Lots of well connected people are saying Edsalls name.

[Sports Guy]

I'm sorry, that doesn't cut it. The whole idea of getting rid of The Fridge, was to fire a good coach and hire a great one. We took steps back in my opinion. Edsall had some decent RBs. We've had decent RBs. You can't be a great team if you can't beat great coaches, Edsall can't. He barely managed to beat acceptable ones. I live in Louisville, right by the UofL campus. Under Kraigthorpe, the Cardinals would've beaten Edsall if it wasn't for a few blown calls.

We'll need more calls like the fake fair catch TD or it's going to be a long few years until Edsall and Anderson are fired!

Look up fake fair catch UConn on YouTube...

Why is Leach a great coach and Edsall isn't?

[Whatss]

Why is Leach a great coach and Edsall isn't?

You're kidding right? Mike Leach had a better record, recorded bigger wins, had a more exciting football team and well just about everything else you can think of...

[Whatss]

Only thing Edsall has on Mike Leach is you can find his name first in alphabetical order....

[PaulBako]

The next year could get ugly. I've mentioned before on here that next year's schedule is going to be a lot tougher than last year, so Edsall has his work cut out for him. Anything less than ten wins, at least, and the fanbase will be howling.

Fixed, our team is going to be real good next year.

[Sports Guy]

You're kidding right? Mike Leach had a better record, recorded bigger wins, had a more exciting football team and well just about everything else you can think of...

First of all, Leach was in Texas, where the talent is everywhere.

Secondly, Leach didn't take over a 1-AA program, move the program to a BCS conference and turn it into a winning program.

I will give you that Leach plays great offensive football but his defenses were never all that great.

Your comp here is absurd and ignores many different factors.

Fact is, I bet you know next to nothing about either of these guys in terms of their coaching styles at practice, recruiting, etc...

What you know is TT played in a great conference and scored a lot of points. That doesn't make Leach a better coach.

Personally, I have no idea who the better coach is but I think it is pretty absurd for people to act as if Edsall is some awful hire.

He is viewed as a very good up and coming coach and if MD picks him over Leach, whom everyone thought had the job, that means that Edsall had a great interview and wowed the Terps people.

Listening to a lot of national people, headed by Kiper, Edsall is very very well respected.

And don't forget, Edsall kept his team together after that player died a few years ago. A lot of people were very impressed by that. You can gloss over that but to keep your group of teenagers together after something tragic like that is pretty impressive and shows a lot in terms of his ability to lead and communicate.

[olehippi]

The question is:

How can the selection of a new Maryland football coach become even more screwed up than the firing of the old one, Ralph Freidgen?

The answer is:

Hiring someone like Randy Edsall...........Who?

One of the biggest arguments against keeping Freidgen was that he couldn't excite the fan base. So this guy will? IMO, Kevin Anderson couldn't make a worse choice if he tried. And if this goes down, I think Maryland fans will revolt.

And I think someone at Univ. of MD better fire Anderson before he decides he's not happy with Gary Williams, and screws up the basketball program, too.

[PaulBako]

Secondly, Leach didn't take over a 1-AA program, move the program to a BCS conference and turn it into a winning program.

Barely.

Being 22-26 in the Big East is not good, considering how bad that conference is.

[Sports Guy]

Barely.

Being 22-26 in the Big East is not good, considering how bad that conference is.

Sorry but this is an uneducated response.

First of all, yes the BE conference is down but over the last 5 years or so, ita not really any worse than the ACC.

Secondly, no matter how poor the conference is/was, UCONN was still a 1-AA school..The talent difference is huge. He still had to build the program..That's not easy, no matter what you think.

I can understand the idea that this isn't a "sexy hire". If the only reason they let go of Fridge is financial type reasons, then they probably should go another way.

But none of you have any idea if Leach is a better coach than Edsall...All you know is he scores a lot of points.

[olehippi]

You're assuming it was Anderson who made the final call on who to hire. I've read speculation that those above Anderson may not have wanted Leach.

I'm not assuming anything, but I didn't want Leach either because of the player treatment issue. But my argument is more about why Freidgen was fired, and the skewed reasoning behind it.

[Whatss]

First of all, Leach was in Texas, where the talent is everywhere.

Secondly, Leach didn't take over a 1-AA program, move the program to a BCS conference and turn it into a winning program.

I will give you that Leach plays great offensive football but his defenses were never all that great.

Your comp here is absurd and ignores many different factors.

Fact is, I bet you know next to nothing about either of these guys in terms of their coaching styles at practice, recruiting, etc...

