Finally, the Maryland defensive coordinator drama is over, and the winner is Todd Bradford. (Click the above header to read Heather Dinich’s report with all the facts, figures, and details over at ESPN.com)
Never heard of him? Trust me, you’re not alone.
How’d Maryland end up with him? Let me explain.
Think of former Terps defensive coordinator Don Brown as the long-term significant other who abruptly left without so much as a “Peace out, yo.” After that, your only option is to get back out on the market, where you flirt with a hot commodity (Randy Shannon) who’s just not that into you/would stand to lose his or her trust fund by committing to you. And what happens when you’re hit with that rejection? You turn around and grab the first decently attractive guy (or girl) you can get to save face, which brings us to Todd Bradford.
And just who is Todd Bradford?
Technically, he was Maryland’s inside linebackers coach who was promoted to defensive coordinator. At first, it sounds like a huge drop-off from a potential Randy Shannon hire - an inside linebackers coach when we nearly had a former head coach? It’s a bit misleading, though, when you realize he was promoted from a job which he’d only held for a month.
Before Randy Edsall hired him in January, Bradford spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi. In 2010, his defense was ranked in the top 30 in yards per game, third-down conversions, turnovers gained, tackles for loss, and interceptions. Not bad.
Bradford was also the defensive coordinator at Lehigh for a season, as well as at Louisiana Tech, where he coached with new Maryland offensive coordinator Gary Crowton for two seasons. That familiarity could be very beneficial, especially in a season in which the team will be adjusting to a lot of offseason changes (at least assuming Bradford and Crowton had a good working relationship).
Bradford isn’t the big hire Shannon would’ve been - but really, Maryland fans, did you expect that? From the school whose big hire was….Randy Edsall? Yeah, didn’t think so. But Bradford’s much more affordable and, at least on paper, looks like he’s at least capable of getting the job done. (I prefer to reserve judgment until at least a few games in. Sometimes people can surprise you.)
To replace that empty inside linebackers coaching spot, Edsall brought in Keith Dudzinski, former defensive coordinator at UMass-Amherst. I don’t know much about him either, but he coached under Don Brown for awhile, he has plenty of experience as a coordinator, and he has a fun name. So at least for now, I’m good with it.
What do you think, Terps fans? Good hire? Good enough anyway? Or straight up awful?
