Anderson Backs off his committment to Fridge in 2011

[Birds of B'more]

Here's a few interesting quotes from Eric Prisbell's story.

Anderson said to expect an announcement regarding the program's future early next week. When asked Friday if Friedgen was guaranteed to return, Anderson paused for a few seconds before saying: "I will sit down and everybody will understand where we are going and how we are moving with the program. At this point in time, I am not going to answer that question."

If Friedgen stepped down or was fired, former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach would emerge as the leading candidate to replace him, the sources added. A source with ties to Leach said Leach would definitely be interested in the job. Leach has a strong relationship with Kevin Plank, a former Maryland football player who sits on the school's Board of Trustees and whose apparel company, Under Armour, is the outfitter for the school's athletic programs.

A source close to the Maryland athletic department said Franklin's departure "helped set wheels in motion with a focus on pursuing Mike Leach. Essentially the thought is now is the time to strike. You somehow work with Ralph to quote-unquote retire."

Franklin has offered four current Maryland assistant coaches positions on his Vanderbilt coaching staff, according to a source with direct knowledge of the offers. The source said John Donovan, Maryland's running backs coach (and interim offensive coordinator), was offered the Vanderbilt offensive coordinator position, and that Maryland defensive coordinator Don Brown, wide receivers coach Lee Hull and special teams coach Charles Bankins were offered the same positions they held at Maryland. Contract negotiations between those who accept were expected to begin no later than Saturday morning.

If that many coaches are leaving, it makes sense to just go ahead and start from scratch right now.

[OregonBird]

Here's a few interesting quotes from Eric Prisbell's story.

If that many coaches are leaving' date=' it makes sense to just go ahead and start from scratch right now.[/quote']

Sounds like JF basically wiped out Fridge's staff.

If I'm the Fridge, I'd be pissed off that JF did that too me considering he knew my contract status. He put a big #@$% sandwich in front of me to eat!

Think there will be some bad blood in me.

[Birds of B'more]

Sounds like JF basically wiped out Fridge's staff.

If I'm the Fridge, I'd be pissed off that JF did that too me considering he knew my contract status. He put a big #@$% sandwich in front of me to eat!

Think there will be some bad blood in me.

I'm certain that this has been in the works for longer than just the past few hours, and that James Franklin knew that many of these guys would likely be out after the bowl game. He and Fridge are close, and while it is typical that an assistant might try to lure a couple guys he coached with to his new place with a promotion, I seriously doubt that JF would offer that many guys and gut Fridge's staff if, as far as he knew, Fridge would again be coaching for his job in 2011. Franklin already knew about this.

[OregonBird]

I'm certain that this has been in the works for longer than just the past few hours' date=' and that James Franklin knew that many of these guys would likely be out after the bowl game. He and Fridge are close, and while it is typical that an assistant might try to lure a couple guys he coached with to his new place with a promotion, I seriously doubt that JF would offer that many guys and gut Fridge's staff if, as far as he knew, Fridge would again be coaching for his job in 2011. Franklin already knew about this.[/quote']

Good call, I didn't think about it. I guess Fridge didn't know since he was asking for an extension.

As for Leach, I like the hire. The offense will definitely be interesting.

[Birds of B'more]

Heather Dinich calls out both Anderson and Friedgen, and says Kevin Plank will have to be the one to save this mess.

There is miscommunication and confusion going on at Maryland right now.

Maryland AD Kevin Anderson is strongly considering asking coach Ralph Friedgen to take a buyout and retire, ESPN.com's Joe Schad is reporting. Friedgen did not answer his cell phone for immediate comment, and a source said he went home instead of participating in a scheduled teleconference with Anderson and reporters Friday afternoon.

The program is being torn apart at the seams, and there's literally nothing this staff can say to hide it from recruits.

Forget next year, these guys don't know if they'll be employed next week.

Earlier Friday, offensive coordinator James Franklin left to be Vanderbilt's head coach, and he reportedly plans to take several assistants with him. Sources said that Friedgen left the office Friday without talking to any staff members about the situation, and everyone was left wondering about their future. The assistants, their families and the players are the ones who have been hurt the most by the upheaval at Maryland -- not Friedgen. He'll get a cool $2 million out of the deal.

If Maryland is going to salvage this mess (and what an embarrassing, disorganized display of leadership this has been), it's going to have to come from Kevin Plank.

Plank, founder of Under Armour and former Terp, has the money. Maryland can't afford to both fire Friedgen and hire a big-name coach. He has ties to former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, but Leach still has some legal baggage and hurdles to overcome in that regard. Plank respects Friedgen -- Maryland was the first program in the country to endorse his product -- but he respects the program more.

If he wants a change, he's got the money and the power to make it happen.

It's not Plank's job, though, to take care of the current staff and players -- it's Friedgen's, and today, he didn't get it done.

I feel bad for Friedgen with regard to how this has gone down, but I agree with her that Ralph should have said something to at least his staff, if not his players, about what is happening. As for Kevin Plank, I read somewhere about a month or so ago that he was selling somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million shares of Under Armour, so it seems Mr. Plank is, or will soon be, sitting on a pretty big pile of cash.

[accinfo]

The bottom line in College sports is not just wins and losses. It's about selling tickets, and contributions in this case to the Terrapin Club. Ralph may have won some games this year but he had very little interest in the football program with only 19000 season tickets sold. The Florida State game didn't sell out. Anderson has inherited a Athletic Department running a big deficit during an economy that is not good. There are no public funds available to stem the red ink tide. This looks like a calculated "business" decision to hire someone like Leach who will get people juiced about Maryland football. Hiring a guy like Leach will sell more tickets then letting Ralph continue as coach. That appears to be what is going on here.

