d if there was a chance hed be coach of the Ducks and he shook his head and said simply No.I just felt bad for Mark. I love him like a brother, Kelly told reporters in Orlan

STANFORD, Calif. -- At the family home in South Lake Tahoe, Carol Haase sent her husband out to the shed to search for just the right pieces of wood.The creative mother of five had begun planning yet another important project in a long list of them for her kids. Son Jerod Haase, in his first season as Stanford mens basketball coach, had commissioned her to create a pair of wood-burning art pieces -- including one for outside the Cardinal locker room at Maples Pavilion.He requested three words: Invested. Tough. Selfless.And he asked for another piece to hang in his office with a space for former players to sign it when they return to visit campus.After coaching stops at alma mater Kansas, North Carolina and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Haase is ready to put down roots on The Farm. He hopes to build a program that, eventually, contends year in and year out again like it did for decades before.For him, that starts by thoughtfully incorporating the programs past success while imparting his own philosophies on a new team.Ive come to really believe in culture, Haase said. When I first became a head coach, we had a lot of conversations on the staff, `Is culture a real thing? or `How important is it? After my second year at UAB, I really jumped all in. The idea of, we have to develop a culture and know who we are because if we want to get to a certain spot and a certain level of success, there have to be some foundational pieces that we have.Our core values at UAB were different than they are here. When I got here, I knew they would be different. Stanford is a different place, this is going to be a different team. Were going to have a different vision for our program.Those three words -- invested, tough and selfless -- are ones Haase hopes define Stanford for years to come.It took him a long time to pick the words, said Carol, a former elementary and middle school art and English teacher who still fires clay work in her kiln.The Cardinal, picked to place 10th in the Pac-12, are off to a 6-3 start and currently on their December break for final exams. Players are greeted by the reminder of the teams philosophy with the wood burning every time they open the locker room door.Thats something were trying to do for life, senior guard Marcus Allen said.Haase is trying to move the program forward while leaning on its history. Former Stanford star Casey Jacobsen is a part-time practice player, and Haase has spoken a handful of times with Golden State Warriors assistant coach and former Cardinal center Jarron Collins since taking over in March. Collins hopes his demanding NBA schedule permits him to get to a practice one day soon.He sent out emails. He does a really good job of reaching out, Collins said. They sent out all their literature and bios on the coaches. Theyve set up an email service. He seems fiery, and thats important. Im excited for his start, and I hope he does well.Haase spoke to more than two dozen former players and successful longtime ex-Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. There was also input sought from current players, and even former coach Johnny Dawkins when they ran into each other on the recruiting trail.The basketball has come along nicely, though Haase said it would be baby steps at first. Even with 10 of the top scorers returning , building cohesion was among Haases first priorities. Of course, Stanford had a strong opportunity to bond during a season-opening trip last month to Shanghai, where it beat Harvard. The Cardinal also went through a Navy Seals training course.Haase took about four months choosing those three key words, saying, I have pages and pages of notes of getting thoughts from everyone about what they think the program is, what it needs to be if were going to be successful, what is important.If Im lucky enough to be the coach here for 25 years, our core values, I would be shocked if they changed, he said.Haase is settling in at the university he once thought hed attend . He walks his kids to school most days before strolling to his office. He continues to appreciate what Stanford offers, thrilled to have the full support of Hall of Fame womens basketball coach Tara VanDerveer and Rose Bowl-winning football coach David Shaw.All that effort has helped Haase quickly establish trust with his players.He knows what he wants, Allen said. He leads by example. Coach Haase brings a level of energy and just a level of being very personable, almost like hes a player. Hes right there, hes right in your ear telling you things. Julio Jones Youth Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Steve Bartkowski Falcons Jersey . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Kaleb-mcgary-falcons-jersey/ . