Only one thing really describes how I feel at this point: :facepalm.
After a cluster**** as big as this entire process, it really had to end this way, didn't it? There is no announcement, no leak, no nothing. But Todd Bradford, the current ILB coach, is now listed as Maryland's defensive coordinator on the Terrapins' official athletic site.
We can't even keep things together enough to make an announcement before we update the guy's position on the roster? Whether or not it's Bradford, this doesn't really do much to refute the emerging "the athletic department is a mess" theory.
Oh, and it probably is Bradford, as Patrick Stevens has a source indicating it's likely. (The same source says they're hiring an extra LB coach from UMass. Just in case you were wondering.) And yes, this is the guy who did poorly mediocre at Southern Miss and has no local connections or name recognition.
Like I said: facepalm.
Bradford was a worst-case-scenario type of hire. In his three years as DC at Southern Miss, he posted national rankings of 47, 81, and 64 in total defense. Golden Eagles fans were happy when he left. He may not have flamed out there, but he certainly didn't succeed. And I'll never understand the logic behind hiring at a high level when he failed at a lower level. But, y'know, whatever.
As far as his recruiting goes, it's nothing special. He was good for a three-star or two a year, but certainly nothing game-changing, like Randy Shannon or Larry Johnson would've been.
Oh, yeah, real quick: just compare him to Shannon. That should be enough to depress you for two months. I have no idea how they think, "Oh, okay, we missed on the perfect candidate, let's go get Plan Q now." There was no respectable backup they could attract with the dough they were throwing around at Shannon?
Like I said earlier, I'm not a sky-is-falling type. But I'm getting dangerously close at this point. I'm still cool on Edsall, but he's shown questionable decision-making ability with his hires, and that's starting to wear me on him. As far as Anderson goes, we're just about through for the time being. He can win his way back into my good graces, but he's dissolved a lot of goodwill.
Hey, look at the bright side: he looks like Freddy Mercury. Really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.