Maryland’s first-year athletic director Kevin Anderson said today that everyone will know where the Maryland football program is going by early next week.
I hope he’s got his Garmin handy, because Lord knows I can’t figure out where he’s going with this.
Earlier today, head-coach-in-waiting James Franklin officially became the new head coach at Vanderbilt, foregoing the $1 million he would’ve been owed had he not been named head coach of the Terps by January 1, 2012.
But then it got a little crazy.
Now reports say Maryland has asked head coach Ralph Friedgen to retire and accept a buyout payment. Fine thanks for a coach who just won ACC Coach of the Year, dontcha think?
And with Franklin en route to Vandy, who would replace him? Survey says Mike Leach, though he says Maryland hasn’t yet reached out (and y’all know Leach says what’s what).
I don’t think Leach would be a bad fit at Maryland. He’s entertaining as all get-out and I’d love to see how his offensive style would play out at Maryland, with ACC Rookie of the Year Danny O’Brien at quarterback.
But I don’t like the timing. I don’t like it one bit.
If Maryland wanted to get rid of Friedgen, why not last year after the Terps went 2-10? (Because that would mean Franklin would be next up and they didn’t want that either.)
If Anderson wasn’t too keen on former AD Debbie Yow giving Fridge+Franklin one more year to get things back on track, why, then, one month ago, did he say Friedgen would be back in 2011? Why did he wait until after the Terps finished third in the ACC, and Friedgen was named Coach of the Year, to hint that he’s about to pull the plug? Did he think Friedgen wouldn’t be able to recruit or keep the momentum going without Franklin backing him up?
Or was this Kevin Anderson’s master plan from the beginning?
Let’s say Anderson came into the job with a strong dislike of the coach-in-waiting idea. Let’s say he also thinks Fridge and his staff should’ve been canned after last year. Maybe he thinks this year was a fluke, that Fridge is past his prime, and that Franklin’s no better. But he doesn’t want to have to write that big fat $1 million check to an OC he didn’t want in the first place. So maybe, when he said Friedgen would be back next season, he didn’t mean it. (Sure seems that way at this point.) Maybe he said it so when Franklin got the inevitable calls after this up year, he’d weigh his options and decide he’d better go while he’s wanted. And then after Franklin was gone - even as soon as the day of - he’d oust old Ralphie, too. That means Maryland can be done with both of them, without having to pay Franklin his due. Talk about an masterminded plot.
I really hope it doesn’t work.
I’m not going to suggest that Friedgen is the long-term solution at Maryland. I’m not going to argue that hiring Leach would be a bad choice (other options, yeah, I’ll argue against them). But I really, really, really abhor the idea of forcing Ralph Friedgen to retire at this stage of the game. I didn’t like it when Florida State forced Bobby Bowden out after last season. I thought Tennessee could’ve handled Phil Fulmer’s dismissal a little better (that’s really worked out well for them, hasn’t it?) And I do not like the reports that make it sound as if Friedgen will be out after next season.
I especially don’t like the reports coming after Anderson announced Friedgen would be back in 2011. Don’t announce it if it’s not true. Bottom line.
Ralph Friedgen was allegedly sick and could not be reached for comment. You know what? I’d be pretty sick about this if I was him, too. I think it’s a shame that Maryland can’t appreciate the coaching job he and his staff pulled off this year.
Is he on the ropes because he didn’t get the Terps in a better bowl? Because that’s not really his fault. He helped them get to third in the conference; bowl politics - and the lack of Maryland fan support in the form of butts in seats - dropped them to a lower bowl. So don’t put that on him. Maryland better not dare use that as any part of their sure-to-be-lame-and-inadequate excuse.
Ralph Friedgen just led the Terps in an incredible turnaround season. He won ACC Coach of the Year for it. I firmly believe that deserves a lot more respect than Maryland and Kevin Anderson have shown him.
