Good morning. This is Leadoff, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
Former Falcons coach Mike Smith has been linked to two head-coaching vacancies in the NFL.
Smith will interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to the Tampa Bay Times, and also is expected to interview with the San Diego Chargers, per ESPN.
Smith, 57, currently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, was the Falcons’ head coach from 2008 through 2014, compiling a 66-46 record and five consecutive winning seasons. He was fired after back-to-back losing records in 2013 and 2014.
Before joining the Falcons, Smith was Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator from 2003-07.
“Look at his record as a head coach,” Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter — a former Falcons offensive coordinator under Smith — told reporters in Tampa this week. “All of the guys they’re interviewing out there, none of them have Mike Smith’s record as a head coach.”
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Ticket prices are soaring on the secondary market for the Alabama-Clemson sequel in college football's national championship game in Tampa, Fla.
That’s attributable in part to the relatively short distance from both campuses to Tampa. The teams met in Glendale, Ariz., in last season’s championship game.
TicketIQ CEO Jesse Lawrence wrote in an email Tuesday night that the get-in price for the Jan. 9 game is up 35 percent since Alabama and Clemson won their semifinals on New Year’s Eve to $1,050 on the Clemson side of the field and $900 on the Bama side.
Overall, the average asking price is $2,200, almost four times last year’s price, Lawrence wrote.
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It's not surprising, given the game's high stakes, but the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl's College Football Playoff semifinal matchup of Alabama vs. Washington on Saturday set records for the Atlanta bowl in both attendance and TV audience.
The announced attendance of 75,996 at the Georgia Dome topped the previous Peach Bowl record of 75,406 for the Georgia-Virginia Tech game in 2006. The attendance also set a record for any football game in the Dome, topping the previous high of 75,892 for the 2008 SEC Championship game between Alabama and Florida.
Meanwhile, the TV audience for ESPN's telecast of Saturday's game averaged 19.34 million viewers (or 19.81 million if you include those who streamed the game online.)
“It’s fitting that the biggest college football game in Atlanta’s history also delivered its biggest numbers, both in attendance and viewership,” Peach Bowl president and CEO Gary Stokan said.
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