TCU, North Carolina will open ‘26 in Ireland after Belichick’s debut this year vs. Frogs

FORT WORTH, Texas >> TCU and North Carolina will play their 2026 opener in Ireland, which will come a year after coach Bill Belichick’s debut with the Tar Heels at home against the Horned Frogs.

The Aer Lingus College Football Classic will be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Aug. 29, 2026. It will be the first game abroad for both TCU and North Carolina.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for our program and we’re excited to represent the university and our fans on an international stage,” Belichick said.

Their season opener this year will be on Sept. 1, when Belichick’s first game at North Carolina is against TCU on Labor Day and will be the only college or NFL game that Monday.

TCU will be the designated home team for the game in Ireland. The two teams were initially scheduled to open the 2026 season with a Sept. 5 game in Fort Worth, Texas.

“This is more than just a football game. It’s an opportunity to advance TCU’s brand globally while having our student-athletes experience a unique educational opportunity and memory of a lifetime,” TCU athletic director Mike Buddie said.

Mike Patrick, the original play-by-play voice of ESPN’s NFL coverage, has died at 80

BRISTOL. Conn. >> Mike Patrick, ESPN’s first play-by-play announcer for its NFL coverage, has died. He was 80.

Patrick’s physician and longtime friend sent a text to friends of the longtime announcer that Patrick passed away in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sunday due to natural causes.

Patrick joined ESPN in 1982, and was with the network for 35 years.

“Mike Patrick called countless significant events over decades at ESPN and is one the most influential on-air voices in our history. In addition to calling ESPN’s first-ever regular season NFL game and voicing the ‘Sunday Night Football’ franchise, Mike’s work on college sports was exceptional,” said Burke Magnus, president of content for ESPN. “For 36 years, he called football and men’s and women’s basketball, including the Women’s Final Four and so many historic matchups between ACC rivals Duke and UNC. Our deepest condolences to Mike’s family and his many friends throughout the industry.”

Even though he called countless college football and basketball games, he is best known for his work on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football” from 1987 through 2005.

Andre Agassi will play at the US Open Pickleball Championships next week

NAPLES, Fla. >> Andre Agassi collected two of his eight Grand Slam tennis titles at the U.S. Open and now he’ll be competing at a different racket event with that name.

Agassi, who retired from professional tennis in 2006 after playing his last match at Flushing Meadows, will line up alongside teenager Anna Leigh Waters in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships next week in Naples, Florida.

Agassi, who turns 55 next week, has participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions with other former tennis players and can be seen pitching pickleball equipment via social media. This will be his first professional pickleball appearance.

He won the tennis U.S. Open in 1994 and 1999, completed a career Grand Slam by winning at least one championship at each of that sport’s majors and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011.

— The Associated Press