Why Ralph Friedgen Should Remain Terrapins Head Coach
There are quite a few parallels to draw between Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis and Maryland Terrapins coach Ralph Friedgen. Minimized girth aside, they are both renowned offensive game planners and straight-from-the-hip shooters.
And both are painstakingly tasked with keeping less-than-respected football programs nationally relevant.
But what separates them aside from conference affiliation and media scrutiny is the all important confidence of their supporters. Notre Dame boosters and alumni are shamed by Charlie Weis. They are shamed because of his record, shamed because of his arrogance coming into the job, and shamed because they made their racism obvious under the guise of winning and replaced him with a guy who was far inferior as a recruiter.
Friedgen? He is beloved in College Park. No one cares for his losing ways, no one cares that he can’t mine the minimal football talent in the state away from Penn State and West Virginia, but they do care that he is an affable and responsible steward of the program with NFL connections.
And that’s why he deserves to stay. Not because his leadership and message to current and potential players hasn’t run its course, but because Maryland is unlikely to find someone in his mold to do a better job than he.
Like Weis, Friedgen had the brunt of his success with the players assembled by his predecessor. But it doesn’t mean that he is incapable of bringing in five-star talent, as evidenced by the high draft stocks of Shawne Merriman, Vernon Davis and Darrius Heyward-Bey. He may not bring in the best teams, but he certainly can bring in the NFL Films cameras to chronicle individual pro days at Byrd Stadium.
Maryland would be foolish to release an alumnus with his connections and his coaching acumen. Be clear; Ralph Friedgen doesn’t need Maryland. There are assistant coaching gigs and head coaching jobs waiting for his departure in the NFL and collegiate ranks respectively should he be let go or decide to exit. And like Gary Williams, most of the Terrapin boosters and alumni support the program not because of the team’s potential for success, but because the coach makes them feel confident that, win or lose, the program is in steady hands.
UMD athletic director Debbie Yow is smart enough to know this, and that’s why you don’t hear the whispers about Friedgen’s job sprinkled throughout local media. For Friedgen, the adage of never being able to come home again has proven true, but even in the midst of annual struggle, Maryland would be fiscally and socially irresponsible to send their native son away.
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Fridge did himself in. He has a fat contract that was renewed every time he went running to Debbie that he’s going to leave if we don’t pay him enough. He moaned that he couldn’t win because we didn’t pay our assistants enough. So we paid top dollar for James Franklin (number 2 in salary of assistants in the ACC). Then we needed stadium upgrades, so 25 million later, we have a huge tyser tower full of guest suites. 2-10 is not going to fill those suites. losing to middle Tennessee and getting beat by 50 points to Cal/Va Tech is not going to fill those suites. Debbie knows this. I don’t know why you say there aren’t any “whispers” of Fridge being buyout because I’m hearing the exact opposite. Not only is Fridge being bought out, but so is Franklin. I seriously doubt Debbie would do this if she didn’t have another coach in mind.
Fridge used to be loved in college park, but the tide has passed. we’re tired of the excuses. He bitches about the refs, the stadium, the weather, and even throws kids under the bus. He never blames himself. Somewhere along the way, Fridge lost his way. He used to go for the jugular and now we’re barely beating JMU in OT. He calls it conservatively every single game. Maryland plays a boring game of football.
By the way, we do care that we’re getting ONE kid out of maryland’s top 20 in recruits. I could care less what DHB does on Sunday if it means I have to sit through Maryland getting beat by Middle Tenn/Duke/Rutgers on Saturday.
One more thing, Ralph = / = Gary. Gary is a legend. He is also one of the school’s biggest fundraisers. He has his own booster club (FOG, Friends of Gary). He has most of the school’s biggest donars in his back pocket. People like the Ravens owner, Biscotti, who have said many times that when Gary leaves, so do they. While Ralph has Plank (UnderArmour), Plank outfits all of UMD’s sports, and he’s under contract, so it’s not like he can be like “if Ralph leaves, I leave.”
All legitimate points, but if Fridge was going to be gone, it would’ve been in the middle of the season with the gig going to Franklin, and buyouts coming shortly after the end of the season. No prominent booster or alumnus is on record with the “Fire Ralph” talk. Gary Williams had a shorter leash just last year.
You can’t pay a coach $4 mil to buy him out and set back the minimal recruiting you already have as you search for a new guy. They can’t bring in a young hot shot because they’d already be getting rid of him in Franklin.
Terps are trapped. They should just give Fridge one more go in 2010 through five games.