Bevell excited for move to Seahawks

Darrell Bevell is getting a great opportunity as the offensive coordinator of the Seahawks, who despite finishing under .500 in their first year under coach Pete Carroll won the NFC West and then stunned the Super Bowl champion Saints in the playoffs.

Bevell wasn't going to be the offensive coordinator for new Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, who hired Bill Musgrave from the Falcons to do the job. And while the speculation was that Bevell might remain on Frazier's staff as quarterbacks coach, Bevell said: "I don't think I ever got that far, to be honest with you. I don't know, it never really got that far."

Frazier had given Bevell permission to seek another position, and it was late last week that Carroll called for permission to interview Bevell.

Frazier gave Bevell, 41, his release Monday and on Thursday he was fortunate enough to get a job that should be as good as the one he had for five years with the Vikings. "I'm excited about it. I'm really excited about the opportunity," Bevell said.

Carroll has said he wants to re-sign long-time Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who is headed for free agency. Hasselbeck has played the past 10 years with the Seahawks after beginning his career with the Packers; in 2000, Bevell began his coaching career with Green Bay while Hasselbeck still was Brett Favre's backup there.

"I thought he was going to be a very good player, I thought he was going to have a really good, solid career," Bevell said of ranking the young Hasselbeck with the Packers. "At that point he was the backup to Brett and obviously I think that played out, because he's had a nice career for himself in Seattle. ... I don't know him like I know Brett, but I've been around him."

Bevell, who no doubt would have remained with the Vikings had Brad Childress not been fired, said of the move to Seattle: "It's always tough, particularly when you have younger kids, but I think the kids are really handling it well and it will be an adjustment for all of us." Bevell and his wife, Tammy, have three daughters.

Love impressive Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is averaging 21.3 and 15 rebounds per game. The last player to average 20-plus points and 15-plus rebounds over the course of an NBA season was Moses Malone with the 76ers in 1982-83.

No player in NBA history has both averaged 12 rebounds per game and shot better than 40 percent from three-point range in the same season. Love leads the league at 15.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 43.7 percent from long range, 11th in the NBA.

Love also leads the league in NBA's efficiency rating at 29.0. It's a figure based on the formula of points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, missed field goals, missed free throws and turnovers.

Love also has had two games this season with 35-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and five-plus three pointers: Dec. 18 at Denver and Jan. 13 vs. Washington). Jason Richardson of the Orlando Magic is the only other player to accomplish that this season; the last player to do it twice in a season was Lakers star Kobe Bryant in 2007-08.

And Love has had 29 consecutive games with a double-double, the second-longest streak in the NBA since the 1986-87 season.

Jottings • Sonny Franck, one of the great Gophers running backs of all time, died this week at age 92. Franck, of Rock Island, Ill., became the starting halfback for the Gophers in 1938 and helped them win the national championship in 1940 under coach Bernie Bierman, when he was third in Heisman Trophy voting. He was probably one of the fastest players the Gophers had at the time and also ran track and field.

• Rob Moor, the chief executive officer of the Wolves, said Target Corp., hasn't shown a lot of interest in renewing the naming rights of the Target Center but added that there are five companies who have shown interest. The naming rights expire this September; the building has been called Target Center since it opened in 1990. Moor added that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has assured Wolves owners that he will find some money to remodel Target Center in the near future.

• A story on USA Today's website last week read: "High cost for DL'd players concerns MLB." The story reports that the Twins led five teams who spent more than $30 million on players who were on the disabled list in 2010; pictured was Joe Nathan, who earned $11.25 million but missed the season after elbow ligament replacement surgery. The total cost around the majors for all disabled players was $369.5 million, the story reported.

• Two Minnesota natives were named NHL All-Stars last week in St. Louis forward David Backes and Atlanta defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. Backes, a former Spring Lake Park High School athlete, leads the Blues with 36 points on 15 goals and 21 assists. The 26-year-old is in his fifth NHL season and signed a five-year, $22.5 million contract extension in November. Byfuglien, one of the heroes for the Chicago Blackhawks in their Stanley Cup-winning season of 2009-10, switched teams and positions this season, becoming a defenseman after a trade to the Thrashers. His 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) are second among NHL defensemen. Also getting selected for the All-Star Game as former Gophers forward Phil Kessel, who has 33 points (19 goals, 14 assists) for Toronto. Backes, Byfuglien and Kessel are all first-time All-Stars, as is Wild defenseman Brent Burns.

• Mike Muscala, a former standout player at Roseville, was named the Oscar Robertson national player of the week by the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association. The 6-11 sophomore plays for Bucknell and averaged 28.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots in victories last week over American and Holy Cross. Against Holy Cross on Sunday, Muscala hit the winning shot with 1.4 seconds left in a 74-72 victory. The award is two years old; previous winners this season include Jimmer Fredette of Brigham Young, Khris Middleton of Texas A&M, Doron Lamb of Kentucky and Demetri McCamey of Illinois.