41 replies to this topic

[Greg Pappas]

http://www.baltimore... ... ory?page=1

A snippet...

An interesting e-mail was sent today to members of the Baltimore-Washington media covering Marylandathletics.
It came from former Terps football coach Ralph Friedgen, who wrote about the accomplishments of his program during his 10-year tenure. But the most interesting part of the e-mail was the last sentence.

“We would appreciate the current administration looking forward to the future and dedicating their energies to continue to forge ahead as a world class University and successful football program without demeaning the accomplishments of those who came before,” Friedgen wrote.

Friedgen, who had opened the statement by saying he was “mostly silent” since he was fired in December of 2010, would have been better served to write this last fall when Randy Edsall and, to a lesser extent, athletic director Kevin Anderson, took some not-so-veiled shots at the previous staff.

But now? ........

[Oriole85]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baltimore-sports-blog/bal-ralph-friedgen-releases-statement-urging-terps-to-move-forward-then-looks-back-20120724,0,4995887.story?page=1

A snippet...

I don't really blame Ralph for doing what he did since he got fired. He was basically treated like dirt at the end. If it's a business, doesn't that work both ways? I was against his termination but I understood it. The "mostly silent" part comes with one notable exception when he told WNST that he had burned(?) his MD degree and was flying a GT flag at his house.

My problem with KA and then Edsall is that Fridge's firing was supposed to turn the program from "good to great." Instead, they have now "re-sold" it as a rebuilding effort. Also, KA took some shots at Edsall indirectly by saying that he tried to get NFL coaches but they didn't want to do fundraising.

Would it have been nice if Fridge had done that last year, sure. But I don't fault him for not doing it.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I love Fridge and feel bad for him. I'm surprised he did this though. Are KA and Edsall that unreasonable that a conversation with them wouldn't/didn't do the trick?

[Oriole85]

Has Fridge gotten any opportunties? -- media or coaching? Maybe he just doesn't want to be coordinator or head coach at a non-BCS school. Maybe he's just happy living in Georgia.

[DJ MC]

Has Fridge gotten any opportunties? -- media or coaching? Maybe he just doesn't want to be coordinator or head coach at a non-BCS school. Maybe he's just happy living in Georgia.

I have a feeling that, at his age (he's 65) and going through what he did at the end to get fired from Maryland, he's probably done with coaching. At least on an official basis.

I could see him doing something else, though. Hell, pair him up with Johnny Holliday on the football broadcasts. I'd listen to that.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I can understand why he didn't do it last season or in the immediate aftermath....it would have been viewed as either piling on his successor, or his own former players. Neither would have won him points with the public or other schools. That's important if he wants another coaching job. I guess with practice starting soon and all the conferences holding their media days, this seemed like the right time for him to get his name back out there and tout his accomplishments.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I could see him doing something else, though. Hell, pair him up with Johnny Holliday on the football broadcasts. I'd listen to that.

I bet it would be much more interesting than hearing Brian Billick calling the couple Ravens games that he has with Fox. Not that Billick isn't a good analyst....he is. But the civil and often complimentary tone he takes towards his former employer and the man who currently holds the job from which he was fired just doesn't quite make for must-see-TV.

[bnickle]

Fridge has a right to vent. KA is a buffoon. Edsall is a buffoon.


Had the football program started to grow stale??? Yeah, but Fridge was the ACC coach of the year and won 9 games the year he was fired. If you are going to move on you don;t move on to an Edsall. For as much grief as Yow got for the Franklin coach in waiting decision it sure looks like it may have been a good decision. Certainly better than what Anderson has done since he got here.

[Why Not?]

Fridge = crazy ex-girlfriend.

[DJ MC]

Fridge = crazy ex-girlfriend.

Well, we dumped her for someone less attractive and more crazy.

[bnickle]

Well, we dumped her for someone less attractive and more crazy.

Exactly, Fridge is having a good chuckle at the MD football program right now and I can't blame him.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Exactly, Fridge is having a good chuckle at the MD football program right now and I can't blame him.

Well, they suck... yet Edsall is quick to blame Fridge by saying all this crap like: "My program will put academics 1st." "We're still changing the culture." etc (paraphrasing). I can't stand Edsall.

[Oriole85]

I have a feeling that, at his age (he's 65) and going through what he did at the end to get fired from Maryland, he's probably done with coaching. At least on an official basis.

I could see him doing something else, though. Hell, pair him up with Johnny Holliday on the football broadcasts. I'd listen to that.

Safe to say, I think the bridges with UMCP have been burned. Realistically, I don't see him having much of any ties until a new administration and AD are in place.

[Oriole85]

Fridge = crazy ex-girlfriend.

Ok... tell me what you make of Edsall and Kevin Anderson?

[Oriole85]

Well, they suck... yet Edsall is quick to blame Fridge by saying all this crap like: "My program will put academics 1st." "We're still changing the culture." etc (paraphrasing). I can't stand Edsall.

That's just dumb, I don't recall the academics being an issue with Fridge. And that's just a smokescreen, any football coach knows they have to win games. You can have an 100% graduation rate, but if you are going 2-10, nobody will care. Winning football games > academics... that's truth, now start doing that Edsall.