[BaltBird 24]

According to Chick Hernandez's twitter Fridge is being forced out, but will coach the team in the Military Bowl.

I can't help but think that this is for the best, especially if they can somehow manage to bring in Leach. :clap3:

[ccbird]

The bottom line in College sports is not just wins and losses. It's about selling tickets, and contributions in this case to the Terrapin Club. Ralph may have won some games this year but he had very little interest in the football program with only 19000 season tickets sold. The Florida State game didn't sell out. Anderson has inherited a Athletic Department running a big deficit during an economy that is not good. There are no public funds available to stem the red ink tide. This looks like a calculated "business" decision to hire someone like Leach who will get people juiced about Maryland football. Hiring a guy like Leach will sell more tickets then letting Ralph continue as coach. That appears to be what is going on here.

Yup. I respect what Ralph has done for the school but if you're the caliber of program that Maryland is nationally and the opportunity presents itself to bring in Leach you have to do it. Sure, there are still risks involved but the bottom line is the ceiling for the program is so much higher under Leach than Fridge or anybody else we would be able to hire.

[OregonBird]

Leach's offense will definitely bring excitement and sell seats. I'd have to imagine that it would be attractive to recruits as well.

I wonder what kind of staff he could put together.

You'd have to imagine he likes what he sees with O'Brien as his QB.

[carolinaoriole]

Locksley is only being mentioned because of his ability to recruit... stories on him are crazy... not a legitimate guy.

If this goes through, I have to believe the Birds of Bmore link below shows the deal with Leach was already in the works...

Very interesting...

A new hire will have to work hard to keep the existing recruits...and build his own staff.

Locksley and Willingham are only being mentioned because Joe Schad is reporting it. The Mike Leach talk is probably the only thing in that story that is remotely true. I believe that Leach will likely be the next coach at Maryland. I am not a Maryland fan but in my opinion this is a slam dunk. It was a shame that Texas Tech treated Leach the way that they did. He is a top one of the best college coaches in the nation. I hope it happens

[brotherlo38]

Locksley is in consideration for the recruiting coordinator position.

Anderson isn't forcing out an alum who just won ACC COY for a guy who's 2-22 as a HC. Leach will be the hire.

[Birds of B'more]

This just gets messier and more bizarre by the minute. A couple of quotes I found disturbing.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/terrapins-insider/

The source added that Maryland asked Friedgen to coach in the team’s game against East Carolina in the Military Bowl on Dec. 29. A school spokesperson said that, at the moment, Friedgen is expected to coach in the game, but the source said no decision has been made.

Ok. So if Fridge doesn't coach the team, and we know Franklin is gone, and maybe as many as 4 other assistants, then who coaches in the Military Bowl? I'm fine with Kevin Anderson using Franklin's departure as an opportunity to make bigger changes to re-energize the program and fan base, but by all appearances he has gone about this process horribly.

A team meeting was held Friday night, the source added, in which Athletic Director Kevin Anderson addressed the Maryland players. Several Maryland players asked who is their head coach, the source said, and that Anderson responded that he did not know at that moment.

Wow. I'm at a loss for words over that one.

[OregonBird]

This just gets messier and more bizarre by the minute. A couple of quotes I found disturbing.

Ok. So if Fridge doesn't coach the team' date=' and we know Franklin is gone, and maybe as many as 4 other assistants, then who coaches in the Military Bowl? I'm fine with Kevin Anderson using Franklin's departure as an opportunity to make bigger changes to re-energize the program and fan base, but by all appearances he has gone about this process horribly.

Wow. I'm at a loss for words over that one.[/quote']

Mr. Anderson sure didn't have to worry about this stuff at West Point, now did he?

[OregonBird]

Locksley is in consideration for the recruiting coordinator position.

Anderson isn't forcing out an alum who just won ACC COY for a guy who's 2-22 as a HC. Leach will be the hire.

This is an interesting thought. Would Locksley even consider leaving a head coach gig at arguably the worst football program in D1 for a top assistant job at a middle of the pack ACC school?

I know Locksley has been given another year at UNM by his AD but I have to think that he's in an impossible situation b/c that program is sooooooo bad that they an improvement for that team would be to simply be able to keep from getting blown out every game, let alone actually win one. I think he's gone after next year.

Maybe Locksley could actually see an improving MD program as a springboard to better opportunities if he'd be willing to make a 2-3 year investment working for Leach. Either that or he sees Leach leaving in 4-5 years for a better job in which case he steps into the HC role.

[Birds of B'more]

I still wouldn't call it official, but The Sun is reporting Friedgen has been told he will not be the coach next season. And Jeff Barker tweeted about an hour ago that Fridge will not accept the offer of a buyout, so I guess that means he will be fired. I seriously doubt Fridge will walk away right now and not coach the Military Bowl (he'd be leaving $2 mil on the table if he did)...so I'm sure Fridge will be on the sideline coaching the team that day. He may not have much of a staff behind him, but I hope the team is able to make the best of a bad situation and play a great game in Ralph's farewell.

I'm sure Kevin Anderson didn't want it to go down like this. Sounds like he assumed his comments about Fridge's return in 2011 wouldn't cause such a stir. I think he probably learned a valuable lesson....like OregonBird said, this isn't West Point anymore. And because of how this has been handled, he's really put himself on the line here. He needs to hit a home run with this next hire, both in terms of wins and putting butts in the stands, or KA's tenure at MD could be a short one. And while I think it's safe to assume that Kevin Plank is already involved behind the scene in this, if by some chance he isn't then Kevin Anderson needs to reach out to him right now and get him involved, because I think it will take someone with Plank's influence and money to make all this work out for the best.