Georgia sports for Friday, January 25th

The Atlanta Falcons officially introduced their new head coach in a Thursday afternoon news conference at team headquarters in Flowery Branch. The team also announced two additional appointments for the coaching staff. Emmitt Thomas will stay with the club and serve the role of assistant head coach. Thomas filled-in as interim head coach for 3 games to close last season, following the resignation of Bobby Petrino. The Falcons also hired Brian Van Gorder as new defensive coordinator. He leaves a job he had taken with South Carolina only 4 weeks ago. Van Gorder served as the Falcons' linebackers coach last season. Van Gorder is also a former Georgia Bulldogs' defensive coordinator, and served one season as head coach at Georgia Southern.

From the Atlanta Braves' offseason, the team has signed closer Rafael Soriano to a 2-year, 9-million dollar contract. Soriano was eligible for arbritration.

Women's college basketball action from last night included 17th-ranked Georgia scoring the 82-55 win over Florida. It was win number-700 in the coaching career of Andy Landers.

Out of pro hockey, the Atlanta Thrashers lost in a shootout to the Rangers in New York, 2-1.

Crash kills Athens high school coach

A multi-vehicle crash Sunday in Oxford-Alabama killed an assistant football and basketball coach from North Oconee High School. Shawn Smith was killed when the car he was driving was hit head-on by a tractor-trailer. Three students who were passengers in the car were injured, including Andrew Landers-the son of University of Georgia women's basketball coach Andy Landers. The conditions of the three were not released, but it's believed Landers is the most seriously hurt.