14 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

Washington Post: http://www.washingto...zhzQ_story.html

As mentioned in the story, DOB has tweeted that contrary to rumors, he is still a Terp. In my eyes, MD can have a rebound season similar to two yrs ago (when they finished in Top 25), but hard to imagine that happens without O'Brien.

Should he return, it would not shock me to see the Terps go from two wins to the ACC Atlantic title. If he leaves, it is hard to envision a lot of good.

The primary mistake of last yr was Crowton not adapting to what DOB excelled at as Frosh, but that is not to say that DOB did not bear some responsibility.

This is a huge question, and possible turning point for the program. You are talking about a QB with the ability to play on Sunday's. Him leaving would be crushing, and eliminate a lot of the recent good will that has been building in College Park.

[BSLChrisStoner]

My guess is that the odds are likely in favor of a return. It is hard for me to imagine he would be willing to step down a level, or want to sit out a year due to transfer.

[BSLMikeLowe]

As long as he graduates this spring, DOB could transfer to an FBS school and play immediately. The stipulation is that he would have to enroll in a graduate program at his new school that is not offered at UM. Guys like Russel Wilson and Jeremiah Masoli did it recently.

I think DOB's decision will be the watershed moment for Edsall as UM coach. If Danny returns it's not hard to envision a turnaround season, although I don't see a chance at an ACC Atlantic title as Chris suggests....but 7 or 8 wins wouldn't be out of the question. But I don't see this team going anywhere at all with CJ Brown as the full-time QB. And as much heat as Edsall took for last season, a repeat of that this season might be more than he can survive, job-wise. Plus the high number of transfers does not reflect well on him publicly. I know there are always some when a new coach comes in, but if DOB and Max Garcia decide to go that will bring this offseason's total to 11. That's too extreme and says something about the coach's ability (or lack thereof) to connect with his players, inherited or not. And when one of those players is the face of your program, it's even worse.

[Luke Jackson]

http://www.baltimore... ... 1183.story

[BSLChrisStoner]

As Birds of Bmore mentioned, I totally missed that DOB was on track to graduate early and in position to transfer to a Grad program like Wilson did this past year.

DOB leaving is disappointing to me on several fronts.

First, I do believe it is a loss on the field. CJ Brown is capable of making plays with his legs, but it remains to be seen if he can make plays with his arm. Perhaps knowing he is now the starter, and having the off-season to prepare, he will look better with his arm. As bad as DOB looked at times last year, we know he is capable of looking very good. We have seen it. We know (compared to Brown) that DOB looked the part of a pro-style QB, with an ability to play in the pros.

Second, to me, losing DOB again brings up the issues with Edsall and mitigates the recent good-will coming out of College Park.

I was asked on Twitter if I would rather have DOB or Diggs. I responded DOB easily. Luke responded that he would rather have Diggs, because Diggs would (should) be able to help recruit some of the elite level local talent. That is a fair and logical point to make, but I'd still take DOB. I'm sure they will get Diggs on the field early, and he will produce. I doubt he will impact more games as a WR than DOB would as the QB the next two seasons. Beyond that, when you look at names like Torrey Smith, DHB, and Vernon Davis you see that MD has been able to find talented skill-position talent. QB has been a revolving door of mediocre production since McBrien.

You have to move forward though, and I'm glad that Brown got the experience he did last year.

[Mackus]

The roller coaster Edsall ride just continues.

This is unequivocally bad news for the MD program, IMO. Danny is a great kid, exactly what you want for your program, loved MD by all accounts, and he still felt it was the best move to get away from Edsall.

For every small thing he does well, bigger problems keep arising with Edsall, and he is absolutely inept when it comes to public relations. A large part of the discontent comes from Edsall not laying out that he intended to gut the program and then not taking any of the responsibility for the poor season. He's a gutless leader, IMO, and that's going to make it hard for him to get the players on the team willing to sacrifice to move the program forward. Winning will cure all, but he better start winning fast. If this MD team doesn't get to 5 wins, I think he's fired before he has a chance to coach up some of that good talent he (and honestly, mostly his assistants) were able to recruit to the program.

[Oriole85]

If this MD team doesn't get to 5 wins, I think he's fired before he has a chance to coach up some of that good talent he (and honestly, mostly his assistants) were able to recruit to the program.

If money weren't a factor, sure, but we've seen at MD before that this isn't Texas. Remember Ralph staying after a 2-10 year? I'm not going to say this is a throw-away year, but he's still owed $6 million no matter what. So avoiding complete disaster and short of getting him to agree to a buy out, I think he gets that third year.

[Mackus]

If money weren't a factor, sure, but we've seen at MD before that this isn't Texas. Remember Ralph staying after a 2-10 year? I'm not going to say this is a throw-away year, but he's still owed $6 million no matter what. So avoiding complete disaster and short of getting him to agree to a buy out, I think he gets that third year.

