AROUND THE NFL Friday’s news & notes

DRAFT

Record number of underclassmen declare

NEW YORK

A record number of college football players will bypass their remaining years of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

The 135 players forgoing eligibility surpasses the 119 from last year. The NFL released the official list on Friday. There are 103 underclassmen eligible for the April 25-27 draft. Another 32 players have graduated but still have college eligibility.

The vast majority of players made their intentions known ahead of Monday’s NFL deadline. Among the most notable were Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray of Oklahoma and Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

Alabama has seven players among the 135, the most of any school, including All-America defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, All-America safety Deionte Thompson and All-America offensive tackle Jonah Williams. Ohio State and Oklahoma each have six players.

Murray has already signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics after being selected in the first round of the MLB draft in June. Murray has yet to break his deal with the A’s, but he could abandon it to play in the NFL. Murray, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 195, had a spectacular season with the Sooners and is a possible first-round pick by NFL teams.

The 103 underclassmen who have met the NFL’s three-year eligibility rule and renounced their remaining eligibility to enter the draft are three short of last year’s record 106. That number has been trending up for years, including a spike in 2014, when 98 underclassmen were granted special eligibility by the league. In 2013, 73 players fell into that category.

Since 2014, at least 95 underclassmen entered the draft without completing their degrees in every season but 2015, when the number was 74.

“It is not a good situation,” said former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt, who now works for the NFL Network.

Brandt said too many players who are not ready to compete in the NFL are swayed by agents to enter the draft. He said offensive linemen and quarterbacks in particular can usually benefit from more college seasoning.

“When we start taking all these guys, they’re doing the colleges a disservice, they’re doing the players a disservice,” Brandt said.

DALLAS COWBOYS

Scott Linehan fired as offensive coordinatior

DALLAS

Scott Linehan is out as offensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys only days after coach Jason Garrett sent mixed messages about the future for the oft-criticized assistant.

Garrett, in a statement released by the team Friday, described the move as a mutual decision after he and Linehan had some open and positive discussions this week. Linehan, who just completed his fifth season in Dallas, had one more season left on his contract.

“This was very much a mutual decision, and there was a great deal of common ground and shared understanding between both of us during our meetings,” Garrett said. “Scott has had an incredibly positive impact on our football team. He has been instrumental in the development and success of a significant number of our veteran and younger players.”

The Cowboys rebounded after a 3-5 start to win the NFC East. They beat the Seattle Seahawks in a home wild-card game before a 30-22 loss at the Los Angeles Rams last weekend.

Garrett said on his radio show Monday he thought Linehan would return and didn’t expect any significant changes to his staff. But at a news conference later in the day, Garrett was far from definitive and said discussions about a coaching staff hadn’t happened.

CHICAGO BEARS

Former Steelers DB joins coaching staff

LAKE FOREST, ILL.

The Chicago Bears have hired former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend as defensive backs coach.

Townsend played on two Super Bowl championship teams with Pittsburgh and has spent eight years on NFL and college staffs. He was the New York Giants’ assistant defensive backs coach this season.

Townsend will work with two All-Pros in safety Eddie Jackson and cornerback Kyle Fuller. He replaces Ed Donatell, who joined Vic Fangio’s staff in Denver as defensive coordinator after getting passed over by the Bears in favor of Chuck Pagano. Chicago went 12-4 to win the NFC North and made its first playoff appearance since 2010 in coach Matt Nagy’s first season.

The Bears also hired Ronell Williams as defensive quality control coach on Friday.

Associated Press