OT: Maryland wants to be "Oregon of the East Coast"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/bs-sp-terps-football-1013-2015…
"I would think that this is one of the most attractive jobs in the country for somebody who is ambitious and willing to take risks, ... the potential for growth, the potential of this being another Oregon."
Yeah, good luck with that one, Terps.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:22 PM ^
Under Armour's CEO might be willing to do the same. In this world, if you've got money, you've got people's attention, regardless of "tradition", AD revenue, or any of that stuff.
Maryland is also in a very attractive location with plenty of good football talent around it. The right coach could make that program into a consistent winner.
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October 13th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
Maryland also has to deal with Urban Meijer and Jim Harbaugh.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:45 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
The South/North divisions only began in 2011...in USC's heyday in the 2000's, USC was apt to get upset whenever they visted Oregon to play the Ducks or the Beavers
October 13th, 2015 at 1:24 PM ^
If they want to be the Nike school or the east, maybe they should hire their own Harbaugh to do it. If John isinterested in leaving the NFL for college as there were hints of during the Michigan search (though likely it was only because it was Michigan), and Maryland is willing to spend big with UA money it could make sense. Already well known in the area, lives nearby, Superbowl winning NFL coach, and he and his brother could go head to head every year.
I know it won't happen but it would certainly make the B1G east the toughest division in football.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^
I like that Plank kept his company in the vicinity of his alma mater. I'm sure he had lots of pressure to move the UA HQ to California or NY. While the plan for UMD seems a bit aspirational, I really hope it works out; it would be good for the conference, and would amp-up our SOS.
Side note: Even after years of redevelopment efforts, College Park is still basically a mall—masquerading as a suburb—on the outskirts of DC. I think they will need to do some more work on the city before it is as attractive as Ann Arbor (or Madison, or Minneapolis, or even Columbus, etc).
October 13th, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^
In 20 years maryland will look like a better addition to the league than Nebraska. Natural rival in PSU, better academic school, loaded up on UA money they will have top facilities (already building a $150 million facility for football right now), potential to be an elite basketball school and already a top 15 program, etc.
Nebraska is one more coaching mishire from being irrelevant.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^
I have no issues with the Nebraska add but I still think of them as a Big 12 team. Texas & Oklahoma rivalries seem like a more natural fit.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:33 PM ^
Too bad for you MD.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:40 PM ^
"Be another Oregon?"
You mean never win a national championship?
October 13th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
Maryland is definitely and underachiving football program right now, but UA money won't solve the problem itself. Remember that Hoke and much of his staff was paid top-flight money. Elite paychecks do not make elite coaches - but elite coaches earn their paychecks.
Honestly, if I was Maryland's AD right now I know who my #1 coaching candidate would be.
Who is used to running the #4-#5 program in an extrememly tough P5 division?
Dan Mullen.
I'm not sure that Mullen could make Maryland elite, but he'd get them back to 7+ wins / year and he's one of the few SEC coaches that could be "bought out" from his school. Maryland is also more favorably located for recruiting; albiet marginally (more in-state talent, no Freeze). Somehow Virginia and New Jersey seem to turn out some of the absolute best football talent and Maryland is often in the conversation for them before they slip away to better coaches/programs.
If UA wants to write a big enough check to get 'em, I would think that he'd by the guy.
October 13th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^
Some maryland fans want pj fleck. I think it would be a great hire. Other names that have come up include Toledo coach, Bowling green coach. and Tom Hermann.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:00 PM ^
Oregon sucks. O national titles.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
/S
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October 13th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
Well, Maryland has the same number of National titles as Michigan does since WW II (1.5)
October 13th, 2015 at 2:00 PM ^
Maryland either becomes the Oregon of the east, or they dont.
In either case, good for them to make that statement, and good for them to have their version of Phil Knight to bankroll the investment.
As a history lesson, Phil Knight started his presence in Eugene in 1996, after back-to-back 9 win seasons (one Rich Brooks, one Mike Belotti), their first 9-win seasons since 1948. What he and Belotti built was not from whole cloth, but damn near whole cloth. It still took the better part of a decade to make oregon OREGON, but it can happen.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^
Schiano is still unemployed
October 13th, 2015 at 2:07 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
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October 13th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
Upgrade the facilities. The DC area is four hours from the following fertile recruiting regions:
Hampton Roads (VA Tech recruits heavily there)
DC/Baltimore
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Jersey/NYC
With the right coach, they can be the Wisconsin of the East Coast. That's about all they could hope for.
