Ralph Friedgen Keeps His Dream Alive, Still Refuses to Rule Out Playing Danny O'Brien

by Ben Broman on Nov 14, 2009 10:12 PM EST in Football

I don't know what it is about Ralph Friedgen and Danny O'Brien, but the big man sure seems to love the North Carolinian true freshman QB. In fact, he loves him so much that he'll happily burn his redshirt with just two games left in a lost season. At least, that's what Prisbell's reporting.

Burning a QB's redshirt in the final few games is just flabbergasting to me. I mean, if Maryland had five wins right now, then okay. I mean, a bowl's the goal, right? But Maryland has two wins and no shot at anything in the postseason. Jamarr Robinson didn't look great, yes, but he didn't look awful, and I'm not sure why O'Brien would do better. I'm also not sure what DOB performing better than Robinson does, anyway. Lord knows it doesn't increase Ralph's job security - if anything, that should be the last straw.

I just don't get Ralph Friedgen that much anymore. Playcalling, personnel decisions, recruiting - none of them make sense. The worst of it is redshirt management. I'll have a post in the coming week running them down, but I can think of literally just one redshirt - Nick Ferrara's - that has been justifiably burnt. Burning O'Brien's would be criminal and pointless, especially because Chris Turner is a week from returning.

It sounds like Friedgen doesn't need to wait for a Robinson injury to make the switch. So, with a healthy QB on the bench, would you potentially trade a fifth-year senior's 720 snaps for a true freshman's 100 or so? The payoff? You're 3-9 instead of 2-10.

Not to mention that Chris Turner might be just a week away from being able to play, and you know he would against Boston College if he's able. So that 100 might transform down to 50 or 60. I simply don't get the reasoning.

Of course, it hasn't happened yet, so maybe this is a slight overreaction, but his refusal to deny it is disconcerting, and I need somewhere to vent, dammit. Am I in the wrong here, or does this anger anyone else?

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O'Brien

If you are picking between the coach’s pride and a productive 5th year for O’Brien, the Terps’ football future has to suffer. Pride always wins in these situations, unless you have a truly magnanimous head coach, who places the welfare of the program above his own.

I’m not sure O’Brien’s experience would be that great this year. He would be spending most of his playing time on his back, gazing up at the empty upper deck, given the state of the line. Would that be valuable experience or a setback in confidence? How could he beat FSU or BC?

by EdDC on Nov 15, 2009 7:25 AM EST reply actions