Print      
BC hires Loeffler as offensive coordinator
From staff and wire reports

Boston College coach Steve Addazio hired Scot Loeffler, the former Virginia Tech offensive coordinator, as the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator. Loeffler will also serve as BC’s quarterbacks coach and replace Todd Fitch, who was reassigned as BC’s wide receivers coach after the Eagles ranked 125th out of 127 teams in total offense (275.6 yards per game) last season. Addazio first worked with Loeffler at Florida, then brought him to Temple in 2011. “He was my offensive coordinator at Temple where we won nine games, including the first bowl victory in 32 years,’’ Addazio said. “He is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks coaches in the country and has a tremendous insight into the passing game and the offense as a whole. He is bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to BC.’’ Loeffler has tutored seven quarterbacks who have gone on to play in the NFL: Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, Brian Griese, Chad Henne, Drew Henson, John Navarre, Logan Thomas and four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who offered his endorsement. “Scot is a great teacher and will demand his quarterbacks be mentally and physically sound,’’ Brady said in a statement. “His passion for the game, his work ethic and his knowledge will benefit Boston College greatly.’’

Dunn’s buzzer-beating shot lifts No. 12 PC over Creighton

Kris Dunn hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer and scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half as No. 12 Providence College overcame its worst shooting of the season (a season-low 29.6 percent) to defeat Creighton, 50-48, in Omaha. Dunn redeemed himself after Maurice Watson stole the ball from him and scored the tying basket to make it 48-all with 11.2 seconds left . . . Junior guard Corbin Miller came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points in Harvard’s 73-57 victory over visiting Ryerson in a non­conference affair at Lavietes Pavilion. Miller scored all his points for the Crimson (8-8) from beyond the 3-point arc, where he hit a career-high 6 of 12 shots. Evan Cummings chipped in 12 points and Zena Edosomwan had his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Baseball

Colorado, OF Parra agree on 3-year, $27.5 million deal

Versatile outfielder Gerardo Parra has agreed to a three-year, $27.5 million deal with the Colorado Rockies. Colorado will hold a club option for a fourth year at $12 million, but can buy out Parra for $1.5 million. On his Instagram page, Parra, a two-time Gold Glove winner, said he was ‘‘super excited to join the Rockies!’’ The lefthanded hitter joins a crowded outfield that includes Carlos Gonzalez, Corey Dickerson and Charlie Blackmon. Parra hit .291 with 14 homers last season for Milwaukee and Baltimore, which obtained him in a trade deadline deal . . . Lefthander Wei-Yin Chen and infielder Chris Johnson agreed to terms with the Miami Marlins. Chen, who went 46-32 with a 3.72 ERA in four seasons with the Orioles, agreed to a five-year contract after going 11-8 with a 3.34 ERA in 31 starts last year. The veteran adds needed depth to the rotation behind ace Jose Fernandez and might become Miami’s No. 2 starter. Johnson, who was with the Braves and Indians last year and batted .255 in 83 games, will provide reserve depth at first and third base . . . Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, a power-hitting outfielder who starred for the New York Giants in the 1950s in a career abbreviated by major league baseball’s exclusion of black players, died at 96 of natural causes at his Houston home. Obituary, B8. Irvin was 30 when he joined the Giants in 1949, two years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, and served as a mentor to Willie Mays. “I lost someone I cared about and admired very, very much; someone who was like a second father to me,’’ Mays said.

Hockey

Blackhawks extend coach Quenneville three yearsThe Chicago Blackhawks gave coach Joel Quenneville a three-year contract extension, locking up the highly successful coach through the 2019-20 season. Quenneville, who has guided 16 of his 18 teams to the postseason, has a 782-451-77-110 record over 19 years as an NHL head coach, including the past eight in Chicago, where he has won three Stanley Cup championships since 2010. After Tuesday night’s 3-2 win over Nashville, his Blackhawks teams were 344-168-69 with a franchise-best .651 winning percentage in the regular season in that time.

MISCELLANY

Blatter, Platini face life bans from FIFA ethics prosecutorsFIFA ethics prosecutors will appeal to increase the eight-year bans imposed on former FIFA leaders Sepp Blatter and Michael Platini to lifetime bans, arguing the original sanctions were too lenient. Blatter and Platini have said they will appeal the suspensions handed down by four ethics judges . . . Oscar Pistorius’s lawyer said the South African Supreme Court of Appeal ignored the double-amputee’s physical vulnerability when it overturned a manslaughter conviction, declaring him guilty of murder for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 . . . Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia built a commanding lead in the first run to win a women’s World Cup slalom in Austria . . . A Spanish League appeals commission upheld Luis Suarez’s two-game suspension after the Barcelona star was involved in a post-match altercation following a heated 4-1 win over Espanyol.