A few hours ago I commented about the report from ESPN’s Joe Schad, that the University of Maryland may ask to Coach Friedgen to retire.

It is pretty clear my initial take was wrong. With the Athletic Department having documented cash-flow problems, I was thinking it was unlikely that Maryland’s Athletic Director Kevin Anderson would buy-out Friedgen’s contract, and additionally pay the money necessary to obtain his replacement.

Nearly immediately after posting that, Chick Hernandez of Comcast Sportsnet posted on Twitter that he had confirmed MD had definitively asked Friedgen to step aside.

http://twitter.com/#!/CHICKatCSN

Consider me shocked really. You understand that like a General Manager in Professional Sports, that Major College Athletic Directors want to put their stamp on a program. In Division 1 sports, the two major revenue producing sports are Men’s College Basketball, and Football. Obviously Gary Williams is about as secure as they come currently, so clearly Anderson has decided to address Football.

It is an interesting statement that Anderson is making here. Maryland went into the last two weeks of this season controlling their own fate in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division. Friedgen was named the ACC’s Coach of the Year, because of the rebound from last year (and for exceeding the expectations of the ACC Media). O’Brien was the Conference Rookie of the Year and has given everyone associated with the program belief that bigger days are ahead. Anderson is saying that an 8-4 record overall, and a 5-3 record within the conference, with a trip to a meaningless bowl is not enough.

Part of me respects that. I like that Anderson is dreaming bigger and believes Maryland can achieve more.

I do not like the events of today though. If it had been decided internally that Friedgen was going to be asked to step-down, Maryland should have been prepared to deliver that information in the scheduled press-conference today. With one-year left on Friedgen’s contract and his COY status, it should have been anticipated by someone in Maryland’s Athletic Department that the press would be asking about Friedgen’s status.

When Anderson was asked about Friedgen’s status he stated, “I will sit down and everybody will understand where we are going and how we are moving with the program. At this point in time, I am not going to answer that question.”

A man as intelligent and accomplished as Anderson had to anticipate that answer would not be sufficient. Maryland operates under the coverage of two major media markets. Within minutes this was a National story.

Reports have surfaced that Coach Franklin has asked John Donovan (Maryland’s Running backs coach and interim Offensive Coordinator), Don Brown (Defensive Coordinator), Lee Hull (Wide Receivers) and Charles Bankins (Special Teams) to join in him in Vanderbilt. That makes it apparent that Coach Franklin was aware that his fellow former Assistants were likely out of a job. If those Coaches know they are out of a job, than it had already been made known to them that Friedgen would be asked to not return. This seems like further reason to have been straight with the Press, and to have announced the direction the program is taking.

Instead of the National story now being about an agreed upon new direction for the program, the story according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich (formerly of the Baltimore Sun) is that the staff, and players have been left in limbo:

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/20018/maryland-staff-players-left-in-limbo

Dinich makes the point that Friedgen should have communicated what was going on to his staff, and that it does not appear that he did. Again though, I would think they are aware if they are being offered jobs by Franklin. Regardless, I totally agree with Dinich about things being communicated to the existing players. The players should not be in the dark.

Meanwhile, there is a story on The Sports Times Network stating that Mike Leach is in negotiations with Maryland to be named Offensive Coordinator and Head Coach in Waiting:

http://www.thestn.us/

I’ve been wrong once tonight, and maybe it will happen again – but I’ll also be surprised if Leach is named OC / Head Coach in Waiting. You would guess that we  will hear quickly that the Friedgen era is officially over, and that Maryland is moving on with Leach being the prime candidate / or hire as Head Coach.

That has to happen in the very near term, because Leach (or whomever) is going to have to lock down his own Coaching staff, and work on retaining the players who have signed to Maryland in this upcoming recruiting class. Also want the existing players to know the direction of the program as soon as possible. The Military Bowl vs. East Carolina is rather pointless but you still want to win. More than that, you want the players that can return next year to be on the same page.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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