The Olympian from Olympia, Washington • B1

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15 2020 1BFACEBOOK.COM/THEOLYMPIAN TWITTER.COM/THEOLYMPIANTHEOLYMPIAN.COM Sports CLASSIFIEDS, 5B NATIONALS FINALIZE TWO-YEAR DEAL WITH RELIEF PITCHER HUDSON 3B MLB Washington State is close to finalizing an agreement with Nick Rolovich to take over as the head foot- ball coach, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The people spoke to The Associated Press on Monday night on condition of anonymity because the hiring had not been announced by the school. The Athletic first reported that Ro- lovich is expected to take over the Washington State program after Mike Leach left for Mis- sissippi State last week. The deal is expected to be for five years at $3 million per season. Rolovich has been at Hawaii for four seasons and led the Rainbow Warriors to the Moun- tain West Conference West Division title this season.

Ha- waii went 10-5 overall, losing to Boise State in the Mountain West title game but rebounding to beat BYU in the Hawaii Bowl. Rolovich has overseen a sig- nificant turnaround with the Warriors. When he took over at Hawaii in 2016, he inherited a program that had won 11 total games in its first four seasons in the Mountain West. won at least seven games in three of his four seasons. The 10 wins this season were the most for the Warriors since 2010, when they won 10 games and were co-champs of the WAC with Nevada and Boise State.

Rolovich makes sense for Washington State because of the style of offense run during his time at Hawaii. His high-scoring, pass-happy sys- tem will play well in Pullman after time installing the offense on the Pa- louse. Rolovich spent four seasons as an assistant at Hawaii before becoming the offensive coor- dinator at Nevada in 2012. He returned to his alma mater to take over the head job with the Warriors in 2016. Washington State athletic director Pat Chun give much detail last week about what he was seeking in a head coach and whether he wanted to stay with the specific style Leach coached, which made Washington State an attractive destination for quarterbacks and skill position players.

Chun give a timeline, only reiterating he understood the urgency of landing a head coach while not wanting to rush the process. Chun said it was not the same job it was when Leach was hired in late 2011. Washington State was 9-40 before Leach arrived. The Cougars went 55-47 with six bowl appear- ances in eight seasons. believe that Coach Leach has left us in great Chun said.

on what he took over and what is here now, this is not a rebuild anymore at Washington State. We need and will go find the right person that is going to add to this pro- STEVE CONNER AP Nick Rolovich has been the coach at Hawaii for four seasons, winning at least seven games in three of his four years and 10 games this season. Washington State set to hire Rolovich as new head coach COLLEGE FOOTBALL BY TIM BOOTH Associated Press RENTON Could the Seahawks give Marshawn Lynch a special, part- time contract to get him back next year? a scenario Pete Carroll says consider offering Lynch to extend the Seahawks redux he started for the final three games of this season. The last one was two-touchdown night Sunday in divisional-playoff loss at Green Bay. Do you think Lynch wants to sign back for all of 2020? Man- datory offseason workouts, the monotony of training camp and the preseason plus per- ceived to be the less-important games of September, October and maybe even November? Carroll was asked Monday if he and the Seahawks would consider an arrangement with Lynch of a partial-season con- tract.

open to said the coach who always seeks cutting edges, and who has giv- en Lynch preferred treatment before. look at Lynch had four touchdowns in three games in his second Seat- tle go-round from Dec. 23 through Sunday night. He was surprisingly fit and football- ready after spending the pre- vious 14 months on his couch at home in the Bay Area, and at least Dec. 15 serving tequila shots to fans in the parking lot at his hometown Raiders final game in Oakland.

In fact, he is the only guy in the universe the Seahawks would be willing to flex for like that. Carroll laughed at that. And he agreed. think a good way to phrase he said, continuing to chuckle. So was Lynch, for the Sea- psyche, locker room and playoff push.

Following 28-23 loss to the Packers, Lynch walked downstairs from the locker room to the locker room. There he swapped game jerseys with Packers quar- Are Seahawks considering part-time deal for Marshawn Lynch? BY GREGG BELL NFL SEE 2B NEWORLEANS From small-town Ohio kid to Louisiana legend, Joe Burrow capped his record-breaking, Heisman-winning season by bringing a national champion- ship to LSU. Burrow threw five touchdown passes, ran for another score and finished off one of the most accomplished seasons in college football history by leading the top-ranked Tigers to a 42-25 victory against No. 3 Clemson on Monday night in the playoff final. one of the greatest players in LSU Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said.

done so much for the state of Louisiana and LSU. We are so grateful to Joe The senior quarterback from The Plains, Ohio, delivered the Tigers (15-0) their first national title since 2007 and fourth over- all, breaking a few more records along the way in what was al- ready an historic season. His five TD passes and 463 yards passing are the most for a BCS or College Football Playoff title game. So were his six total touchdowns. is what I wanted to do from the time I was 5 years old, was hoist this trophy.

And bring- ing it back to Bur- row said, then caught himself. guess in Louisiana, but staying in Louisiana, we going to let someone come in here and steal this from us in our home state. have a great fan base that came out and supported us. We were going to keep this thing right Under a shower of sparkling white, gold and purple confetti, Burrow raised the CFP cham- pionship trophy toward the Su- perdome roof. The party was on no doubt already raging on nearby Bourbon Street.

Burrow became the first major college quarterback to throw 60 touchdown passes in a season and LSU snapped defending national champion 29-game winning streak. For the first time in his college career, Clemson star quarterback Tre- vor Lawrence was on the losing team. hate how it the sophomore said. man, we did some really amazing The Tigers (14-1) had won first 25 starts. been a long time since stood in front of a team after a Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

On this night, Lawrence (18 for 37 for 234 yards) was no match for Burrow the Ohio State transfer who threw all of 16 TD passes last season with LSU. His ascent has been dizzying and unprecedented. Running a version of the New Orleans offense brought to LSU by 30-year-old assistant coach Joe Brady, Burrow and an array of talented receivers trans- formed these Tigers into one of the most prolific offenses col- lege football has ever seen. The Drew Brees, Bur- idol growing up, could not have done it better. This was vision for LSU when he was promoted from interim coach in 2016.

There was plenty of skepticism about the Cajun who had failed in his first crack as a head coach with Mississippi. Orgeron has proved to be the perfect fit for LSU. Just like Burrow. After tossing his fifth touch- down pass of the night, a per- fectly placed jumped ball to Terrace Marshall Jr. from 24 yards out to make it 42-25 with 12:08 left in the fourth, Burrow signaled TD and strolled to the COLLEGE FOOTBALL QB Burrow, LSU cap magical season, beat Clemson for title BY RALPH D.

RUSSO Associated Press SEE LSU TIGERS, 2B DAVID J. PHILLIP AP LSU head coach Ed Orgeron holds the trophy after the win against Clemson in the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday in the Superdome in New Orleans..