In-Depth Interview with Randy Edsall (By Eric Prisbell)

[OregonBird]

When you're a kid who came from a crappy background who has been able to do what you want your whole life, why would you choose to go to a school with militaristic rules?

We're not just talking about discipline here. That would be totally acceptable. We're talking about rules that involve not wearing a hat in a building and everyone wearing the same thing to lift weights. That's crazy. No one wants that.

Tough for me to answer the first question. I came from a middle class background. Like I said though, I'll bet these kids would be better at checking their ego at the door if MD was a Top 10 team and they thought Edsall and his staff would help them get to the NFL. I guarantee you Nick Saban has rules, maybe not as detailed as some of Edsall's, and he will get in a players face and yell at them nose to nose. You don't hear a lot of complaining out of that program. Kids put their ego aside.

As for your second point, I'm sure some of these kids went to private school and had to wear school uniforms and couldn't wear hats. I don't see the big deal in it. As you saw in my post, I played baseball in a program that if you didn't show enough stirup or if you're cleats weren't polished, you didn't get on the bus to go to the game.

[glenn__davis]

Yeah, it's crazy considering those guys don't have to do any of that stuff anywhere else.

And the decision is never education/football or wearing your hat. It's education/football with no hat and an intense disciplinarian at Maryland or education/football anywhere else with a coach who will treat you like an adult and not a convict.

If they feel they are being treated as a convict, perhaps a visit to the state penetentary is in order so they can see what the life of a convict is really like. Let's stop with the hyperbole here.

The way Edsall does things is not the way I would do things. But it can be and is effective if done correctly.

It really is not asking a lot to ask a guy to take a hat off in a building, or to take out an earring at certain times, or to wear certain clothing while they work out. Again, it's not the way I would do things, but if a guy's ability to "express himself" was more important than conforming to be part of the team, then I doubt I'd want that guy on my team anyway.

[Danielos38]

Tough for me to answer the first question. I came from a middle class background. Like I said though, I'll bet these kids would be better at checking their ego at the door if MD was a Top 10 team and they thought Edsall and his staff would help them get to the NFL. I guarantee you Nick Saban has rules, maybe not as detailed as some of Edsall's, and he will get in a players face and yell at them nose to nose. You don't hear a lot of complaining out of that program. Kids put their ego aside.

As for your second point, I'm sure some of these kids went to private school and had to wear school uniforms and couldn't wear hats. I don't see the big deal in it. As you saw in my post, I played baseball in a program that if you didn't show enough stirup or if you're cleats weren't polished, you didn't get on the bus to go to the game.

All of that is understood. But, you have to think about the type of kids that Maryland is recruiting. At Alabama, few of their kids are from inner cities like Baltimore or DC. If they are from cities, the appeal of Alabama is the NFL contract that they are going to have a damn good shot at. Values/ways of going about things are very different in the typical Alabama player from a small town in the deep south, than a kid from the inner city.

At Maryland, you're recruiting kids who come mostly from cities. Intense discipline is never going to work on these kids. You're giving kids a spoon who grew up with chopstix. They hate it. It's forced an unnatural. They have more comfortable options and they know it. Maybe the chopstix are better at picking up rice, but they don't care. They've used a fork their whole life and no one else is going to make them switch.

[Danielos38]

If they feel they are being treated as a convict, perhaps a visit to the state penetentary is in order so they can see what the life of a convict is really like. Let's stop with the hyperbole here.

The way Edsall does things is not the way I would do things. But it can be and is effective if done correctly.

It really is not asking a lot to ask a guy to take a hat off in a building, or to take out an earring at certain times, or to wear certain clothing while they work out. Again, it's not the way I would do things, but if a guy's ability to "express himself" was more important than conforming to be part of the team, then I doubt I'd want that guy on my team anyway.

You can both express yourself and be a part of a team. Every other northern school does it that way. None of those things are that hard to do but they get extremely frustrating and pointless when there's no reason for them. They are just rules to have rules. Edsall is all about these cliches like "young men", "character" "integrity". You can be all those things without pointless exercises in uniformity.

[NewOwnerNeeded]

All of that is understood. But, you have to think about the type of kids that Maryland is recruiting. At Alabama, few of their kids are from inner cities like Baltimore or DC. If they are from cities, the appeal of Alabama is the NFL contract that they are going to have a damn good shot at. Values/ways of going about things are very different in the typical Alabama player from a small town in the deep south, than a kid from the inner city.

At Maryland, you're recruiting kids who come mostly from cities. Intense discipline is never going to work on these kids. You're giving kids a spoon who grew up with chopstix. They hate it. It's forced an unnatural. They have more comfortable options and they know it. Maybe the chopstix are better at picking up rice, but they don't care. They've used a fork their whole life and no one else is going to make them switch.

