Fridge is out at Maryland
Let the Mike Leach rumors run rampant. Ralph Friedgen is now officially out at Maryland.
When Friedgen's departure is announced, former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach will immediately emerge as the clear front-runner to replace Friedgen. There is mutual interest between Leach and Maryland, according to three people, two of whom are close to Maryland and one of whom is close to Leach.[...]
Leach is said to be very interested in the job. He has a strong relationship with Kevin Plank, a former Maryland football player who sits on the school's board of trustees and whose apparel company, Under Armour, is the outfitter for the school's athletic teams.
December 18th, 2010 at 9:58 PM ^
doesn't make it official. (Note that the story you linked to says that all sources requested anonymity because "an official announcement has yet to be made.")
But yes, it certainly looks like he is out and Leach is in. Dr Saturday's take here.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^
The reason I feel WaPo was acceptable here was because the Terrapin Insider, the first article linked in Hinton's piece, is a column in the WaPo that broke the story. I went with the article I did because it went beyond he's gone with more interesting quotes.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:04 PM ^
It may be written in stone, but the WP makes a point of noting that nothing is official at the moment.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:05 PM ^
Good point.
December 18th, 2010 at 9:57 PM ^
If Friedgen refuses to retire, the school would have to pay him about $2 million to buy out the remaining year on his contract. Friedgen has not made a decision on whether to accept the buyout offer, one individual close to Friedgen said, and no deadline has been established for Friedgen to make a decision
Why would he retire? Why is it a question? Either retire and get $0, or don't retire and get $2M for doing nothing.
December 18th, 2010 at 11:11 PM ^
Well, if he "retires" its a bit of saving face I guess. I could also see them throwing some money his way for retiring. Who knows
December 18th, 2010 at 9:58 PM ^
The Terps should be an exciting team to watch.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:36 PM ^
Tom Dienhart just tweeted:
"Mike Leach is going to be the next head coach at Maryland, a key Big 12 source told Orangebloods.com".
December 18th, 2010 at 9:59 PM ^
Are there any Maryland commits that will give Michigan a second look?
December 18th, 2010 at 10:31 PM ^
your head's at
December 18th, 2010 at 11:07 PM ^
doesn't show anyone w/ a M offer, and slim pickings overall. Not even one DT to offer up for irresponsible speculation
December 19th, 2010 at 11:00 AM ^
No, but they do have a DB commit named Mike Williams. Whaddaya think? Should Michigan pull the trigger?
December 18th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
Hope they hire Leach. IME, he really deserves to be employed and has a good shot at making Maryland a threat.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^
It would at least make the ACC more interesting. I mean when VT isn't Beamer-balling on special teams, all I have to watch lately is GT's triple option. Mike Leach vs Paul Johnson could be a... uh... interesting spectacle.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^
Nice. ACC Coach of the year this year and get kicked to the curb. Be happy with your 7-9 wins a year.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
Yahoo's front page has it as Leach to Maryland is official.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:23 PM ^
I think the word for that is "reportedly."
I know that rumormongering is what the Internets are for, but let's at least distinguish between rumors and official announcements by the AD of UMD.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
In my defense, the headline is "Controversial football coach hired." If thats not leading, then I don't know what is.
December 18th, 2010 at 11:32 PM ^
Finally, after 4 years of free graduate student tickets, I have an excuse to go see a Maryland football game.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:32 PM ^
Rick Neuheisel is looking to clean house out west. Already fired DC and receivers coach. Norm Chow could fall victim to Neuheisel RAGE as well...
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=5933005
December 18th, 2010 at 10:36 PM ^
I heard Mike Leach is only going back into coaching since the job market for lawyers is so bleak right now
December 18th, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
What is going on in cfb?? When you go 1-11, alma mater or not, you can expect to get fired, but when you turn it around and get 8 wins, are one game away from making it to your conference's championship game, are named your conference's COtY, and THEN you get canned??
