The New England Patriots have hired Mike Vrabel as their next head coach.

The team announced the hiring Sunday morning. It comes a week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired Jerod Mayo after the team’s season finale victory over the Buffalo Bills to finish 4-13 in his lone season as coach.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, former Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson also interviewed for the job.

But Vrabel, a fan favorite during eight seasons as a player in New England where he was a member of its first three Super Bowl winners and an inductee into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2023, was the preferred candidate because of his long association with the franchise and coaching success during his six seasons in Tennessee.

In hiring the 49-year-old Vrabel, Kraft is turning to another former Patriots defensive standout who, like Mayo, built a reputation as a coach for his ability to relate to players.

Women’s basketball

No. 2 South Carolina tops No .5 Texas >> Te-Hina Paopao and Chloe Kitts each scored 11 points, and No. 2 South Carolina rolled past No. 5 Texas 67-50 in front of a sold out crowd of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena.

Joyce Edwards added 10 points for the Gamecocks (16-1, 4-0 SEC), who became the only team in the nation with 13 wins against Division I teams with winning records. Raven Johnson added eight points and 10 rebounds as coach Dawn Staley improve to 14-3 all-time against Texas coach Vic Shaefer.

No. 9 Ohio State beats Oregon >> Taylor Thierry scored a season-high 20 points and No. 9 Ohio State had a 27-point run second-quarter run in a 69-60 win over Oregon in the first meeting between the teams as members of the Big Ten.

Ajae Petty had 13 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, and freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge scored 13 points for the Buckeyes (16-0, 5-0 Big Ten).

Nani Falatea and Amina Muhammad scored 11 points apiece and Deja Kelly had 10 for Oregon (12-5, 3-3), which had its three-game winning streak halted.

No. 16 Tennessee routs Arkansas >> Taylasia Cooper scored 20 points and No. 16 Tennessee breezed to a 93-63 victory over Arkansas.

Cooper made half of her 14 shots from the floor with a 3-pointer and 5 of 7 free throws for the Lady Volunteers (14-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference), who were coming off back-to-back home losses to No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 6 LSU by a combined three points. Cooper also had four steals.

Tennis

Day 1 of Australian Open >> Zheng Qinwen’s tennis resume is quite different from what it was when she showed up at the Australian Open a full year ago. No matter everything she accomplished in 2024 — a runner-up finish at Melbourne Park; an Olympic gold medal for China — she felt jitters before entering Rod Laver Arena.

After overcoming some hiccups late in the opening set of her first-round match on a stormy Day 1 at the season’s first major tennis tournament, Zheng came through with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory against Anca Todoni, a 20-year-old qualifier from Romania who has won one Grand Slam match in her career.

It was 12 months ago on Melbourne’s hard courts that Zheng made it all the way to the final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

Golf

Britain and Ireland win Team Cup >> Britain & Ireland completed a 17-8 win over Continental Europe in the Team Cup, an event that gave European players valuable matchplay experience ahead of the Ryder Cup in New York this year.

Tommy Fleetwood secured the point that clinched the expected victory for Britain & Ireland, which led 11-4 heading into singles after a dominant first two days at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.

Britain & Ireland needed just two more points from the singles and after Laurie Canter beat Romain Langasque 5&4, Fleetwood defeated Matthieu Pavon 3&1. Fleetwood also claimed the winning point for Europe when beating the United States outside Rome to reclaim the Ryder Cup in 2023.

Soccer

FA Cup roundup >> Tottenham endured the humiliation of being taken to extra time by Tamworth, an opponent nearly 100 places lower in English soccer’s pyramid, before winning 3-0 and avoiding one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history.

Defending champion Manchester United also advanced from the third round by beating Arsenal 5-3 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. Joshua Zirkzee converted the clinching penalty for United, which played from the 61st minute with 10 men following Diogo Dalot’s sending-off.

Four days after beating Premier League leader Liverpool 1-0 in the English League Cup semifinals, Tottenham’s team of established internationals toiled against a group of part-time soccer players whose main jobs included bricklaying, selling zippers and being a financial advisor.

A massive surprise was on when fifth-tier Tamworth forced extra time with the score 0-0, only for the hosts to concede an own-goal in the 101st minute and then strikes by Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson to disappoint the majority of the 3,700 fans inside the tiny stadium called The Lamb.

Arsenal’s Jesus injured in FA cup action >> Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said there was a “big worry” over Gabriel Jesus after the striker was carried off on a stretcher with a knee injury during the first half of the FA Cup loss to Manchester United on Sunday.

The Brazilian was hurt while attempting to tackle Bruno Fernandes from behind as the United captain prepared to take a shot.

Jesus immediately signaled to the bench that he was in pain and had his jersey over his head as he was taken off the field in the 40th minute, to be replaced by Raheem Sterling. Arsenal lost 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Skiing

Men’s Giant Slalom results >> A home team Swiss racer led the first run of a World Cup giant slalom on Sunday though not the one expected.

Loïc Meillard took advantage of his No. 1 start bib to be 0.27 seconds ahead of Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, with Olympic and world champion Marco Odermatt third, needing to make up 0.34 in the afternoon.

Odermatt won all 14 of the giant slalom races he has completed in the past two years, and took victory at Switzerland’s classic giant slalom at Adelboden in each of the past three seasons.

The domination in giant slalom by Odermatt — including three straight World Cup season-long titles — has left teammate Meillard with just two career World Cup wins in the discipline.

Women’s super-g race results >> Lauren Macuga’s first World Cup race win Sunday — in a super-G where Lindsey Vonn impressed again in fourth — was no surprise to ski watchers who saw the 22-year-old American’s fast-improving results.

Maybe now sponsors will catch up with a racer from what shapes to soon be the first family of the extended United States ski team.

Macuga skied with speed and style Sunday wearing a helmet that has a question mark on the front where a sponsor’s brand could be.