October 13th, 2015 at 3:33 PM ^
Wisconsin level success? I could see them getting there, MAYBE, if they do a bunch of things right and get lucky.
I guess there is nothing wrong with them shooting for Oregon, but I've always been a fan of walking before you run, and as far as I can tell, Maryland football hasn't even really crawled yet. I mean, Oregon is probably one of the Top 5 programs in the country over the past decade. I see zero chnace Maryland ever gets a sniff of that kind of success. And that is true of MOST schools honestly, but most schools aren't firing their coach mid-season because their expectations are so out of whack.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^
of sorts to a long ago comment by Lefty Driesell that he wanted Maryland basketball to become the UCLA of the East.
October 13th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
What a stupid thing to say.
Maryland has money. It has the gravitas of the Big Ten. It's in a perfectly good recruiting area (NJ/VA/MD/PA). So long as it has Big Ten money (and powerful donors), building a foundation the right way remains doable; and if constructed properly, a good foundation will suport tall expectations.
But Maryland fell into the trap. It plagiarized a business model, unabashedly; and as a result, all its setbacks and failures are ripe for judgment under a microscope. "We want to be like Oregon", is about as dumb a PR statement as anyone building up their identity can make; and it weakens not just Maryland, but the Big Ten. Each step in the process of "being like Oregon" draws a comparison that's either un-achievable, or distracts from success for want of an answer. Did you hire the equivalent of Chip Kelly? No? Not enough data to answer? Either way, Maryland fails; and it slows the process of foundation-building for success.
Even if you're successful, you've succesfully become Oregon 2.0, not MARYLAND.
Yet I remain confident Maryland can become an exciting contributor in the Big Ten. Maryland needs to take this advice:
1. Make smart investments in your Athletic Department. Put money in the ground, in stadia, and practice facilities. Hire Jim "MF" Hackett as a consultant. Create environments for success. Don't focus on the outer-ring until you've built something in the inner-ring.
2. Tap into what makes your fans a community, and built that up. Give it an ego and feed it. Validate it.
3. Don't measure success by net revenue, alone. People don't queue at the stadium to watch the Fighting Dollar Bills; and putting flashy uniforms on a bad team is the very definition of gilding the lily. It's an insult.
4. Be Quiet! Get in your submarine, and close up your fort. Address the media only when you have something to say about something positively handled.
5. Don't create an environment of comparison; and definitely don't plagiarize. Read Jim Harbaugh transcripts. Comparison isn't conducive to success and moving forward. Prepare well, and have faith in your preparation.
October 13th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
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October 13th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
Oregon trying to be the Maryland of the West?
October 13th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
October 13th, 2015 at 5:42 PM ^
real life is not a zero-sum game. My next-door neighbor can become a millionaire and succeed beyond his/her wildest dreams, and their success doesn't necessarily reduce my slice of the pie.
College football, well it is a zero-sum game. Maryland winning the B1G East means the other 6 schools don't. Their success DOES pose a real tangible threat to how big my slice of the pie is.
Let them dream big. Welcome the challenge. Better to aspire to be Oregon than to aspire to be NC State. I think they ARE capable of great success, they do definitely have some structural factors in their favor --- namely, geography & monetary support.
October 13th, 2015 at 5:53 PM ^
Keeping their all american QB commit Dewayne Haskins would put them on the right track. He's the real deal. Lots of potential at Maryland to be the next Oregon, due to their location and of coarse the Under Armor thing. Being in the upstart B1G East probably won't hurt either.
October 13th, 2015 at 5:58 PM ^
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October 13th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
Well, Maryland has the same number of National titles as Michigan does since WW II (1.5)
October 13th, 2015 at 8:25 PM ^
Maryland wants to be overrated on an epic scale and humiliated each week?
October 13th, 2015 at 11:56 PM ^
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October 14th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
Oregon is not just benefitting from Nike, it is benefitting from Phil Knight, a billionaire with money to throw around.
UA is successful, but they don't have a Phil Knight equivalent to be MD's sugar daddy. If they did, MD would still be in the ACC. They left for the B1G money. Money that UA could not give them.
They are better off than they were, but they are no Oregon financially.