Fridge's Future?

[Birds of B'more]

With the announcement of Yow resigning to go to NC State, I have to think that Fridge is facing a "win or else" scenario this season. Not that he wasn't already....even if Yow stayed, I think Fridge needed a bowl game to keep his job for 2011....but I think he may actually need an 8 to 10-win season now (which is a near impossibility IMO). Not only that, but I wonder if the new AD (with the blessing of the new UM president) may also just decide to pay Franklin his $1 million and start over with a new coach and staff. In the short term, this uncertainty could hurt with recruiting for the 2011 freshman class. But long-term, it could be the dawn of a brighter day for UM Football.

[PaulBako]

Force fridge to retire

Buyout franklin

hire Mike Leach

win

*hope the new prez is a better fundraiser and sergey brin donates to us and some of the extra sports (ie. womens water polo) are cut

[Birds of B'more]

Force fridge to retire

Buyout franklin

hire Mike Leach

win

*hope the new prez is a better fundraiser and sergey brin donates to us and some of the extra sports (ie. womens water polo) are cut

You'd have to cut some men's sports right along with them, per Title IX. But, short of getting Sergey or another wealthy alum to cough up bucks, it might be the way to go. Sink more money into sports that actually generate revenues (i.e. football), build them up, then you can restore the non-revenue programs down the road.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I had an interesting thought today: why not make Friedgen the athletic director? He knows how to raise money and connect with the boosters as well as the students, he has experience running a major organization (Division 1 football program); why would that not work?

[OregonBird]

Fridge won't get anywhere near 8 wins or won't really come close to a bowl game this year. I'm thinking 4, maybe 5 wins. Fridge and Franklin will both lose their jobs as the team and in particular the offense hasn't shown much progress.

Unfortunately we have come to realize that the Fridge just hasn't worked out like we all had expected. Recruiting and Development wasn't his strong point. The fact is, Fridge won with Vandy's recruits and we also found out that Vandy was pretty good at finding hidden gem football players. Not to take anything away from the Fridge b/c someone had to coach them up. Fridge was good at finding "athletes" with measurables but his staff did a poor job of developing them. I would have rather he have found some mean, hard, blue collar, less heralded football players with chips on their shoulders.

Also gone was the beauty of Fridge's early offenses. Oh how I miss seeing the option, the unpredictibility, the dynamicism, the balance of those offenses. Was it all due to Charlie Taafe? We'll never know. What I do know is that I don't like this "west coast" offense one bit as it hasn't gotten us anything.

I appreciate what Fridge has done but its time to move on.

[Birds of B'more]

I had an interesting thought today: why not make Friedgen the athletic director? He knows how to raise money and connect with the boosters as well as the students, he has experience running a major organization (Division 1 football program); why would that not work?

I might be wrong, but has there ever been someone who was fired as a football coach, then promoted to AD? I sure can't think of anytime that's happened. Honestly, I don't think Fridge is really PC enough to handle the politics that some with being an AD. He reminds me a lot of Craig T. Nelson's character in the TV show "Coach".

[Birds of B'more]

Also gone was the beauty of Fridge's early offenses. Oh how I miss seeing the option, the unpredictibility, the dynamicism, the balance of those offenses. Was it all due to Charlie Taafe? We'll never know.


I don't think it's the scheme of the offense so much as it is the play-calling and the players executing it. As an OC, Friedgen ran great offenses, both in the NFL and college. When he got to MD and hired Taafe as his OC and had leftover players, it was the same thing. Then, about the same time the team consisted entirely of his recruits was also when he fired Taafe and became the OC himself...and it's been downhill ever since. I guess what I'm saying is that it was a confluence of different factors that struck at the same time (after Fridge's 3rd season) that started the decline. I don't think there's any one glaring weakness that we can point to here. Like the Orioles, it's an accumulation of a bunch of different things.

[Majin Buu]

I just wish Fridge would retire. He’s been at this a long time and he’s not getting any younger. The football program is not going to get that much better anytime soon. He can be proud of the fact that he is probably the most successful coach in Maryland history, and he can hang his hat on that. I would hate to see a new AD force have to force him out, but what has to be done, has to be done. The Terps are falling behind the likes of N. Carolina, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech who have all improved over the past few years. Yow made a mess of things by making Franklin the coach in waiting. UMD is not big Texas. Franklin has been sold as a guy who is a great recruiter especially in the hotbed of Pennsylvania, but have we seen this translate to anything on the field? If Fridge leaves, I think the new AD should gauge the interest out there. Butch Davis, a good coach and recruiter, fell into Carolina's lap.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I might be wrong, but has there ever been someone who was fired as a football coach, then promoted to AD? I sure can't think of anytime that's happened. Honestly, I don't think Fridge is really PC enough to handle the politics that some with being an AD. He reminds me a lot of Craig T. Nelson's character in the TV show "Coach".

Who's talking about "firing" him? Promote him.

[Birds of B'more]

Who's talking about "firing" him? Promote him.

You could call it a "promotion", but it's really that in name only. The truth would be that he is no longer wanted as the head football coach, but they want to give him some position in the department so they can justify paying whatever is still left on his contract. That sounds at least partially like a firing to me. Besides, I don't think Fridge would be any more interested in the AD job than he is qualified for it. He'd probably ask to negotiate a buyout of his contract and just retire instead.

[Danielos38]

I was told last semester by a member of the football team that Fridge (and the entire coaching staff, including Franklin) was given an ultimatum to either get to a bowl or they would be fired. Now, that Yow is gone, I have no idea if it reamins true (or ever really was, for that matter). I would think that a bowl game would be the line anyways.

[Birds of B'more]

I was told last semester by a member of the football team that Fridge (and the entire coaching staff, including Franklin) was given an ultimatum to either get to a bowl or they would be fired. Now, that Yow is gone, I have no idea if it reamins true (or ever really was, for that matter). I would think that a bowl game would be the line anyways.

Word is she wanted to fire him after last season, but few if any of the boosters were willing to put up the money to buy out his contract. Whether that was because they still supported Fridge or they just didn't want to donate money for that purpose I'm not sure. And of course there was the public comment made by Gov O'Malley that pretty much ruled out using state funds for it. I think barring at least a bowl game Fridge will be let go after this year. The bigger question is what the new AD and president will do about Franklin. Again, I think this season is make or break for him too...if the offense is decent, then they might give him his shot. If not, he'll get his million dollars and we move on. Either way, what a dumb move by Yow that was. At least she's NC State's problem now.

[OregonBird]

Force fridge to retire

Buyout franklin

hire Mike Leach

win

*hope the new prez is a better fundraiser and sergey brin donates to us and some of the extra sports (ie. womens water polo) are cut

Hmm, that would be an interesting hire. Wide open, exciting offense would sell more seats and luxury boxes not to mention draw good recruits.

I'm not sure if his eccentricities would fit at UofM or on the east coast. I'm also not sure if he'd even pick up the phone if UofM called.

[PaulBako]

How would we get Leach? Simple.

Under Armour. He was previously the coach at TT, which was aslo an under armour school...

[OregonBird]

How would we get Leach? Simple.

Under Armour. He was previously the coach at TT, which was aslo an under armour school...

Not sure if UA helps much beyond some add'l compensation to Leach. Until they start putting loads of money into MD football and its facilities, UAs influence is somewhat limited.

I'd like to see Leach though, that could be fun.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Not sure if UA helps much beyond some add'l compensation to Leach. Until they start putting loads of money into MD football and its facilities, UAs influence is somewhat limited.

I'd like to see Leach though, that could be fun.

Kevin Plank is on the AD search committee.