[mdak06]

That's just dumb, I don't recall the academics being an issue with Fridge. And that's just a smokescreen, any football coach knows they have to win games. You can have an 100% graduation rate, but if you are going 2-10, nobody will care. Winning football games > academics... that's truth, now start doing that Edsall.

The APR score went down every single year since it was created while Friedgen was there. The last time, the NCAA penalized the team by taking away scholarships.

The collective GPA for the team has been over 2.5 for the last couple of semesters. It hadn't been at least 2.5 in eight years.

Academics do matter. You can't run a football program at a school and neglect the academic side; not only is it wrong but you'll be penalized by the NCAA (and the players could get kicked out if they're not eligible).

Edsall & Anderson have overpromised way too much (and have made various other PR gaffes) but Friedgen didn't have the program heading in the right direction. After his brilliant start at UMD, four out of seven seasons have been losing ones. That's not how it should be.

[Oriole85]

The APR score went down every single year since it was created while Friedgen was there. The last time, the NCAA penalized the team by taking away scholarships.

The collective GPA for the team has been over 2.5 for the last couple of semesters. It hadn't been at least 2.5 in eight years.

Academics do matter. You can't run a football program at a school and neglect the academic side; not only is it wrong but you'll be penalized by the NCAA (and the players could get kicked out if they're not eligible).

Edsall & Anderson have overpromised way too much (and have made various other PR gaffes) but Friedgen didn't have the program heading in the right direction. After his brilliant start at UMD, four out of seven seasons have been losing ones. That's not how it should be.

So they weren't able to get a 2.5 at Maryland, I believe eligibility is just a 2.0? I still maintain the academic problems don't matter as much as not winning games. You could graduate 100% of your players, but go 2-10, you'll get fired. As long as you're getting by, it's fine if you win lots of games. It's pretty delusional to think academics really come first (it's good for PR purposes), every school wants to win.

I'm not saying GPA doesn't matter, but let's be real here, a lot more emphasis is going to be placed on how they do on the field than the classroom (grand experiment ultimately failed sorry).

You thought Fridge was bad, check out how the football team did before him and after Ross left. Maybe expectations were too high. I'd be all fine with your Fridgen criticism if Edsall was an upgrade. Truth of the matter this is Maryland not Alabama here.

[mdak06]

I think Fridge was fantastic for his first few years at UMD, and much better than anyone since Bobby Ross.

Having said that, I don't think he took advantage of the potential of College Park (the wealth of football talent from Maryland high schools) and did not build a winning program. He had winning seasons, definitely (some spectacular ones). But when you start having more losing seasons than winning seasons later in your career, something's not going right.

2-10, while awful, was just one season. Friedgen had one 9 years into his tenure. Edsall's came in a transition year with horrible coordinators (who have since been fired for their performance) and a very high number of injuries. It was a wreck, but I'm willing to give Edsall some time to build a program at Maryland. Given the apparent success that he and Locksley and the rest of the crew are having with recruiting, and given his winning trend at Connecticut, I have reason to think he'll have success. One season is far too short a time period to fully judge a college football coach.

Expectations were too high after the 9-4 season (which I think while a very good season was also somewhat deceptive); obviously 2-10 was worse than anyone expected. I hope the PR firm that UMD has hired helps both Edsall and Anderson with their speaking to the press (for example, don't overpromise and underdeliver).

[Oriole85]

I think Fridge was fantastic for his first few years at UMD, and much better than anyone since Bobby Ross.

Having said that, I don't think he took advantage of the potential of College Park (the wealth of football talent from Maryland high schools) and did not build a winning program. He had winning seasons, definitely (some spectacular ones). But when you start having more losing seasons than winning seasons later in your career, something's not going right.

2-10, while awful, was just one season. Friedgen had one 9 years into his tenure. Edsall's came in a transition year with horrible coordinators (who have since been fired for their performance) and a very high number of injuries. It was a wreck, but I'm willing to give Edsall some time to build a program at Maryland. Given the apparent success that he and Locksley and the rest of the crew are having with recruiting, and given his winning trend at Connecticut, I have reason to think he'll have success. One season is far too short a time period to fully judge a college football coach.

Expectations were too high after the 9-4 season (which I think while a very good season was also somewhat deceptive); obviously 2-10 was worse than anyone expected. I hope the PR firm that UMD has hired helps both Edsall and Anderson with their speaking to the press (for example, don't overpromise and underdeliver).

I think your overstating the losing and his last season was a winning one, he's the first BCS coach to be fired after winning a Conference Coach of the Year. I think Kevin Anderson if he was going to fire him, should've only done that if he could get an upgrade. Also, you are higher about what he did at UConn than I am. He did a good job developing a program, but this is supposed to be from "good to great." They changed that mission to rebuilding after the bad start here.

Like you said though I'm willing to give him some time and the budget is pretty bad, so he'll probably get unless Plank wants to fork over more $$$. I'm just not so optimistic, but hope to be proven wrong.

[Pedro Cerrano]

The sense of entitlement amongst Ralph Friedgen and his supporters is mind boggling.

He was a mediocre coach, nothing more, nothing less.

And let's not forget his most successful seasons were with someone else's recruits.