This is about the 3rd or 4th time you have said that a kid from the inner city can't handle discipline. Thanks for completely throwing away the future of every kid from the inner city and saying they can't follow rules. I can see you have a real high opinion of the inner city kids. If they will never make it anywhere that someone will tell them what to do, then why go to college or a career after college. And yes, that includes the NFL. The NFL has rules for players on what they can wear on the field and even in interviews after games. So no matter what you do in life, if you want a career, you are going to have to follow rules.

[OregonBird]

All of that is understood. But, you have to think about the type of kids that Maryland is recruiting. At Alabama, few of their kids are from inner cities like Baltimore or DC. If they are from cities, the appeal of Alabama is the NFL contract that they are going to have a damn good shot at. Values/ways of going about things are very different in the typical Alabama player from a small town in the deep south, than a kid from the inner city.

At Maryland, you're recruiting kids who come mostly from cities. Intense discipline is never going to work on these kids. You're giving kids a spoon who grew up with chopstix. They hate it. It's forced an unnatural. They have more comfortable options and they know it. Maybe the chopstix are better at picking up rice, but they don't care. They've used a fork their whole life and no one else is going to make them switch.

I see your point about it being uncomfortable. I think its more about pushing back on Edsall. What if we were living in a dream world and Maryland hired Urban Meyer or a Nick Saban? With a ring comes an ego. I'm sure the city kids would do whatever the Coach said and would buy into whatever their program was......quickly. But since its Randy Edsall formerly of UCONN, perhaps the kids decided to push back a little since he might have came on a little strong at first.

Hopefully the Terps will bring on Locksley and get some Top 20 recruiting classes and turn things around. I think he will get much more "buy-in" if the program starts seeing success.

[Danielos38]

This is about the 3rd or 4th time you have said that a kid from the inner city can't handle discipline. Thanks for completely throwing away the future of every kid from the inner city and saying they can't follow rules. I can see you have a real high opinion of the inner city kids. If they will never make it anywhere that someone will tell them what to do, then why go to college or a career after college. And yes, that includes the NFL. The NFL has rules for players on what they can wear on the field and even in interviews after games. So no matter what you do in life, if you want a career, you are going to have to follow rules.

I'm not at all disparaging inner city kids. All I'm saying is that kids from urban areas aren't interested in the same kind of discipline that you would usually see in the South. I equate the south more with the talking your hat of when you enter a building kind of thing. I don't see that too much when I'm in Baltimore or DC. All I'm saying is that all these rules and regulations are probably foreign to them and that it's not something that they are going to choose when given the opportunity.

[Danielos38]

I see your point about it being uncomfortable. I think its more about pushing back on Edsall. What if we were living in a dream world and Maryland hired Urban Meyer or a Nick Saban? With a ring comes an ego. I'm sure the city kids would do whatever the Coach said and would buy into whatever their program was......quickly. But since its Randy Edsall formerly of UCONN, perhaps the kids decided to push back a little since he might have came on a little strong at first.

Hopefully the Terps will bring on Locksley and get some Top 20 recruiting classes and turn things around. I think he will get much more "buy-in" if the program starts seeing success.

Sure. Winning like those coaches do will cure ANYTHING. We're never going to win like that. We'll never even get to a consistent and acceptable level of winning if the players we need to do so won't come here.

I hope that every 5 star player in the country wants to come play under Edsall's rules. I just think that there are not enough good players in this area willing to put up with Edsall to field a consistently. Plus, this isn't a problem of what we think. It's a problem of what the players think and the players clearly aren't happy.

[allstar1579]

Really? It's "crazy" to ask a kid to not wear a hat or to wear certain (free) swag when they lift weights?

I don't think that's "crazy" at all. And if my choice were to play football and get my free education or wear my hat, it's bye-bye hat.

First, let's be real, most of these kids don't have any interest in the school part of things.

I have no issue with him saying no hats inside the building, or to wear team gear, but when he tries to relegate their personal appearance and where they can and can't eat, that's going too far. I mean if you dig into that chunk on how NFL teams don't want players with dreads crap, he's basically saying these kids with dreads and tats are all thugs. It's bad that after a full year with these kids he's still stereotyping them.

Still beyond all that, my larger issue with him, is that it's all about HIM and less about the team.

[AgentOrange]

First, let's be real, most of these kids don't have any interest in the school part of things.

I have no issue with him saying no hats inside the building, or to wear team gear, but when he tries to relegate their personal appearance and where they can and can't eat, that's going too far. I mean if you dig into that chunk on how NFL teams don't want players with dreads crap, he's basically saying these kids with dreads and tats are all thugs. It's bad that after a full year with these kids he's still stereotyping them.

Still beyond all that, my larger issue with him, is that it's all about HIM and less about the team.

Why is that? Do they think they have a good shot at the NFL and don't need the degree? That doesn't make sense to me considering the low percentage of kids that actually make it.

When I played in College, granted it was baseball, most of us were there for an education. Sure there were some on the team that didn't really care about school, but they also didn't really care about much at that point in time.

I don't understand why laying some professional ground rules are such a bad thing.

