop Moore (19-3-2).

Final: Jan. 29, 7 p.m., at higher seed.

Note: Hornets have won 11 district titles in the past 12 years. Second seed Mount Dora (13-1-1) has never beaten Bishop Moore.

Class 3A District 6

No. 6 Lake Highland Prep (6-4-2).

Final: Jan. 29, 6 p.m., at higher seed.

Class 2A District 6

No. 8 Windermere Prep (11-2-2).

Final: Jan. 28, 7 p.m., at higher seed.

Note: No. 12 Foundation Academy (12-1-1) and No. 18 The First Academy (9-2-2) make this the only 2A district out of 16 that has three of the top 18 teams.

Class 1A District 5

No. 19 International Community (14-5).

Final: Jan. 29, 6 p.m., at Lake Mary Prep.

Note: International is shooting for its first boys soccer district title.

Class 1A District 6

No. 3 Orangewood Christian (8-3-1).

Final: Jan. 30, 7 p.m., at higher seed.

Note: Rams, 2A state runner-ups last season, have lost only to larger-class schools.

No. 1 Montverde girls soccer victory over No. 2 Lake Highland Prep provides helpful context

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/22/lake-nona-windermere-fhsaa-bishop-moore-boys-soccer-playoffs-ocoee-timber-creek-horizon-windermere-gateway-oviedo-lake-highland/