SPORTS digest

YSU’s Dellovade named FCS Academic All-Star

Youngstown

Youngstown State senior linebacker Armand Dellovade was named to the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team announced on Friday.

These 47 individuals were selected from a pool of nearly 100 applicants.

He is the first Penguin named to the FCA ADA All-Academic Team since Kurt Hess in 2013.

Saints’ Dan Campbell interviews with Browns

CLEVELAND

The Browns took their coaching search on the road to interview New Orleans tight ends coach Dan Campbell.

The 42-year-old Campbell met Friday with Browns general manager John Dorsey and other members of Cleveland’s front office.

Campbell, who played for 11 seasons in the league, served as Miami’s interim coach for the last 12 games in 2015. That stint earned him widespread respect and resulted in him being pursued by other teams. He’s officially listed as an assistant head coach with the Saints.

Campbell is the fourth candidate to meet with Dorsey, who is expected to conduct interviews through the weekend. Earlier this week, the Browns interviewed interim coach Gregg Williams, former Indianapolis and Detroit coach Jim Caldwell and Minnesota interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski.

Steelers part ways with LB coach Joey Porter

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Steelers have parted ways with outside linebackers coach Joey Porter.

The team announced Friday that Porter’s contract would not be renewed. The move is the first of what could be several coaching adjustments by the Steelers after Pittsburgh failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

The 41-year-old Porter, who spent 13 seasons in the NFL before going into coaching, joined the Steelers as a defensive assistant in 2014 and was promoted to outside linebackers coach in 2015.

Coach Mike Tomlin called the decision to fire Porter “difficult.”

Play by Pittsburgh’s outside linebackers was uneven during Porter’s tenure. Though T.J. Watt finished with a career-best and team-high 13 sacks, the development of 2015 first-round pick Bud Dupree has been slow.

Notre Dame’s Love, Mack enter NFL Draft

Notre Dame All-America cornerback Julian Love and tight end Alize Mack are forgoing their final seasons of eligibility and entering the NFL draft.

Both players made their announcements Friday on Twitter.

The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Love told reporters after the Cotton Bowl loss last week to Clemson that he received a second-round grade from the NFL draft advisory board. The junior broke up 36 passes the past two seasons at Notre Dame, including a school-record 20 in 2017.

Mack was a senior, though he missed the entire 2016 due to academics and had another season of eligibility. The former four-star recruit caught a career-high 36 passes for 360 yards and three touchdowns.

Rays cut capacity at Tropicana Field

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

The Tampa Bay Rays are trimming capacity of Tropicana Field by more than 5,000 seats as part of renovations and capital improvements to the domed stadium for the upcoming season.

The team announced Friday that the entire upper deck will be closed, trimming seating to an estimated 25,000-26,000. That’s down from 31,042, which already was the smallest capacity in the major leagues.

Tampa Bay finished next to last in attendance in 2018 at 14,258 per game. The Miami Marlins (10,013) were the only team in the majors that drew fewer fans.

The announcement comes about a month after the Rays announced they were abandoning plans to build a new ballpark in the Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa.

Staff/wire report