34 replies to this topic

[Oriole85]

ESPN: Danny O'Brien to start for Badgers

http://espn.go.com/c...ien-starting-qb

Not like the Terps could use him.

[mdak06]

Well ...

Congrats to him. Wish he was in College Park, although I also wish CJ Brown was healthy too.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I hope he loses every game.

[Mackus]

I hope he wins every game. He deserved better than the treatment he got from Edsall. What a moron. DOB should be starting for the Terps this year.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I'd love to see him win a Heisman, but I doubt he'd put up big enough #s in Wisconsin's offense. Definitely rooting for him though.

[Oriole85]

I'd love to see him win a Heisman, but I doubt he'd put up big enough #s in Wisconsin's offense. Definitely rooting for him though.

Is he even on any preseason list for a Heisman?, it seems pretty unrealistic to me.

[glenn__davis]

I hope he wins every game. He deserved better than the treatment he got from Edsall. What a moron. DOB should be starting for the Terps this year.

What treatment did he get from Edsall? Benched for playing extremely poorly?

Many of us had this same discussion at OH so don't want to re-hash it here, but DOB was awful last year. But certainly you can look at some other factors and potentially excuse his performance (receivers dropping passes, regime change, incompetent offensive coordinator). I'm not rooting for or against him, but I do think his performance this year will be interesting to follow.

[DuffMan]

I hope he wins every game. He deserved better than the treatment he got from Edsall. What a moron. DOB should be starting for the Terps this year.

This.

[Mackus]

What treatment did he get from Edsall? Benched for playing extremely poorly?

I definitely think his poor play was induced by changing the offense into something that a) wasn't effective and b) didn't fit O'Brien's style. Having him throw nothing but bubble screens wasn't using him properly.

I think he's a really talented kid and that he'll do really well elsewhere. And would have done really well here if Edsall and his awful coordinators didn't screw him all up. I don't absolve Danny from all of the blame for his bad season, but he should have had a better system and more support. Edsall gets no benefit of the doubt from me.

[JeremyStrain]

I definitely think his poor play was induced by changing the offense into something that a) wasn't effective and b) didn't fit O'Brien's style. Having him throw nothing but bubble screens wasn't using him properly.

I think he's a really talented kid and that he'll do really well elsewhere. And would have done really well here if Edsall and his awful coordinators didn't screw him all up. I don't absolve Danny from all of the blame for his bad season, but he should have had a better system and more support. Edsall gets no benefit of the doubt from me.

Seconded.

[glenn__davis]

Well, it's going to be pretty much impossible for him to fail with the team that's around him. As bad as he was last year, I do think he's a competent college QB and probably will do well enough to hold onto the job.

I should add, I do think he's a good kid based on what I've read, and I wish him no ill will. But there was nothing last year that indicates to me that he was treated unfairly. He was the starter. He stunk. He lost his job.

[Mackus]

He was the starter. He stunk. He lost his job.

He stunk largely (not entirely) because the coaching staff implemented an offense that he wasn't well suited for and largely took away what he did best the previous year.

It wasn't unfair. But it was stupid.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I believe he will have a lot of success at Wisconsin, and at the minimum get the chance to play on Sunday's.
That said, he is no longer a Terp.

I'm much more concerned about how Perry Hills progresses from this point on.

[JeremyStrain]

I believe he will have a lot of success at Wisconsin, and at the minimum get the chance to play on Sunday's.
That said, he is no longer a Terp.

I'm much more concerned about how Perry Hills progresses from this point on.

I am concerned with how he does, because when he is proven to be a good college QB this year, it further cements my belief that Edsall has no business coaching at MD.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I am concerned with how he does, because when he is proven to be a good college QB this year, it further cements my belief that Edsall has no business coaching at MD.

I hate that your positions on Edsall, make me feel the need to defend him. No matter how ridiculous things were on and off the field last year (largely in part to Edsall's own actions), what Edsall built at UConn was legitimate. He might have been the wrong choice for Maryland (and might never be the correct answer), but he is not some hack that has never achieved anything either.

I believe both Glenn Davis and Mackus are right above. DOB did play poorly last year, as GD said. There also plenty of reasons that were outside of DOB's control, that played a part in DOB's lack of production.

Ultimately though, there was a change at Offensive Coordinator, and DOB could have stayed and attempted to help Maryland rebound from last year. He choose to leave. Do I blame him? Not really, and part of the reason I don't blame him is because of how I feel Edsall handled him last year (even before the season started).

Still, DOB is gone. He is talented on his own, and is going to be surrounded by a talented team, including a very talented Offensive Line. The fact that he figures to have immediate success with Wisconsin, is not going to be a surprise, or concern me.

What matters at this point, is Edsall showing progression with the roster that wanted to be here.

