Aztecs, Bolts Lose a Few Good Men, Pads Gain One

There it is on the home page of Yahoo! Sports. Two prominent headlines a San Diego sports fan didn't need to see Tuesday afternoon: "Michigan Hires Hoke" and "Panthers Tab Chargers' Rivera." But here's one they may like: "Saves Leader Hoffman Retires at 43." Find out why below.

This is how the Associated Press got the word out on San Diego State's loss of a coach who seemed to be turning the long-languishing program around after just two seasons on Montezuma Mesa:

"Brady Hoke has a few things in common with the late Bo Schembechler.

"He is from Ohio, he didn’t attend Michigan, he’s climbing the coaching ladder—and he’s about to take over the football program that Schembechler built into a national power.

"Michigan hired Hoke away from San Diego State, with athletic director Dave Brandon announcing the move Tuesday at a previously scheduled team meeting not long after LSU said Les Miles was staying in the Bayou instead of going to coach at the Big House."

And this is how the AP reported on Rivera leaving the Chargers, also after little more than two seasons,  for a head coaching position with Carolina:

"The Carolina Panthers have entrusted Ron Rivera with turning around the NFL’s worst team, making the San Diego defensive coordinator the second Latino head coach in NFL history.

"Rivera was introduced on Tuesday. He replaces John Fox (another ex-Chargers coach, by the way, who played at SDSU), who was let go earlier this month after Carolina went 2-14 in his ninth season.

"It’s the first head coaching job for the 49-year-old Rivera, who is of Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage. He joins ex-Raiders and Seahawks boss Tom Flores as the only Latino head coaches.

"Rivera ran the Chargers’ defense since midway through the 2008 season, with San Diego ranking tops in the NFL in total defense and pass defense this season. The ex-Bears linebacker also was defensive coordinator in Chicago from 2004-06."

And as far as Trevor Hoffman is concerned:

"Baseball’s all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman has thrown his final changeup, deciding at age 43 to retire and return to the San Diego Padres in a front office job. (You've gotta love that, Padres fans!)

"The Beverly Hills Sports Council, which represents Hoffman, confirmed Tuesday that he is done after recording 601 saves in 18 seasons.

"Hoffman played the bulk of his career with San Diego after being acquired as a rookie from the Florida Marlins in 1993 during the Padres’ infamous “Fire Sale” that stripped away most of their high-paid veterans. He left San Diego as a free agent following the 2008 season after contract talks abruptly ended, and pitched with the Milwaukee Brewers for two seasons.

"MLB.com first reported Hoffman’s retirement. Hoffman didn’t return messages seeking comment. Hoffman is scheduled to appear at a news conference at Petco Park on Wednesday morning.

"Padres co-owner Jeff Moorad said Hoffman will spend the next year familiarizing himself with several departments, including baseball operations, and then the two sides will determine what area will be best for him."

So San Diego's three major sports entertainment providers, the Chargers, Padres and Aztecs, all had news to report on this normally quiet day just after the holidays.

The Aztecs have already found a replacement for Hoke and will announce the hiring of current assistant Rocky Long, who worked miracles as head coach at New Mexico, at a press conference Wednesday. But will he be able to continue improving the program after the promising start that Hoke provided?

The Chargers hired a new special teams coach Tuesday (Rich Bisaccia, former Tampa Bay associate head coach and special teams coordinator) and now begin the search for a new defensive coordinator.

The Padres? They should add a statue alongside Tony Gwynn's on the hill in the Park at the Park to honor "Mr Padre II." If Mariano Rivera hangs on for a few more seasons with the Yankees, he'll likely surpass Hoffman's 601 career saves, but that won't detract from what Trevor has done for this city with his right arm and his generosity to some noble causes.