Ralph also had several years of success (varying, perhaps, but pretty much annual bowl games) and had single-handedly brought MD football back from complete oblivion when he was given another shot after his 2-10 season.

You're right about the money thing, but it swings both ways. MD will lose more money paying Edsall $2M to coach the team to 4-win seasons than they will paying him $2M to sit at home and paying somebody else $3M to coach the team to 8+ win seasons. If Friedgen got fired for essentially losing the boosters and not selling out Byrd, what's going to happen to Edsall? Everybody hates him, and deservedly so. He can't win football games, ticket sales were abysmal last year, and on top of that he's a completely unlikeable person from a public relations standpoint. He won't accept blame for any of the problems, whines about fans, and pretty much just constantly steps in s*** any time he opens his mouth.

It's astonishing how little love there is for him given that he said the magic words that MD was "his dream job". That should have bought him a lot of leeway, but he's wasted it by being just absolutely obnoxious and unlikeable in every public way possible.

[Slappy]

Edsall and Crowton might have seriously hurt his chances at being an NFL quarterback by switching to that ridiculous spread offense. I hope he ends up somewhere with a pro style that plays to his strengths and he gets his career back on track.

[BSLMikeLowe]

The roller coaster Edsall ride just continues.

This is unequivocally bad news for the MD program, IMO. Danny is a great kid, exactly what you want for your program, loved MD by all accounts, and he still felt it was the best move to get away from Edsall.

For every small thing he does well, bigger problems keep arising with Edsall, and he is absolutely inept when it comes to public relations. A large part of the discontent comes from Edsall not laying out that he intended to gut the program and then not taking any of the responsibility for the poor season. He's a gutless leader, IMO, and that's going to make it hard for him to get the players on the team willing to sacrifice to move the program forward. Winning will cure all, but he better start winning fast. If this MD team doesn't get to 5 wins, I think he's fired before he has a chance to coach up some of that good talent he (and honestly, mostly his assistants) were able to recruit to the program.

I think the money factor will be enough to get Edsall through this season and into 2013. Plus, expectations for the 2012 team will be pretty low, especially with DOB gone, so it's not like there will be a great deal of shock among the fan base of they go 2-10 again. 2013 will be the season in which Edsall will truly be on the hot seat to post a winning record. Even though he'll still have 3 years left on his contract after that season, like you said ticket/suite sales will be so bad that I don't know if UM would be able to afford not to fire him at that point.

[JeremyStrain]

It's sad that this guy is going to get to coach in a position he didn't deserve in the first place, because we can't afford to cut him at that salary. He's the WORST hire I've seen in DMV sports in my 32 years (yes, even worse than Richie Pettibon, and Steve Spurrier).

Kevin Anderson is the problem, and I don't know why they though the guy could translate from where he was before to an ACC public university. He should have gone to Duke, their Lacrosse team could use the discipline.

Edsall tried to force round pegs into square holes because he was unwilling to cater his offense to the players he was inheriting AT ALL.

[BSLMikeLowe]

32 years? That means you might be too young to remember Bob Wade. As bad as Edsall is, he was worse if you can believe it. And football-wise Mark Duffner set the bar very high for suckitude, which Edsall might have a tough time eclipsing, although he's off to a good start.

[BSLZackKiesel]

The problem with sports fans today is that they have no patience. Oh sure, fire Edsall after 1 coaching year and 1.5 full years of recruiting. He had one bad year. So what? Now you fire him? Give the man some time. He has a great recruiting class coming in, and there's no doubt that the guy can coach well. You may not like how he handles a team, but discipline is something that some people can't deal with. One reason that Stefon Diggs came here because he liked Edsall's discipline.

People seriously need to calm down about firing Edsall. Let him get his recruits coached up. Who's to say that Friedgen wouldn't have sucked for his first few years on the job had he not inherited all of Vanderlinden's recruits. Hell, the only time he won consistently was with the previous staff's recruits. After they all fizzled away, he was on the hot seat. It's no coincidence. He couldn't recruit, Edsall and his staff can. Recruiting is at least half of the equation in college athletics, and Maryland is located in one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country. Why people give up on Edsall so quickly is beyond me. Give him time. Let him prove you wrong. I've never lost faith in Edsall. People think I'm crazy for supporting him so strongly, but I think he's a great coach, and a great man. I like his coaching style, and I hope and believe that the Terps can turn this around.

As for DOB, it was best that he left. He was obviously unhappy with his situation here. I think C.J. Brown is a serviceable QB, and we have some pretty good RBs this year. C.J. is a great athlete who should be able to improve his passing over the offseason. Since our O-Line doesn't seem to be very solid this year, it should help to have a QB who can make plays outside the pocket. Our LB corps is significantly improved, and Kenny Tate is back at Safety. We have a good team building up, but you have to give Edsall at least 2 more years, and I would say that you give him 3. Get these recruits to become Juniors, then judge his performance. Patience is something more people need to learn. Go Terps!

