What Will Be The Effect On The Football Program?

[olehippi]

The method, and timing, of Freidgen's firing was a horrendous publicity disaster for Maryland. That was followed by all the Mike Leach hiring rumors, which proved to be false. And finally the uninspired hiring of Randy "Whodat" Edsall.

There is no way they can sugarcoat blunders.

Already, there are rumors that some of next years top recruits, like OL Andrew Zeller, are having second thoughts, and that several current players are mulling possible tranfers, possibly to follow James Franklin to Vanderbilt. The firing of Freigden has already caused concern, and the hiring of Edsall - especially after all the Leach ballyhoo - could prove to be a major disaster for Maryland football.

[J.D.]

The method, and timing, of Freidgen's firing was a horrendous publicity disaster for Maryland. That was followed by all the Mike Leach hiring rumors, which proved to be false. And finally the uninspired hiring of Randy "Whodat" Edsall.

There is no way they can sugarcoat blunders.

Already, there are rumors that some of next years top recruits, like OL Andrew Zeller, are having second thoughts, and that several current players are mulling possible tranfers, possibly to follow James Franklin to Vanderbilt. The firing of Freigden has already caused concern, and the hiring of Edsall - especially after all the Leach ballyhoo - could prove to be a major disaster for Maryland football.

Can we stop pretending that Edsall's a no-name coach? The guy was a finalist for the Miami job and took a team to a BCS Bowl. I'm fairly certain even casual college football fans are aware of Randy Edsall.

And calling the Friedgen firing a horrendous publicity disaster for Maryland is probably overstating it. Sure, people were upset about it, but I'm betting that most people understand the why, even if they're less than thrilled about the how.

[olehippi]

Can we stop pretending that Edsall's a no-name coach? The guy was a finalist for the Miami job and took a team to a BCS Bowl. I'm fairly certain even casual college football fans are aware of Randy Edsall.

And calling the Friedgen firing a horrendous publicity disaster for Maryland is probably overstating it. Sure, people were upset about it, but I'm betting that most people understand the why, even if they're less than thrilled about the how.

And I'm willing to bet that two weeks ago, only a handful of ardent college football fans around here could have told you who Randy Edsall was.

[J.D.]

And I'm willing to bet that two weeks ago, only a handful of ardent college football fans around here could have told you who Randy Edsall was.

I disagree. Ardent college football fans would know Connecticut, seeing as how they're in the Big East and all. And just a few weeks ago, Edsall was interviewing at Miami.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Can we stop pretending that Edsall's a no-name coach? The guy was a finalist for the Miami job and took a team to a BCS Bowl. I'm fairly certain even casual college football fans are aware of Randy Edsall.

And calling the Friedgen firing a horrendous publicity disaster for Maryland is probably overstating it. Sure, people were upset about it, but I'm betting that most people understand the why, even if they're less than thrilled about the how.

I disagree. Ardent college football fans would know Connecticut, seeing as how they're in the Big East and all. And just a few weeks ago, Edsall was interviewing at Miami.

Yeah, they would have known "Randy Edsall is the coach at UConn." But they wouldn't know anything else, which is just as bad as not even knowing the name.

And it became a publicity disaster not because Friedgen was fired but how he was fired, the statements made afterwards, and the results of the search.

Just on PTI a few minutes ago, the Randy Edsall hire was brought up and 90% of the time the guys spent talking was based around Friedgen. That's what people both nationally and locally see: an alumnus with a good resume getting canned for a nobody.

[brotherlo38]

Your whole post is basically one big overreaction. Program will be fine, it's in good hands.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Your whole post is basically one big overreaction. Program will be fine, it's in good hands.

That is, at the very least, unknown at this point.

[gallden]

I've heard some rumors on another board that some alumni may not be donating this year. Take it fwiw.

[JohnD]

Oh sure, the program probably will be fine in the long haul. The more I think about it the more I think this was probably the right hire. But as bad as this was handled publicly, I can only imagine what went on behind closed doors. Players are going to be upset, some recruits will have second thoughts. Some short term stumbles won't be surprising in the least. And there are now two guys still learning their way around College Park who really need to see this football team playing for an ACC Championship Game berth in mid November. Not everything is hunky dory, and no matter how hard JD tries to shout it out, not everyone agrees with the move or think it's a good one. But I think Edsall can eventually weather all of this.