[JeremyStrain]

I hate that your positions on Edsall, make me feel the need to defend him. No matter how ridiculous things were on and off the field last year (largely in part to Edsall's own actions), what Edsall built at UConn was legitimate. He might have been the wrong choice for Maryland (and might never be the correct answer), but he is not some hack that has never achieved anything either.

I believe both Glenn Davis and Mackus are right above. DOB did play poorly last year, as GD said. There also plenty of reasons that were outside of DOB's control, that played a part in DOB's lack of production.

Ultimately though, there was a change at Offensive Coordinator, and DOB could have stayed and attempted to help Maryland rebound from last year. He choose to leave. Do I blame him? Not really, and part of the reason I don't blame him is because of how I feel Edsall handled him last year (even before the season started).

Still, DOB is gone. He is talented on his own, and is going to be surrounded by a talented team, including a very talented Offensive Line. The fact that he figures to have immediate success with Wisconsin, is not going to be a surprise, or concern me.

What matters at this point, is Edsall showing progression with the roster that wanted to be here.

He did a good job at a small school, it was a small sample size, he didn't do it over multiple years, it was one good recruiting class, any idiot can do that.

He got a job in the ACC without having to do time at a mid-tier school and prove UCONN wasn't a fluke.

Edsall came in and made changes, like any coach should, but it's his ego getting in the way that is a problem, especially for a guy that had one good fluke run at a non-football school.

[Mackus]

I was skeptical of Edsall when he was hired, but willing to give him a shot. Everything he did in his first year was awful beyond belief. The team flopped worse than anybody anticipated. That's bad, but what Edsall did every time he opened his mouth was far worse. He bashed the previous coaching regime for no reason. Blamed the players for not being prepared or committed. Alienated or ran off many of the talented players we still had on the roster. I cannot remember any point during the season in which he took any amount of responsibility for the way things were going, rather he kept repeating that you have to tear down before you rebuild, despite not informing anyone before the year that it was going to be anything remotely resembling a tear down effort.

His new coordinators and him have done a good job recruiting. That's literally the only positive I can say about the man. He's going to have to win a lot to ever get forgiveness for how terribly he handled the transition. There is a very big hole to dig out himself out of, and he's not going to get anywhere near to being clear of that hole this season.

[glenn__davis]

Great post, Stoner.

Ready to move on with the coaches and players that are here and that want to be here. Very dissappointed that CJB got hurt, but ready to see what Hills can do.

I think a lot of issues last year were the result of injuries and incompetent coordinators, partiuclarly on the defensive side. Can't do much about the injuries, but hopefully the coaching improves.

I'm excited for the season. Not as excited as I was before Brown got hurt, but excited nonetheless.

[BSLChrisStoner]

He did a good job at a small school, it was a small sample size, he didn't do it over multiple years, it was one good recruiting class, any idiot can do that.

He got a job in the ACC without having to do time at a mid-tier school and prove UCONN wasn't a fluke.

Edsall came in and made changes, like any coach should, but it's his ego getting in the way that is a problem, especially for a guy that had one good fluke run at a non-football school.

No, he took a program from IAA status in '99, and went on to have 6 seasons with 8 or more wins during 2003-2010, and 3 bowl wins.That is pretty remarkable. It is not like UConn (or New England as a whole) is a huge recruiting center. It is not like UConn had the facilities in place to compete with many other schools in the Big East.

Now, not everything was great about his time at UConn. (Record vs. Top 25... The Conference Records in '08, and '09 coming off the 1st Conference Title in '07), but there was a reason why there were plenty of people Nationally last year saying it was a good hire.

I'm an ACC fan, but there is no reason why he needed to go to another stepping-stone type of job between the Big East & the ACC.

[JeremyStrain]

No, he took a program from IAA status in '99, and went on to have 6 seasons with 8 or more wins during 2003-2010, and 3 bowl wins.That is pretty remarkable. It is not like UConn (or New England as a whole) is a huge recruiting center. It is not like UConn had the facilities in place to compete with many other schools in the Big East.

Now, not everything was great about his time at UConn. (Record vs. Top 25... The Conference Records in '08, and '09 coming off the 1st Conference Title in '07), but there was a reason why there were plenty of people Nationally last year saying it was a good hire.

I'm an ACC fan, but there is no reason why he needed to go to another stepping-stone type of job between the Big East & the ACC.

Maybe from a different team in the Big East, but there is a big difference in a school with no expectations or people to answer to and a school like MD. That's like taking a guy with a couple decent seasons at Towson and going straight to VTech.

There were plenty of people nationally questioning the hire too, it was far from a slam dunk, and then after seeing his performance as Mackus pointed out, I (and a ton of boosters at MD) think it was a terrible move.