Good news: per the Baltimore Sun, Maryland has officially offered the defensive coordinator position to Randy Shannon, former head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. And the news gets better: he's "indicated he wants the job."
Maryland has made an offer to former Miami head coach Randy Shannon to be its defensive coordinator, a source with knowledge of the talks between Shannon and the school told The Baltimore Sun.
Shannon has indicated he wants the job, the source said. There was no signed agreement as of late Thursday afternoon, and Shannon had returned to Miami to take care of unspecified business while Maryland awaited his response.
First off, the fact that he left with no deal in place should leave you sufficiently skeptical. Get excited, but remain grounded. As with anyone this high-profile, the deal could always fall apart, be it for money, relationships, or some other unspecified reasons. It's not like Shannon doesn't have options.
That said, if they've come this far, I'm going to go ahead and guess - emphasis on guess - that a deal will get done. If Maryland wants him and he wants Maryland, Edsall and the Terrapins have too much riding on this to let it fall through, especially now that word's out. I can't imagine they want another Leach situation.
Meanwhile, this is a very good thing for a lot of reasons, if it comes through. Shannon doesn't provide the continuity that Don Brown did, but with Brown gone, searching for that was a lost cause. Shannon does provide some insane recruiting connections in Florida (just not Plant), a ridiculous DC pedigree, a great reputation, and a huge name, as far as coordinators go.
His defenses at Miami have always been top-of-the-line and pretty agressive, which he's been able to afford with the masses of talent signing up for him. Maryland's not quite as athletic, so the scheme may require some rejiggering, but Brown has been moving toward that type of offense anyway, and the talent is starting to come together.
We'll have more on it (including the potential negative of not being around for long) if it comes through, but for now: cautious optimism.