[ilbm88]

I am getting tired of listening to people cry about this move. Give a guy a chance to win and then you can b#tch and moan about it. And randy edsall is really known in college football, saying he isnt known is a joke. It was time to move on from fridge. What is this we want a exciting hire, rodriguez was a exicting hire for michigan, and 3 years later they are about to fire him. The best hire is always the quiet one.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I am getting tired of listening to people cry about this move. Give a guy a chance to win and then you can b#tch and moan about it. And randy edsall is really known in college football, saying he isnt known is a joke. It was time to move on from fridge. What is this we want a exciting hire, rodriguez was a exicting hire for michigan, and 3 years later they are about to fire him. The best hire is always the quiet one.

No, the best hire is the best one for the program. Unless you think Nick Saban and Urban Meyer were "quiet" hires.

[J.D.]

Oh sure, the program probably will be fine in the long haul. The more I think about it the more I think this was probably the right hire. But as bad as this was handled publicly, I can only imagine what went on behind closed doors. Players are going to be upset, some recruits will have second thoughts. Some short term stumbles won't be surprising in the least. And there are now two guys still learning their way around College Park who really need to see this football team playing for an ACC Championship Game berth in mid November. Not everything is hunky dory, and no matter how hard JD tries to shout it out, not everyone agrees with the move or think it's a good one. But I think Edsall can eventually weather all of this.

I'm not trying to shout out that the program's all hunky dory. I'm merely stating that I'm not running to look for my torch and pitchfork before letting Edsall have some time with the job. I say that as an alumnus and as a guy that's considering buying season tickets this year.

Edsall's not the guy I wanted, and I don't think I'm alone in feeling that way. But I'm at least understanding of why Friedgen was let go, how that situation was made independently of the person they brought in, and that it's way to early to make any kind of judgment over what kind of coach Edsall can be. Because Maryland and Connecticut aren't the same situation, no matter how much people want it to be. I couldn't tell you right now if Edsall was the right or wrong hire. I just know he hasn't done anything to earn my pessimism.

[BaltimoreTerp]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/01/02/jim-harbaugh-coaching-carousel/1.html

Maryland's lateral move

Congratulations, Maryland. You win the award for strangest coaching search of the season. Having forced out reigning ACC Coach of the year Ralph Friedgen in part because the Terps were having trouble filling seats, the school passed on perceived front-runner Mike Leach at the 11th hour Sunday in favor of Connecticut's Randy Edsall.

Edsall is without a doubt a great coach, and the eccentric Leach isn't for everyone. But did Maryland even make an upgrade here? Did Edsall? A source with knowledge of the search told The Washington Post that the school got cold feet about Leach. "They wanted to make the conservative, safe, non-confrontational hire," the source said. "That's the bottom line."

Hmm. Conservative, safe and non-confrontational. Sounds a lot like ... Ralph Friedgen.

[Danielos38]

The effect on the program will be pretty much nothing. I don't see much changing from the Ralph era. We won't sell out Byrd. Maybe we'll have some good years, probably some bad ones too.

Some of you that have read my posts over the years know that I go to UMD, have followed them since life and am about as die hard as they come. I don't know if I'm going to buy season tickets when I graduate. My parents have had tickets for years and I've been at every game.

I'm tired of the status quo. Done. We had an opportunity to make a great hire and we didn't do it. I have absolutely no faith in university President Wallace Loh and evne less in Kevin Anderson. Getting rid of Fridge was a necessary and obvious decision. This hiring process was completely botched. We ended up with someone who was contrary to everything that they had been saying: good, not great.

[Satyr3206]

The effect on the program will be pretty much nothing. I don't see much changing from the Ralph era. We won't sell out Byrd. Maybe we'll have some good years, probably some bad ones too.

Some of you that have read my posts over the years know that I go to UMD, have followed them since life and am about as die hard as they come. I don't know if I'm going to buy season tickets when I graduate. My parents have had tickets for years and I've been at every game.

I'm tired of the status quo. Done. We had an opportunity to make a great hire and we didn't do it. I have absolutely no faith in university President Wallace Loh and evne less in Kevin Anderson. Getting rid of Fridge was a necessary and obvious decision. This hiring process was completely botched. We ended up with someone who was contrary to everything that they had been saying: good, not great.

Totally agree. Didn't like the firing. Didn't like the hiring. We'll see where this leads to.