At WVU, the AD hires the next coach and publicly states Stewart is not our guy, but he can coach the team for another yr? This after a 4 game win streak, gaining a share of the conference title, and are again headed to a bowl game in a year where many thought they'd fall on their collective butts?
Loyalty? Job security? Integrity? Where in the world is all of this taking us?
December 18th, 2010 at 11:05 PM ^
December 19th, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
Fridge exceeded expectations this year after 3 straight years of underachieving. His firing was a long time coming; odd timing, yes, but definitely not a dick move.
December 19th, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
Uh, yeah, it's still kind of a dick move.
If he underachieved the past few years...then why not fire him last year? That wouldn't have been a dick move.
But when you go 8-4 (with a bowl game pending) and win the coach of the year in your league...it's a dick move.
December 18th, 2010 at 11:06 PM ^
some people will be inconvenienced by this, and if it happens to be ralph fridge's fat little girlfriends then that's too bad.
December 19th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^
As a fan of both Michigan and Maryland it's disappointing to see how fridge is being treated but I do appreciate the fact that they are moving quickly on this, unlike Michigan and their coaching situation
December 19th, 2010 at 12:50 AM ^
December 19th, 2010 at 12:55 AM ^
Wow this is messed up. Dude just got ACC coach of the year. What the hell? Maryland is doing this guy dirty as hell. I hope he doesnt retire. He needs to take that 2 million and tell Maryland to fuck off. Nothing against Mike Leach, but I dont think he will do anything better than what Fridge did this year. Anyone know if Fridge is a defensive minded guy? I know of a place that could use a good defensive coach.
December 19th, 2010 at 9:09 AM ^
This is more about money than anything else. MD just expanded their stadium and have yet to sell out. Enthusiasm for the program has been declining and it shows in the attendance. Once Franklin left for vanderbilt they saved $1 million and can now use that to remove fridge.
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<br>Bottom line is that football was not producing enough money and leach should instantly change that.
December 19th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
Fridge is almost strictly an offensive guy a la Charlie Weiss or Rich Rodriguez. Unfortunately for him and his waistline, he is more Weiss and less Rodriguez.
December 19th, 2010 at 1:54 AM ^
If this does pull through with Leach being the new coach there, that'd be great. Insightful though his commentary was at times, he's fair more suited to being coach. Slot ninja pirate turtles, anyone?
December 19th, 2010 at 8:27 AM ^
The job market is down - even Somali Pirates aren't hiring, which scotched his bid to become a recruiting coordinator for them....
December 19th, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^
Maryland is a place where you simply don't win 9 to 10 games per year. It just doesn't happen.
Check out their history on the gridiron. Aside from Friedgen, Bobby Ross in the mid-1980s and Jerry Claiborne in the 1970s (brief Mark Manges QB era), Maryland football has been a national and eastern region punchline.
Friedgen only mistake was having a ridiculous start there (10-2, 11-3, 10-3). The next best finish was a 9-4 in 2006. It's a tough place to coach and have consistent success. Friedgen is a brilliant, offensive-minded coach, and on aggregate, you couldn't ask for more than what Friedgen's done at a place like Maryland.
Mike Leach coaches an explosive offensive idealogy too, but he will not be any more successful at Maryland than Friedgen has been. Write it down, Maryland is not going to "become a football power" under Mike Leach.
Leach chose Maryland so he could wear red and black again. Don't forget the yellow, Mike. Don't forget the yellow.
December 19th, 2010 at 11:52 AM ^
Definitely a legitimate point that he's a victim of his own success. He turned that program around immediately upon arrival. But calling him a brilliant offensive mind is an overstatement, as Maryland defenses carried some stagnant offenses during his tenure. Look at the UMD guys who made the NFL during Fridge's tenure.
Basketball will always be king in College Park but I see no other reason why the right coach can't turn Maryland into a nouveau power. There's certainly a rich recruiting base in the DMV (D.C, MD, VA metro area).