Randy Edsall lost big and lost often, and that's why Maryland fired him

Randy Edsall was fired this afternoon, the University of Maryland announced. Mike Locksley, the offensive coordinator, will be taking over as the interim head coach.

I want to delve into one of the key reasons that Edsall was let go: margin of defeat, specifically how bad it was.

Edsall went 22-34 overall at Maryland. He wasn't just fired because he lost those 34 games. It was how he lost those 34 games.

Let's take a look at 2011:

38-7 loss to Temple

56-45 loss to Clemson

41-16 loss to FSU

28-17 loss to Boston College

31-13 loss to Virginia

45-21 loss to Notre Dame

31-10 loss to Wake Forest

56-41 loss to NC State

Eight losses by double digits and six of them came by more than 14 points. Half of them were by more than 20. How about 2012?

31-21 loss to West Virginia

33-13 loss to Georgia Tech

45-10 loss to Clemson

41-14 loss to FSU

Only four double-digit losses but, three of them came by at least 20 points. And 2013?

63-0 loss to FSU

34-10 loss to Wake Forest

40-27 loss to Clemson

20-3 loss to Syracuse

31-20 loss to Marshall (bowl game)

Another five double digit losses and three of them were devastating blowouts. Maryland went to a second consecutive bowl game in 2014 but the losses sometimes overshadowed the wins.

52-24 loss to Ohio State

52-7 loss to Wisconsin

37-15 loss to Michigan State

45-21 loss to Stanford (bowl game)

Four losses and they all came by more than 20 points. Edsall made it to the halfway point of the 2015 season before Kevin Anderson decided to pull the plug on Edsall's tenure with the Terps.

48-27 loss to Bowling Green

45-6 loss to West Virginia

28-0 loss to Michigan

49-28 loss to Ohio State

Four losses, and they all came by three touchdowns or more. Maryland has been outscored 122-34 in its last three games. 2015 was the final straw. Kevin Anderson, the boosters and the fan base had enough of the blowout losses.

The bottom line here is simple: Randy Edsall lost 34 games as the head coach of Maryland, and 25 of them came by double-digits. Out of those 25 losses, 17 of them came by more than 20 points. There is losing, and then there is losing in a way that is unpalatable to just about everyone. Maryland had much more of the latter than the former under Edsall, and that is why he is no longer the head football coach of the Maryland Terrapins.