By: DREW SORRELLS and JUSTIN FITZGERALD
Maryland coach Randy Edsall will have a new title soon: former coach. It first was reported by Inside Maryland Sports’ Jeff Ermann, and later confirmed by Yahoo Sports‘ Pat Forde, that the University of Maryland is set to fire their head football coach.
There is no specific timetable as to when this will take place, but it has been reported that it could happen as early as after this week’s Ohio State game. The end appears to be sooner, rather than later, for Edsall.
Following a disappointing 2-3 start, the Edsall experiment appears to have run his course at Maryland. In consecutive weeks, the Terrapins were defeated by rival West Virginia and fellow Big Ten member MIchigan by a combined score of 73-6 and boosters of the program were not happy. Edall has compiled a 22-33 record at Maryland, with an abysmal 0-11 record against teams ranked in the Top-25.
The University released a statement saying “Randy Edsall is our head football coach and he will be on the sidelines Saturday against Ohio State.” That confirms that he is still their coach in the moment, but certainly does not give off a feeling of denial in response to the reports. Since he signed an extension going into this season, Edsall will be paid $500,000 guaranteed along with a $2.1 million buyout as a result of early termination.
The campus and school as a whole appeared to have become disenchanted from their football team. As we sought out students to gain a student perspective of the news, many were uninterested. When asked to comment, students either didn’t know, or simply didn’t care. “Finally we can get back to winning,” one student said. “It was tough to back a coach that just didn’t seem to be able to get the job done.”
While many students aren’t interested in athletics as a whole, the widespread disregard for the team speaks volumes to the direction the program has moved since the beginning of Edsall’s tenor as head football coach.
Ermann noted in his report that his sources were not worried about player morale dropping because of this change in regime. “Nobody in the locker room would leave next year because Edsall is fired,” Ermann’s source told him. “He doesn’t have too many fans left in the locker room.”
The backbone of the upcoming recruiting class, 4-star quarterback Dwayne Haskins, reaffirmed his commitment. In a tweet shortly after news broke. Tino Ellis, a 4-star receiver from Dematha, relayed similar sentiments of program support. However, 3-star recruit Devon Butler announced he has reopened his recruitment wake of the uncertainty that plague’s Maryland’s football program now.
https://twitter.com/dh_simba7/status/652143024818941952
A huge part of Maryland’s recent recruiting success has been based on “The Movement,” a name dubbed for the new trend of local Maryland and DC-area recruits to band together at Maryland rather than dispersing throughout the country. The DC-Maryland-Virginia area surrounding College Park, also called the DMV, is a hotbed for 4 and 5 star recruits. If Maryland can continue the trend there is no reason to believe the program can’t turn around.
The upcoming vacancy will be more attractive than when Edsall took the Maryland job. The close knit relationship with Under Armour, financial stability in the Big 10 and the Cole Field House renovations all have Maryland improving off the field.
Head basketball coach Mark Turgeon has talked about how it gives him a leg up in recruiting, and the guarantee of the latest gear can can be utilized in football as well.
https://twitter.com/RandyEdsall/status/652278484866342912
It’s in times like these, with rumors circulating regarding your impending termination, that you turn to the wise words of Wiz Khalifa. I guess sometimes nobody gets you like Wiz gets you. We feel you, Randy.
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