UNC coach Brown: No plans to retire

The questions continue to swirl: Does Mack Brown intend to be the head football coach at North Carolina next season? Brown, for his part, had a one-word answer Monday: “Yes.” At 73, he’s a Hall of Fame coach who has more career wins than any other active coach, a coach who won a national championship when he was at Texas. He and his wife, Sally, are financially set. But “retirement” clearly isn’t a word he likes to hear, much less address. Once again Monday, he paraphrased an oft-used Bobby Bowden quote from Bowden’s coaching days at Florida State, Bowden saying there was only one major event awaiting after he retired and he wasn’t ready for that. “When you’re 73, you get asked every day how long you’re going to do this,” Brown said Monday. “And I’ve said I’m going to do it as long as I’m happy, as long as I’m healthy and as long as I’m effective. I’m not going to think about retiring. I’m not going to talk about retiring.” The Tar Heels are 6-5 in the sixth season of Brown’s second run at UNC, which hosts rival North Carolina State on Saturday.

Barkley’s big night lifts Eagles to win

When Saquon Barkley glanced up at a SoFi Stadium replay of his latest huge run for the Eagles on Sunday night, he happened to see a graphic indicating he had 173 yards rushing — only 16 shy of what he knew to be his career high. “I said, ‘Aw, I wish I never saw that,’ ” Barkley said with a grin. “That’s just the devil talking. ... I’m a believer that if it happens, it happens. Just let it come to you.” A few carries later, both Barkley’s personal best and additional superlatives fell right to him with his second long TD run. Barkley ran for scores of 70 and 72 yards and finished with an Eagles-record 255 yards rushing in their seventh consecutive win, 37-20 over the Rams. Barkley racked up the ninth-most yards rushing in a game in NFL history. “Saquon has that ability to hit home runs, and sometimes that’s how it goes,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. Barkley had 302 total yards — becoming the 12th player in NFL history to top 300. The 27-year-old two-time Pro Bowler leads the league with a career-best 1,392 yards rushing, including a league-best seven 100-yard rushing games in his first season with the Eagles.

Naeher, 36, retiring as USWNT goalie

U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is retiring from international soccer. Naeher is on the team’s roster for a pair of upcoming matches in Europe but those games will be her last after a full 11 years playing for the United States. Over the course of her career, Naeher was on the U.S. team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2019 and the gold medal at the Olympics this summer in France. She’s the only U.S. goalkeeper to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and an Olympic final. She made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans’ 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic final. Naeher, 36, announced her retirement on social media Monday. “Every tear shed in the challenging times and disappointments made every smile and celebration in the moments of success that much more joyful. This has been a special team to be a part of and I am beyond proud of what we have achieved both on and off the field,” she wrote. “The memories I have made over the years will last a lifetime.” Naeher has also played for the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars since 2016. —News services