You're only as good as your last impression, and Randy Edsall's Maryland Terrapins exited 2011 with a real stinker.
The Terps were outscored, 42-0, by North Carolina State in the last 21 minutes of a 56-41 loss last Saturday. Maryland finished 2-10, a decrease of of seven victories from the 9-4 season logged by Ralph Friedgen in his final season as coach.
Edsall's first season in College Park was nothing short of a disaster, with the Terps losing their final seven games by double-digit margins.
The critics are howling. John Feinstein of the Washington Post wrote that "Randy Edsall should be fired — today."
Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant knew all about Edsall from his years covering the Connecticut Huskies. He wrote, "If anybody should have recognized a turtle, it's the people of Maryland."
Jason Reid of the Washington Post wrote: "After his horrendous start on and off the field in College Park, Edsall still believes he's the right person for this job. But it's past time for him to prove it."
Edsall's lack of character came as no surprise to the good people of Connecticut. He ripped into Jordan Todman in the locker room after last year's 48-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and asked the junior tailback to man up and tell his teammates he was making himself available for the NFL draft.
When the team boarded the charter flight for the trip back home from Phoenix the next morning, Edsall was nowhere to be found. He was on his way to College Park, where he had agreed to become Maryland's coach.
"[Edsall] made Jordan address the team to say he was leaving, and he isn't man enough to do it face to face to us?" one player told the Hartford Courant.
Now Maryland is stuck with a clunker. It would cost $10 million to terminate Edsall, but it's not going to happen. The athletic department is in a financial crisis and will cut eight varsity sports at the end of the school year. Thus, Edsall has job security, even though he has screwed up the program.
This is what happens when a University is run by craven cowards. They could have had Mike Leach, but they chickened out. Maryland deserves what they got.
Posted by: Mike G | December 02, 2011 at 06:15 AM
As a Miami fan, I was afraid they going to be stuck with Edsall. Luckily, he was a distant 3rd in the interview process. Georgia Tech fans would love to see Ralph Friedgen become head coach there.
Posted by: Gacanefan.wordpress.com | December 02, 2011 at 06:46 AM