Suspension to win ratio now at 3:1

[Frobby]

Can the guy coach? I don't follow college football all that closely, but it seems to me that the decision to fire a long-time coach who was a Maryland alum and who had brought the program to a much higher point than his predecessors was debatable to say the least. I think fans are not going to be very patient with Edsall, who has no ties to the school and no real big-time track record to speak of. They are much more likely to be patient with Turgeon because of the graceful way in which Gary Williams stepped down and the fact that Turgeon has actually done well in a fairly big-time environment before.

[glenn__davis]

Well that is the million dollar question, isn't it Frobby?

Personally, I think the coaches' accomplishments prior to UMD are pretty similar. But then I seem to think that what he did at UCONN was more impressive than others, apparently. Mostly because I really can't think of a single reason why the UCONN program should have been successful. It's cold. It's not a hotbed of football talent. It's clearly a basketball-first school. There's no history of success. Now I can't speak to facilities there because I don't know. But for any coach to have sustained success there in a BCS conference is impresive to me.

Turgeon also did a very nice job at A & M, which is obviously a football-first school. But he never really advanced above the level that Edsall did at UCONN.

I think both stepped into difficult situations with depleted rosters and minimal talent. Both have a lot of work to do, particularly on the recruiting trail. Both have been "involved" with big-time talent, but neither has managed to land any yet. It appears, based on their comments, that both have not been pleased with what was left for them.

I do agree with a point that poster Slappy made in another thread, that Turgeon appears to have assembled a much more competent staff. Edsall's hirings for his staff certainly do not seem to have helped matters. Gary Crowton was an odd choice from the start for a coach who prefers more physical football, and I personally think he's been absolutely awful.

In all honesty I really think the two are very similar.

[JohnD]

UCONN was never more than mediocre in what was a mediocre at best football conference.

To top it off, his coaching staff has done a really horrible job, and he's been nothing short of abrasive to deal with, whether it's players, fans, or media. He's done absolutely nothing to help himself. On the one hand he can get away with it, since he's not going anywhere for a while. And now the team is on an unprecedented string of double-digit losses. There's this perception, and rumor has it even some players think this, that he's a phony tough guy who talks about accountability and respect and all, but doesn't really practice what he preaches. He's just a difficult person. We know he loves to make excuses. So his personality is just as much to blame. But overall, I think he gets too much credit for making UCONN mediocre.

[Pedro Cerrano]

The Edsall witch hunt on this board would make the Puritans blush. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the lack of accountability placed on THE PLAYERS by certain members of this board is hilarious.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Well, I guess everyone knows who the new sheriff is in town by now.

Yeah, but its looking a lot like Rock Ridge before Mongo rode in and punched out that horse. Let's hope the rest of this movie is more like the rest of that movie...

[CT203]

Well, I guess everyone knows who the new sheriff is in town by now. That's all well and good, but he needs to improve the recruiting and get some wins under his belt over the next few years or this will all by for naught.

I keep reminding myself, sometimes you need to tear it all down in order to rebuild it better than before. Let's hope he's the man to help rebuild it into something better because he's not going anywhere anytime soon with that contract and the Maryland athletic department's financial woes.

This is exactly what I said was going to happen. He is getting rid of dead weight and the players who are not buying into his philosophies. He can care less about how talented you are if you break team rules and expectations.

Once he gets his recruits and his type of players the program will get better. Still don't think he is a coach that will win acc championships.

[glenn__davis]

UCONN was never more than mediocre in what was a mediocre at best football conference.

To top it off, his coaching staff has done a really horrible job, and he's been nothing short of abrasive to deal with, whether it's players, fans, or media. He's done absolutely nothing to help himself. On the one hand he can get away with it, since he's not going anywhere for a while. And now the team is on an unprecedented string of double-digit losses. There's this perception, and rumor has it even some players think this, that he's a phony tough guy who talks about accountability and respect and all, but doesn't really practice what he preaches. He's just a difficult person. We know he loves to make excuses. So his personality is just as much to blame. But overall, I think he gets too much credit for making UCONN mediocre.

UCONN was a little above mediocre. They were not great. But I personally think the fact that they were mediocre at all is an impressive accomplishment. What the heck do you sell a kid on to play at UCONN, aside from playing time if possible?

As for the rest of the criticisms, I agree whole-heartedly regarding his coach selections. But the rest I think is very, very overblown. Yesterday a lot of the players tweeted critical remarks after hearing of Tyler's suspension. Of course, everyone was all over that. But later a few players re-neged on those and supported Edsall. Didn't see much coverage of that.

I do not think he has lost the team nearly as much as people think. I'm sure you will see a few transfers, but I don't think it will be the mass exodus that people are expecting.

Look at your own response in this thread. You immediately poked fun of him in the first post about Mackall, implying that the suspension wasn't warranted, without even knowing what Mackall had done.

[JohnD]

This is exactly what I said was going to happen. He is getting rid of dead weight and the players who are not buying into his philosophies. He can care less about how talented you are if you break team rules and expectations.

Once he gets his recruits and his type of players the program will get better. Still don't think he is a coach that will win acc championships.

It'd have been nice to know that before I spent money on season tickets this season. I didn't spend money and darn near entire days to watch double-digit blowouts so he could prove his point. I'm sure all of us who paid the money to watch us get our butts kicked at home by Temple and UVA feel really good because it somehow proved a point. Certainly, a point was made, but I don't think it's the point anyone in the state of Maryland thought it would be. And a lot of people with offices in College Park aren't going to like the points myself and others make in January when they ask us about renewing season tickets.

