The case for Bob Stitt as Maryland's next head football coach

Over the coming weeks and months, the Maryland football program will search for a new head coach to replace the departed Randy Edsall. We know who the candidates are, but who should Maryland pick? We'll state every coach's case, whether he wants the job or not, in 500 words or fewer.

Bob Stitt, Montana head coach

Possibility Scale: 3/10

The resume

Stitt's been around coaching for awhile, getting his start as a graduate assistant at Northern Colorado in 1989. He was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for his alma mater Doane College from 1990 to 1993. He then moved onto Austin College, filling myriad roles from1994 to 1998. After a one-year stint as coordinator at Harvard in 1999, Stitt took his first head coaching job, as head coach at Colorado School of Mines, in Division II in 2000. This past offseason, he left Colorado Mines after 15 seasons to become head coach at FCS Montana.

The benefits

He's certainly an innovator. Stitt shot into national prominence when West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen gave him credit for giving him the fly sweep play his team ran to incredible success in a 70-33 win over Clemson in the 2011 Orange Bowl. Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital also gave Stitt credit for informing him of a tunnel screen play the Aggies used to great success vs South Carolina in 2014.

Stitt's run a high-octane offense for years, known for airing out the football. He coached quarterback Chad Friehauf to the Harlon Hill trophy - the Division II equivalent of the Heisman - in 2004 off the back of a 4,646-yard passing season. His offense doesn't just churn out passers who put up huge numbers. In 2006, running back Michael Curl ran for 1,000 yards, the first player at Colorado Mines to do that since 1939. His teams at Mines and Montana have consistently racked up remarkable offensive numbers for their level.

The drawbacks

For all those successes, Stitt has never coached at FBS level, and only this season has he even ascended to FCS. This hire is incredibly important for Maryland football, and choosing a coach who's never coached in the Sun Belt let alone the Big Ten is a very, very big risk.

And because of his inexperience at this level, we have absolutely no idea what Stitt's recruiting capabilities are. A coach who can recruit really well is something many would say Maryland needs, considering how often the fertile D.C./Maryland/Virginia recruiting area is mentioned in conjunction with the Maryland job. We just have no idea how Stitt would do in that realm, considering he's never had to do it here before.

In one sentence

Stitt would probably be too risky a hire for Maryland to comfortably make, even though he'd be a bold pick and run an incredibly fun Terps offense.