Hours after firing football coach Charlie Strong on Saturday, the University of Texas announced it had hired the University of Houston’s Tom Herman to take over. Herman was 22-4 in his only two seasons with the Cougars, his first job as a college head coach. Houston is 9-3 this season. Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando will be the Cougars’ interim head coach for their upcoming bowl game. Strong leaves Texas with a 16-21 record over three seasons. He had two years left on a guaranteed contract that pays more than $5 million per year. The Longhorns started the season 2-0 but faded to a 5-7 finish . . . Herman was rumored to be a target of LSU, but the school announced that interim coach Ed Orgeron was given his dream job on a permanent basis. Orgeron, a native of Louisiana, has gone 5-2 since taking over for Les Miles, who was fired in late September. This is Orgeron’s second full-time head coaching job at the FBS level. He went 10-25 at Mississippi from 2005-07.
N.C. State shows commitment to Doeren
North Carolina State said coach Dave Doeren will be back for a fifth season. Athletic director Debbie Yow affirmed Doeren’s status one day after N.C. State upset rival North Carolina to become bowl eligible for the third straight year. Doeren is 24-26 with the Wolfpack, including 9-23 in the ACC. Doeren is under contract through 2019 but had come under fire after N.C. State lost five of six heading into Friday’s game . . . Longtime defensive coordinator Dave Wommack, 60, will retire at the end of the season, his fifth with Mississippi.
Western Michigan AD Kathy Beauregard said coach P.J. Fleck has not spoken with other schools about coaching jobs. Fleck has led the Broncos to a 12-0 record and a No. 14 ranking this season, and his breakout success has made him a popular target for rumors.
NFL
Broncos give Stewart four-year extension
The Broncos signed safety Darian Stewart to a four-year extension, and the NFL Network reported the pact is worth $28 million with $17.5 million guaranteed. Stewart, 28, was set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season . . . The Bills activated wide receiver Sammy Watkins off injured reserve and Buffalo will have its top wideout back for Sunday’s home game against the Jaguars. Watkins returned to practice last week after missing two months because of lingering pain in his left foot following April surgery to repair a stress fracture . . . The Eagles won’t have running back Ryan Mathews and right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai when they host the Packers on Monday night. Both players are nursing knee injuries . . . The Bengals activated running back Cedric Peerman — sidelined all season with a broken forearm — and promoted long snapper Tyler Ott to the active roster. Ott, who played at Harvard, was signed to Cincinnati’s practice squad last week.
AUTO RACING
Formula One readies for climactic finish
The Formula One championship will be decided Sunday in the United Arab Emirates. Nico Rosberg, chasing his first title, holds a 12-point lead over defending champion and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and needs only to finish at least third to win the title. Hamilton dominated Saturday’s qualifying to clinch the pole ahead of Rosberg, who has finished runner-up to Hamilton for the championship the past two years.
Miscellany
Liverpool’s Coutinho (ankle) carted off
Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho was carried off on a stretcher in the first half of a 2-0 home win over Sunderland in the Premier League. Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said Coutinho hurt his ankle but didn’t know the seriousness of the injury . . . Coaching his sixth game for Swansea, American Bob Bradley picked up his first win, 5-4 over Crystal Palace in stoppage time in London . . . Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu topped the 300-point mark to win the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan, and qualify for the figure skating Grand Prix Final in two weeks. Hanyu landed three quadruple jumps to finish with 301.47 points, the highest score on the GP circuit this season. Nathan Chen of the United States finished second with 268.91 points and also advanced. Russia’s Anna Pogorilaya won the women’s singles, and two-time world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada won the pairs event . . . Connect and jockey Javier Castellano beat Divining Rod by a head at the end of a stretch duel in the $500,000 Cigar Mile, covering 1 mile at Aqueduct in New York . . . Croatia needs one point to win its second Davis Cup title after winning the doubles against visiting Argentina in straight sets. Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig defeated Juan Martin del Potro and Leonardo Mayer, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, for a 2-1 lead. Cilic can secure the decisive point for Croatia against del Potro in the first reverse singles Sunday.
If del Potro wins, Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic and Argentina’s Federico Delbonis will decide the final. Croatia’s only previous Davis Cup title was in 2005. Argentina is the only team in the Davis Cup’s 116-year history to have reached four previous finals and not won.