I still think the program was in shambles when Fridge left and that has made Edsall's transition worse than it should have been. Sure it was a huge culture shock, but did UConn have a mass exodus when he first came aboard there? Something doesn't add up.

[Birds of B'more]

First, let's be real, most of these kids don't have any interest in the school part of things.

I have no issue with him saying no hats inside the building, or to wear team gear, but when he tries to relegate their personal appearance and where they can and can't eat, that's going too far. I mean if you dig into that chunk on how NFL teams don't want players with dreads crap, he's basically saying these kids with dreads and tats are all thugs. It's bad that after a full year with these kids he's still stereotyping them.

Still beyond all that, my larger issue with him, is that it's all about HIM and less about the team.

That was a big issue I had with him. He wanted to be the face of the entire program, but then deflected attention from himself when things went bad. He seemed to indicate that he will change some things next season (like making assistants available to the media). Since we're stuck with him, for better or worse, for another couple years at least, we can only hope for the better.

[glenn__davis]

this isn't a problem of what we think. It's a problem of what the players think and the players clearly aren't happy.

Let's just emphasize, some of Friedgen's players aren't happy.

First, let's be real, most of these kids don't have any interest in the school part of things.

I have no issue with him saying no hats inside the building, or to wear team gear, but when he tries to relegate their personal appearance and where they can and can't eat, that's going too far. I mean if you dig into that chunk on how NFL teams don't want players with dreads crap, he's basically saying these kids with dreads and tats are all thugs. It's bad that after a full year with these kids he's still stereotyping them.

Still beyond all that, my larger issue with him, is that it's all about HIM and less about the team.

I am sure that some of the players are only there to play football, but most of them realize that this is probably the end of their career, and the education is important to them.

Regarding him seeing them as "thugs" - I don't know Edsall personally so I can't say for sure how he views kids like that, and I think you're stretching your intepretation of his quotes pretty far. What I do know is how much of society views kids like that, and generally, it is not a positive view. We can talk all day about how it shouldn't be that way, how you should judge a guy on his character and not his appearance, but we all know that is not the reality of life in our culture.

Regarding it being about "him" - I can see that. But frankly, right now the story of MD football is about him, and this interview was entirely about him. How it got to that point, IMO, falls on his shoulders but also on the fans and media who never really gave him a fair shake from the start.

[Birds of B'more]

Why is that? Do they think they have a good shot at the NFL and don't need the degree? That doesn't make sense to me considering the low percentage of kids that actually make it.

When I played in College, granted it was baseball, most of us were there for an education. Sure there were some on the team that didn't really care about school, but they also didn't really care about much at that point in time.

I don't understand why laying some professional ground rules are such a bad thing.

I still think the program was in shambles when Fridge left and that has made Edsall's transition worse than it should have been. Sure it was a huge culture shock, but did UConn have a mass exodus when he first came aboard there? Something doesn't add up.

He started the UConn program from scratch, so the first players through the door knew what he was about. At UM, that wasn't the case. Still, he could have done a far better job of adapting to the stregnths of the players he inherited. I don't think they were likely to duplicate the 9 wins they had in 2010, but there is no way in hell this was only a 2-win team.....and one that really wasn't competitive in most of its losses.

[allstar1579]

Why is that? Do they think they have a good shot at the NFL and don't need the degree? That doesn't make sense to me considering the low percentage of kids that actually make it.

When I played in College, granted it was baseball, most of us were there for an education. Sure there were some on the team that didn't really care about school, but they also didn't really care about much at that point in time.

I don't understand why laying some professional ground rules are such a bad thing.

I still think the program was in shambles when Fridge left and that has made Edsall's transition worse than it should have been. Sure it was a huge culture shock, but did UConn have a mass exodus when he first came aboard there? Something doesn't add up.

I don't know why, but the football and basketball kids (talking about the scholly players, walk ons are a different beast) ALL think they are going pro and going to be all-stars.

I agree some professional rules are a good thing, I don't mind that at all, but I think Edsall took it too far with them. You don't need to control every aspect of these kids' lives, which he is trying to do. You have to trust that they are going to be adults and not screw up, the majority of them won't. He just seemed to come in and treat all of them like they were criminals without a trial.

The players, the parents and the alumni were all happy when Fridge was here, it's easy to speculate it was his fault, he's not here anymore, but I don't think that was it at all honestly.

[Danielos38]

I don't know why, but the football and basketball kids (talking about the scholly players, walk ons are a different beast) ALL think they are going pro and going to be all-stars.

I agree some professional rules are a good thing, I don't mind that at all, but I think Edsall took it too far with them. You don't need to control every aspect of these kids' lives, which he is trying to do. You have to trust that they are going to be adults and not screw up, the majority of them won't. He just seemed to come in and treat all of them like they were criminals without a trial.

The players, the parents and the alumni were all happy when Fridge was here, it's easy to speculate it was his fault, he's not here anymore, but I don't think that was it at all honestly.

This post sums up my thoughts entirely.