I'm on my way back to the house from Dulles, so I'm posting this from my phone, which will hopefully explain any formatting errors / typos. Anyway, the Friedgen situation has escalated once again. 24 hours ago, this wasn't a story. Now, it's a full-blown explosion.
The last we had heard of the Friedgen mess had Maryland somewhere between "will" and "strongly considering" buying out Ralp Friedgen. Now there are two more interesting notes from the news establishment folks. First, Steve Yanda - remember him - says that Friedgen has already been asked to retire. He hasn't reached a decision yet and there's no timetable, but the request has been made.
Meanwhile, Jeff Barker is saying that it won't matter: no matter Friedgen's decision, he will not be Maryland's head coach next year. Barker says that he has not agreed to "simply retire" and that he will not want to voluntarily walk away from his job. He'll likely be turning dow some extra cash in doing so, but that's his call.
More once I get back home.
UPDATE: Friegen has accepted the buyout. Probably a wise choice.
UPDATE #2: I'm trying to keep the discussion on this today to this post only, so instead of breaking open a few more posts, I'll put two small, recruiting-related notes in here. First, Travis Hughes to UNC, no surprise after what just happened. Maryland was the leader and favorite, but I have no doubt he changed his mind the second this went down. Second, Shawne Merriman is a Locks guy. Doesn't sound too upset. Normally I wouldn't care, but he's the first alum to talk about it. I imagine most will share his sentiment: Locks made Maryland in the early 2000s with his recruiting.
UPDATE #3: Leach's agent says no contact has been made with Maryland's administration and that Leach is out fishing. That's all very believable except for the fact that Leach's agent also represents Don Brown, whom is almost surely having discussions right now with Kevin Anderson. Easy to sneak in a Leach comment every once in a while.
I'm now headed out of the house for the next couple of hours. If anything goes down, please throw it in the comments here. This is the meta-post for the day.
UPDATE #4: Leach is said to have contacted Serra (Ca.) QB Conner Preston earlier today. Preston is a low-three star / high-two star guy. Strange first call. He's committed to SMU. He may or may not be prepping for full recruiting season.