What you know is TT played in a great conference and scored a lot of points. That doesn't make Leach a better coach.

Personally, I have no idea who the better coach is but I think it is pretty absurd for people to act as if Edsall is some awful hire.

He is viewed as a very good up and coming coach and if MD picks him over Leach, whom everyone thought had the job, that means that Edsall had a great interview and wowed the Terps people.

Listening to a lot of national people, headed by Kiper, Edsall is very very well respected.

And don't forget, Edsall kept his team together after that player died a few years ago. A lot of people were very impressed by that. You can gloss over that but to keep your group of teenagers together after something tragic like that is pretty impressive and shows a lot in terms of his ability to lead and communicate.

You totally pwned me, with long a detailed diatribe on what a great guy Edsall is...

I'm happy to know that when the Terps are being shelled by the likes of NC State, Wake Forest, FSU and V. Tech year in and year out again, that my coach is a very swell guy.

First off friend: The fact that Leach won in a talent laden state like Texas, is way more impressive than a coach who brings a 1-AA team to 1-A and manages to win a league that isn't very impressive since most of the great coaches left it.

Second: I can wow a girl's parents by being kind to them, while thinking of all the nasty things I'm going to do to her later on that night. I don't care if he is a better sweet talker than leach. Stats wise, he is nothing compared to Leach, and he is not a better recruiter than the Fridge's coaches. Maryland has managed to get a bunch of two and three star recruits without Edsall's help.

Third: It's always a good hire by the pundits... We could've hired a high school football coach and someone would've said it was a great hire by the Terps!

Last: While it's tragic that the player died and I'm glad the team stuck together through it all, I don't give a damn when it comes to football. He also had a player charged with child pornography. Should that count against him when it comes to football? I mean by your logic...

Edsall is a bad hire...

[Whatss]

Oh well, I disagree with you about Friedgen. Replacing him was the right move, IMO.

Replacing him may have been the right move, if they hired a better coach than Edsall...

[Birds of B'more]

As best I can tell, the was a lot of division inside UM about Leach. Some were impressed, others were adamant that his personality and baggage were a bad fit. In the face of that opposition, Kevin Anderson went with the safe pick.

I think UM made a statement about what they want in a football program, and a lot of people will be disappointed. But it is what it is.

Edsall should at least do a slightly better job of recruiting than Fridge did. But for those hoping for a more exciting brand of football? Too bad. Edsall's offense can cure even the worst case of insomnia. If you watched the Fiesta Bowl last night, you know what I mean.

[Whatss]

In your opinion.

When the statement from the A.D. is they want to fire a good coach and hire a great one, you can't settle for a guy who can't manage a top 50 recruiting class and gets blown out by Oklahoma the night before he his hired.

This was nothing more than Maryland getting cold feet and making the safe, conservative pick...

[Whatss]

Edsall should at least do a slightly better job of recruiting than Fridge did.

I think UConn would like to know where this great recruiter is that you're talking about...

[J.D.]

You totally pwned me, with long a detailed diatribe on what a great guy Edsall is...

I'm happy to know that when the Terps are being shelled by the likes of NC State, Wake Forest, FSU and V. Tech year in and year out again, that my coach is a very swell guy.

First off friend: The fact that Leach won in a talent laden state like Texas, is way more impressive than a coach who brings a 1-AA team to 1-A and manages to win a league that isn't very impressive since most of the great coaches left it.

Second: I can wow a girl's parents by being kind to them, while thinking of all the nasty things I'm going to do to her later on that night. I don't care if he is a better sweet talker than leach. Stats wise, he is nothing compared to Leach, and he is not a better recruiter than the Fridge's coaches. Maryland has managed to get a bunch of two and three star recruits without Edsall's help.

Third: It's always a good hire by the pundits... We could've hired a high school football coach and someone would've said it was a great hire by the Terps!

Last: While it's tragic that the player died and I'm glad the team stuck together through it all, I don't give a damn when it comes to football. He also had a player charged with child pornography. Should that count against him when it comes to football? I mean by your logic...

Edsall is a bad hire...

In many, many, many ways, the ACC is every bit the crater of a conference that the Big East is. And you don't think moving from Division 1-AA to 1-A is hard? Go ahead and tell me the last coach to go from 1-AA to a 1-A major conference title in less than 10 years. I'll wait.

We'll see if Edsall's a bad hire or not. If he's able to keep the local talent from fleeing like Fridge couldn't, and does something with them on the field, I'll be stoked. It's way to early to judge that, though. Connecticut didn't have nearly the resources that Maryland has, and yet he was able to do pretty well for himself there.