Maryland Terps Updates

There has been a lot of activity in College Park lately, and we here at Caputo's Corner have certainly taken notice, but our list of topics to address has been long and extensive.  However, we have not forgotten the turtleheads.  This first post today is dedicated to the goings on at both Byrd Stadium and Comcast Center.  As a football season ticket holder, I have a vested interest in the football team's success.  My die-hard interest in the basketball team has admittedly waned a bit in the past few years.  I feel like the program does not have as much of an emphasis on academics as it should.  Nevertheless, we will be giving just about equal time to the college football and basketball scene today.  We'll start with the football team and then take a look at the basketball squad.

Later today, we'll have an instant analysis of the NFC and AFC Championships as well as any updates during the game should the need arise. 
As an avid reader of Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column (and have been for the last 6 years), I am fully aware of the risks teams take when they go down the weasel coach path.  TMQ has railed against weasel coaches as long as he has against preposterous punts.  Maryland decided to take the weasel coach route with the hiring of Randy Edsall.  I understand that new AD Kevin Anderson wants to place his own stamp on the program, but I feel like his methodology is flawed.  I don't necessarily disagree with the decision to fire Friedgen, but I think his handling could have certainly been improved.  While everybody was expecting him to hire Mike Leach (and all of his associated baggage...) he clandestinely negotiated with Edsall as the latter was preparing his UConn Huskies for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.  UConn lost the game, and mere hours later Edsall was hired as Maryland's 37th head football coach.  I don't think it's possible for a coach to express interest in a program, interview for it, vet other candidates, agree to the positition, negotiate and sign a contract all within the timeframe between the end of the Fiesta Bowl and the announcement of Edsall's hiring at Maryland.  Weasel coach, yes?  It's bad enough for him to leave Connecticut in a lurch (he did after all just take them to the BCS), but what's to say that he won't turn right around and do the same thing to Maryland in a few years?  Let's face it, Maryland isn't exactly the pinnacle of college football coaching jobs.  There is plenty of upward movement possible, even if it means taking a coordinator job at a top-tier SEC school or even the NFL.  I sure hope Anderson knows what he's doing (and more importantly got some contractual assurances out of him) to make sure that what Edsall did to UConn DOESN'T happen to Maryland.  Not likely.

From a football perspective, I'm not very familiar with Randy Edsall, to be honest.  However, he does find a program in much better shape than how Ralph Friedgen found it.  I do know this, he took UConn from Division I-AA and within a span of 12 years took them all the way to the BCS.  Impressive, indeed, but when you take into consideration that the Big East has been the BCS' doormat since its inception, it doesn't look quite as impressive.  After all, they did lose 5 games this year (including a 4-TD shallacking against Oklahoma).  As flawed as the BCS is as an institution, at the very least it is supposed to keep 5 loss teams out of it.  In any event, he did get there, and I am willing to give the man a chance (I do plan on renewing my season tickets this year...along with some interesting tailgating ideas).  He has talent to work with.  Danny O'Brien is just going to be a sophomore.  He has a lot to learn at the quarterback position, but he has weapons around him.  Torii Smith and Tony Logan are speed guys that a vertical passing game drools over.  The running game might be an issue, with Da' Rel Scott graduating and Davin Meggett I don't think getting enough carries to justify being a featured back.  It will be interesting to see what Edsall does with his skill positions.  The bottom line is this.  Maryland has a chance to be a very good football team.  The ACC is not quite as weak as the Big East (at least before TCU makes the jump...), but Edsall has shown that he can take a squad very similar to Maryland and do big things with them.  I'll be there to watch it all unfold.
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Gary Williams' basketball squad has made you want to stand up and cheer and pull your hair out all at the same time.  Yesterday against Clemson was no exception.  Maryland was by far the better team in that game, but another vintage last minute meltdown threatened to wipe it all away (we've seen this script before...).  However, despite their best efforts (and a missed half court heave that would have won it), they did hold on for a two point win.  We have to face it, this program is not what it once was, and I have been on record saying that I think a coaching change is in order.  I have the utmost respect for Coach Williams, but he is not like Coach K who can reload and have his pick of the top recruits in the country.  His success came when he recruited little known guys like Dixon and Baxter and coached them up to great things.  Ever since he won the title in 2002, I feel like he started feeling entitled.  Now that he has his title, the best players will just come to him.  He started going after McDonald's All Americans when in the past, he eschewed these players.  The results were not pretty.  Yes, John Gilchrist single-handedly won the ACC tournmaent in 2004, but guys like Gilchrist, Travis Garrison, Chris McCray, Darryl Strawberry, Nik Caner-Medley, and even Greivis Vasquez (I never was a fan of him and his histrionics) I think regressed the program a few years.  There were academic issues (SERIOUS academic issues...) and I don't think that Gary Williams seemed to care.  As long as his players were eligible, and had not exhausted their NCAA 4-year eligibility, there was a spot on the team for them.  (Friedgen on the other hand was a lot stricter about his players' academic performance).  This has caused the program to move backwards.  We used to be an NCAA mainstay, now we're a perennial bubble team.  Meanwhile, the Dukes of the world continue to impress their bandwagon following by reloading and staying in the top 10 every year. 

This current year, every time the team has had a chance to get that "signature win," they have found a way to fail.  Pitt, Illinois, Duke, and Villanova all were chances to earn marquee wins that would make them stand out to the committee.  In the days of Dixon, Francis, and Joe Smith, we were good for at least one of those every year.  Nowadays, it's a challenge.  Don't get me wrong, I feel like we played well in each of those games (especially Duke), and the only real stinker we've had was against Virginia Tech.  10 wins in the ACC is essential for this squad to get to the NCAAs.  They'll get another shot against Duke, but they have to dig deep down inside for something extra that they have not shown this year if they want to beat them. 

As a side note, enjoy Jordan Williams and all his double-doubles while you can.  IMHO, he's GONE at the end of this season.