[DJ MC]

The problem with sports fans today is that they have no patience. Oh sure, fire Edsall after 1 coaching year and 1.5 full years of recruiting. He had one bad year. So what? Now you fire him? Give the man some time. He has a great recruiting class coming in, and there's no doubt that the guy can coach well. You may not like how he handles a team, but discipline is something that some people can't deal with. One reason that Stefon Diggs came here because he liked Edsall's discipline.

People seriously need to calm down about firing Edsall. Let him get his recruits coached up. Who's to say that Friedgen wouldn't have sucked for his first few years on the job had he not inherited all of Vanderlinden's recruits. Hell, the only time he won consistently was with the previous staff's recruits. After they all fizzled away, he was on the hot seat. It's no coincidence. He couldn't recruit, Edsall and his staff can. Recruiting is at least half of the equation in college athletics, and Maryland is located in one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country. Why people give up on Edsall so quickly is beyond me. Give him time. Let him prove you wrong. I've never lost faith in Edsall. People think I'm crazy for supporting him so strongly, but I think he's a great coach, and a great man. I like his coaching style, and I hope and believe that the Terps can turn this around.

As for DOB, it was best that he left. He was obviously unhappy with his situation here. I think C.J. Brown is a serviceable QB, and we have some pretty good RBs this year. C.J. is a great athlete who should be able to improve his passing over the offseason. Since our O-Line doesn't seem to be very solid this year, it should help to have a QB who can make plays outside the pocket. Our LB corps is significantly improved, and Kenny Tate is back at Safety. We have a good team building up, but you have to give Edsall at least 2 more years, and I would say that you give him 3. Get these recruits to become Juniors, then judge his performance. Patience is something more people need to learn. Go Terps!

Whether or not Edsall should be fired isn't a real issue. He had some success at UConn, he's trying to make changes to the program, so he will get time.

However, it should be obvious why many people want him fired.

Some of the causes aren't his fault. He's replacing a coach who, even if by the end many fans thought he needed to leave, was an alumnus, led the program to heights not reached since the mid-1980s (when Friedgen was an assistant under Ross), and was very popular with average fans, students, media and boosters alike. The school made an awful mess of his firing, which offended many people.

The new athletic director and president then passed up on a popular candidate desired by the fans in Mike Leach to hire Edsall. Fans and boosters shouldn't hire a coach by consensus, no, no. However, he is a unique personality with an exciting offensive philosophy and a reputation for athletic and academic excellence. Oh, and he has a history with Under Armor almost as deep as Maryland's, and UM football produced the CEO. There is a reason he was the popular choice. Edsall didn't have any real reputation coming from UConn, other than building the program over a dozen years out of I-AA to a BCS game. If anything, he was known as a coach who could be tough on players, though again that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

So Edsall had some strikes against him coming in. That doesn't mean much, though, for a coach that grabs the fans and the boosters right away and gets them on his side. Unfortunately, Edsall from the start seemed to be doing what he could to alienate everyone. When you proceed to take a 9-win team and go 2-10 with most of the same talent, messing with an ACC ROY quarterback and a good running back and the best defensive player on the team, criticizing the fans, and causing a second exodus of talent the following offseason (including both the quarterback and running back mentioned), it gets on the nerves of even patient fans. Most fans aren't known for patience.

Edsall can turn things around. It is interesting that he has not been allowed to choose an offensive coordinator of his own either time the spot opened, but Locksley helps with recruiting and the recruits you bring in can cover for or overexpose many flaws in the program. He just appears to have taken the wrong path from the start, and while it could turn out to be the correct path if he can win games, it simply does not look good right now.

He'll get his opportunity, but it will be in spite of the fans, not because of them.

[BSLMikeLowe]

The problem with sports fans today is that they have no patience.

I would venture to say that just about everyone here is an Orioles fan, so one has a right to preach to us about lacking patience.

Some of the criticisms of Edsall are unwarranted, but he's still made enough missteps to deserve some of the heat he's taken. From taking over a team that had no business losing 10 games, to calling out the fans, to constantly preaching accountability yet publicly taking no responsibility himself. And now an exodus of even more players, some of whom were the best hope the team had of a turnaround this season. Maybe we'll all be surprised at how well some of the young and inexperienced players perform, but I doubt it.

Patrick Stevens tweeted a telling statistic on Monday shortly after the announcement that DOB, Garcia and Rowson were leaving. With the three most recent transfers, MD has a combined total of 27 juniors and seniors on scholarship. Only two other times in recent seasons have they had fewer than 30. The years? 2009 and 2011. In other words, history does not favor a promising season for 2012.