[CT203]

http://admissions.uconn.edu/virtualtour/map/athletics_bscomplex.php

Uconn has one of the best football facilities in the country. It should help recruiting and somewhat has over the past few years

[Flosman]

UCONN was a little above mediocre. They were not great. But I personally think the fact that they were mediocre at all is an impressive accomplishment. What the heck do you sell a kid on to play at UCONN, aside from playing time if possible?

As for the rest of the criticisms, I agree whole-heartedly regarding his coach selections. But the rest I think is very, very overblown. Yesterday a lot of the players tweeted critical remarks after hearing of Tyler's suspension. Of course, everyone was all over that. But later a few players re-neged on those and supported Edsall. Didn't see much coverage of that.

I do not think he has lost the team nearly as much as people think. I'm sure you will see a few transfers, but I don't think it will be the mass exodus that people are expecting.

Look at your own response in this thread. You immediately poked fun of him in the first post about Mackall, implying that the suspension wasn't warranted, without even knowing what Mackall had done.

I agree with you on the fans being out to lunch on the Discipline stuff, however I think we have seen a very poor coaching job this season. Hell I don't have any better understanding of exactly what systems he wants to run. MAybe he has gotten himself trapped halfway between what he believes and what his players can actually do. But from my experience you have to believe in what you have on the call sheets. By believe I mean total commitment. If the players smell the slightest doubt from the coaches you lose the team. Edsel's style IMO would make this a bigger problem.

[Pedro Cerrano]

It'd have been nice to know that before I spent money on season tickets this season. I didn't spend money and darn near entire days to watch double-digit blowouts so he could prove his point. I'm sure all of us who paid the money to watch us get our butts kicked at home by Temple and UVA feel really good because it somehow proved a point. Certainly, a point was made, but I don't think it's the point anyone in the state of Maryland thought it would be. And a lot of people with offices in College Park aren't going to like the points myself and others make in January when they ask us about renewing season tickets.

I know you loved Fridge, but aren't you at least a little disappointed in how poorly the PLAYERS PLAYED this year?

[JohnD]

Of course I am. But I'm also disappointed that less talented players spent more time on the field while those who could have scored touchdowns, gotten first downs, what have you, languished on the bench. In the last two months, DJ Adams has been on the field for three drives. Maryland scored touchdowns on those three drives against Notre Dame.

Last week Maryland had the ball inside the 10. The first play called was this long developing wheel route to a freshman fullback. Are you effing kidding me?! How many times will Danny O'Brien hand off on a zone read option (like hell if he's running, he ain't no option QB) before Crowton realizes maybe O'Brien isn't an option quarterback? As bad as some players were this year, the coaching staff gets most of the blame for not putting players in the position to make things happen, either because they called disastrous plays, or because they weren't even on the field to begin with.

Hell, on a number of occasions players turned around to nod in agreement with me and others when we were yelling at the coaches about putting certain players in the game. These guys run the team like it's a HS JV squad, and that's sure as hell as high as their coaching acumen should have ever taken many of them.

[glenn__davis]

http://admissions.uconn.edu/virtualtour/map/athletics_bscomplex.php

Uconn has one of the best football facilities in the country. It should help recruiting and somewhat has over the past few years

Thanks, I was hoping you'd chime in. Not sure if you are a UCONN fan or not, but you seem to have knowledge of the program. What was the general feeling about Edsall from the fanbase there?

I think that will be an interesting program to watch now that Edsall is gone.

I agree with you on the fans being out to lunch on the Discipline stuff, however I think we have seen a very poor coaching job this season. Hell I don't have any better understanding of exactly what systems he wants to run. MAybe he has gotten himself trapped halfway between what he believes and what his players can actually do. But from my experience you have to believe in what you have on the call sheets. By believe I mean total commitment. If the players smell the slightest doubt from the coaches you lose the team. Edsel's style IMO would make this a bigger problem.

I agree totally with this post. Edsall seems to me to still believe whole-heartedly in himself and the direction of the program, which is important.

As I've said, I think a lot of the criticisms of his coordinator selection and the lack of improvement on the field is legitimate. It's a lot of the other stuff that I think is bogus, but obviously a lot of that comes from the frustration of the on-field product.

I hope to see both Crowton and Bradford gone next year, but I seriously doubt they will change things up so quickly.

[Birds of B'more]

I hope to see both Crowton and Bradford gone next year, but I seriously doubt they will change things up so quickly.

While I think Crowton is a terrible play-caller and wouldn't be sad to see him go, I like the principles employed in his system....namely the up-tempo, no-huddle style in which the offense operates and forces the pace on the defense, and spreading out defenses in order to have more of the field to attack. My concern is that if Crowton does go Edsall will just go back to the "3-Yards and a Cloud of Dust" offense he ran at UConn. Then you end up wasting another year of trying to get players to adapt to a new system....one in which many of them probably weren't recruited to play. And, of course, it's certainly not the sort of offense that sells tickets....so if you want a full stadium you had better be winning a ton of games.

I'll give Edsall a little bit of slack on Bradford, since he was put in a tough spot with Don Brown leaving right after Signing Day and the whole "will he or won't he" thing with Randy Shannon. Although I do think Edsall erred when he brought Keith Dudzinski in from UMass and didn't just name him DC....since Dudzinski coached under Don Brown and took over for him as DC at UMass, it probably would have been a much smoother transition.