Regardless of where you stand in the Fridge debate, I'm glad he got to go out on top yesterday. Good job, Ralph. Thanks for making Maryland football relevant again.
Friedgen talks about fan and player support -- baltimoresun.com
Video of Friedgen's post-game press conference
Maryland Terrapins: Fans react to friedgen's finale - baltimoresun.com
Fans react to friedgen's final game as HC.
Rick Snider: At RFK, Fridge is closed - Washington Examiner
Ben B. - As a disclaimer, Rick Snider has actually talked to me before (not in person), while Mike Wise has never said a word in my direction. Just letting you know.
But if Wise wanted to write a fair piece on it, this would've been the way to go. Just sayin'. Well-written, fair, looks at the pros and the cons.
Shocker: Another Terrible Mike Wise Article About the Friedgen Situation
Ben B. - C'mon. Again?
Wise, desiring a new coach while still honoring Friedgen are not mutually exclusive ideas. I like the move, yet I still want to thank Fridge for all he did. Don't act like they're polar opposites.
Oh, and Maryland has an open coaching vacancy. They have to make a hire ASAP. So what if he was on campus at the same time? The process has to move forward. They've interviewed candidates before this game, too, Wise.
Once again, this - "Marlyand took the only job the Class of '68 alum ever wanted" - is wrong. Why would he then parlay interest in NFL teams into continual pay raises? Again, it's not bad, but he's not some kind of saint.
Every coach is attached to their players. That's not an argument to keep him around.
Yes, he admits that he won't listen to facts, figures, or logic of any sort. So I'm not really sure what I'm even doing here.
I don't know how to say this, so I'll say it: the goddamn situation changed when Franklin went to Vandy. How don't you understand that? It wasn't going back on his word, because his word assumed a stable environment, which there wasn't.
I don't the "I never quit on Maryland." Of course he didn't. Why would he? What sense does that even make? Why would he quit on his employer who kept him onboard after he went 2-10?
Wise has pissed me off, as I'm sure you can tell.
My take - I've been working with Ben B. for a while now and this might be the angriest I've seen him about something. And I couldn't agree more with everything he said above. You'd think someone with "Wise" in their name would have some sense of intelligence, but Mike Wise seems to have none in this article. Here are a few facts for you, Mike.
1. Maryland has to get a coach in place ASAP, as Ben said. There is this little date coming up on January 4th, when coaches can start talking to recruits again, so it's kind of important that a coach get into place. And hiring a coach isn't something you can do in a day. It takes time. It also takes time for said coach to put his staff in place, another important thing for the recruiting aspect of the job. You could argue Maryland should have had a coach in place before the bowl game. But they didn't. And making the analogy that Ralph's body wasn't even cold yet is horrible, considering he's known about this for a week. It's not like they told him he was being fired right after the final second ticked off the clock at the bowl game yesterday. Plus he has $2 mil to keep his body warm.
2. "But when the athletic director guarantees your job security for 2011, then rescinds that pledge a month later; when university officials can't just flat-out say, "We screwed up in how we handled this"; and finally, when his hoped-for replacement is in College Park the very day he is taking the Terrapins to their seventh bowl game in his 10 years and their fifth postseason victory, well, that's just about as classless as it comes."
HE WAS TOLD HE WOULD COME BACK WHEN FRANKLIN WAS STILL THE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR WISE! When Franklin was here, he was the next head coach. Ralph would be back next year and then Franklin would take over in 2012. There is no lame duck coach in that situation because you can tell recruits who the next coach would be. When Franklin left, that was no longer the case. They didn't want to extend Fridge beyond 2011 for a number of reasons, including his health and the fact that he's a sub .500 coach over the last 7 seasons and 7 is a better sample size than his first 3 10-win seasons. So since they didn't want to extend Ralph for fear that the result would be more similar to the last several seasons.
Wise loves to ignore these things called facts.
RTC: Top 25 NPOY Contenders
Ben B - Jordan checks in at #22. If he's still around next year, he'll be in the top 10 somewhere, I imagine.
Ashton Pankey Sidelined for Rest of Year
Ben B. - He'll be redshirted, then. Smart.
My take - hopefully he can recover and not be the next Burney...
Peter Schmuck: Terps send message that program will be OK with win in Military Bowl over East Carolina - baltimoresun.com
Schmuck weighs in...
Tracking the Terps: Notes on Friedgen, Leach and the coaching search - Jeff Barker - baltimoresun.com
Interesting quote from Ralph..."I think there's a lot of things that really have to change to help [Maryland] reach its potential, and to be honest with you, I don't know if the university is willing to do that."
Tracking the Terps: Maryland consultant says report of $3.5 million package 'is quite high'
I think Jones was never really a candidate. I think he agreed to be interviewed, knowing he wouldn't make it, just so he could use it as leverage to get a raise from SMU.
Terps overwhelm ECU 51-20 in Military Bowl - East Carolina - NewsObserver.com
Always interesting to hear what the opposition says. ECU said they got their butts whipped.
No. 18 Maryland women's basketball team scores 66-60 win over No. 17 St. John's
Lady Terps beat #17 St. John's to complete the 3-0 Terps sweep yesterday.