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Kaleb McGary Womens Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Deion Sanders Youth Jersey . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. It has been 40 years since Oregon fired a head coach. That was also the last time the Ducks went outside the program to fill the spot.Now Oregon is again looking beyond its current staff following the dismissal of coach Mark Helfrich.Athletic director Rob Mullens told players that he would be hitting the road on Wednesday and moving quickly to make a hire. Oregon has hired an executive search firm to aid in the process.Were going to look far and wide. Were going to have a broad, diverse pool of candidates, Mullens said. We want somebody who embraces the student experience, who understands the high expectations at the University of Oregon, who understands our community, you know, really, really wants to be here.Helfrich spent four years as head coach of Oregon, promoted to the job after serving under previous coach Chip Kelly. Kelly was previously the offensive coordinator under head coach Mike Bellotti, who was the offensive coordinator under coach Rich Brooks.Brooks, who coached the Ducks from 1977-94, was hired when the Ducks dismissed Don Read in 1976.Among the possible candidates being mentioned for the Oregon job are Western Michigans P.J. Fleck and Boise States Bryan Harsin, as well as Floridas Jim McElwain and Penn States James Franklin.Kelly, currently head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, said Wednesday he had not spoken to anyone at Oregon except for Helfrich. He was asked if there was a chance hed be coach of the Ducks and he shook his head and said simply No.I just felt bad for Mark. I love him like a brother, Kelly told reporters in Orlando, Florida, where the Niners (1-10) were practicing while in the midst of a two-game road trip. Hes a tremendous person. Hes a hell of a football coach but hes an even better person.Helfrich was fired Tuesday evening following a meeting with Mullens, three days after the Ducks ended the season with the 34-24 loss to the rival Oregon State Beavers in the annual Civil War game.Oregon finished 4-8 overall and won just two games in conference play to finish in the basement of the Pac-12 North. It was a dramatic fall for a team that two seasons earlier had gone to the College Football Playoff title game.Oregon had not finished with a losing season since 2004, which was the last time the team missed out on a bowl game.Everybody wants to try and pinpoint to one thing that changes, but clearly over the last couplee of years, particularly this year, we werent as competitive as we needed to be in a number of games.dddddddddddd. Thats not the only thing. Then you start to look at the totality of the program and, again, there was a shift in culture. Culture has been the winning edge here and we need to get that edge back, Mullens said at a news conference late Tuesday.Helfrich, who went 37-16 in his four years as head coach, had an $11.6 million buyout on his contract with the Ducks. He signed a five-year deal worth at least $17.5 million with the Ducks in February 2015.Once known for their innovative spread offense under Kelly, the Ducks started showing vulnerability last season when they went 9-4 and got embarrassed in the Alamo Bowl by blowing a 31-0 lead at the half before falling in triple overtime to TCU, 47-41.Oregon struggled for the past two seasons to find a replacement for Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2014 before turning pro. Last year, the Ducks brought in graduate transfer Vernon Adams, whose season was marred by a finger injury. This season, Oregon turned to another graduate transfer, Dakota Prukop out of Montana State, who was unseated by freshman Justin Herbert at midseason.The Ducks also had trouble on defense. Last seasons defensive coordinator, Don Pellum, was demoted and Oregon hired former Michigan coach Brady Hoke.But players had a hard time adapting to Hokes new 4-3 defensive scheme and the Ducks finished the season ranked 126th out of 128 FBS-level teams for total defense, allowing opponents an average of 528.4 yards per game. Oregon allowed an average of 41.4 points per game, ranked 125th nationally.The Ducks lost to Nebraska in the third week of the season, touching off a five-game slide that was the teams longest since 1996. Along the way was Washingtons 70-21 rout of Oregon at Autzen Stadium, which ended the Huskies 12-game losing streak in the series.On Wednesday, a few players spoke to reporters about Helfrich and the uncertainty about the future.Its difficult. Hes the guy that recruited me, came to my house, said he had my back, freshman linebacker Troy Dye said. It hurts a little bit. But its a business.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '