Sports Briefs: 12-23-20

Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin, center, speaks with his players during the second half of an NCAA college football game against San Jose State for the Mountain West championship, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
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Auburn hires Boise State’s Bryan Harsin to lead football program

Auburn has hired Boise State’s Bryan Harsin as its head coach, luring him away from his alma mater and into the powerful Southeastern Conference.

Auburn announced the hiring Tuesday evening. The 44-year-old Harsin is 69-19 with three Mountain West titles in seven seasons at Boise State, but winning in the SEC affords greater chances for playoff berths and national titles.

The Auburn job is also sure to bring a major pay raise, though contract details for Harsin weren’t immediately available.

“I’m incredibly excited and humbled for the opportunity to be at a place like Auburn University,” Harsin said in a statement. “I knew it would take a special opportunity to get me out of Boise and Auburn is exactly that, the chance to compete at the highest level for one of the greatest programs in college football.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and players in the Southeastern Conference, but am ready to help build a foundation at Auburn where we can consistently compete for championships.”

Florida’s Johnson leaves hospital 10 days after collapse on court

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida forward Keyontae Johnson is being released from the hospital Tuesday, 10 days after collapsing on the court at Florida State and needing emergency medical attention.

The school released a statement from his family saying, “We continue to be amazed at the pace of his recovery and look forward to spending Christmas together as a family.”

The family added that it will share “any information we think could help others” regarding the cause and extent of Johnson’s illness.

NHL COVID-19 rules: Coaches will mask up behind bench

NHL coaches are required to wear masks behind the bench, owners are barred from having face-to-face meetings with players, and teams can travel with no more than 50 people.

Those are among the coronavirus-related protocols the NHL released Tuesday in preparing to open the 2021 season on Jan. 13. Players scheduled to report for the start of training camp over the next two weeks.

The NHL also announced it is tweaking its offside rule for the upcoming season.

Both of the player’s skates must be fully across the plane of the opposing blue line ahead of the puck in order to be offside. That’s a switch from the previous rule in which a player was considered onside if he had at least one skate physically touching the blue line.

By wire sources