Military Bowl at RFK Stadium 12/29 2:30 PM (MD vs. ECU)

[Drew_Fl]

i'm not a MD fan (VT) but damn Fridge went out like a boss! great thing on ESPN watching his locker-room speech to his guys. MD was really fortunate to have a guy like that all this time. Hopefully they can follow him with someone with great talent as well to strengthen the ACC.

[Beans]

I am getting a sinking feeling. A feeling that perhaps Maryland has made a huge mistake. After last year, even I was ready to can Ralph, but Maryland said, "no, now's not the time." So, he redeems himself, and now is the time? Why does Maryland think that a new coach will improve revenue? Ralph's record at Maryland speaks for itself.

[Burgold]

Well, Maryland made two great statements today

1) A rousing effort for their coach

2) A giant statement about how they were wronged in Bowl selection.

[chipwhich]

I am getting a sinking feeling. A feeling that perhaps Maryland has made a huge mistake. After last year, even I was ready to can Ralph, but Maryland said, "no, now's not the time." So, he redeems himself, and now is the time? Why does Maryland think that a new coach will improve revenue? Ralph's record at Maryland speaks for itself.

Well I waffle on Fridge. MD is not and will never be a Football school.

That said, Fridge's biggest success came on the players recruited by his predecessor.

Since then we are middle of the pack, bowl eligible football fodder.

If you think you can be better than that, you get rid of Fridge.

Otherwise you accept MD Football for all they can be. middle of the pack, bowl eligible football fodder.

The bowl system is why I think college football sucks.

[Redskin4ever]

Probably Kenny Tate or Torrey Smith.

Well, half of this is confirmed. No confirmation on Rosenhaus, but Smith is going pro.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=5968280

[mjah]

Why does Maryland think that a new coach will improve revenue? Ralph's record at Maryland speaks for itself.

While Ralph was better for revenue than anyone since Bobby Ross, the past few seasons have been pretty disappointing for revenue.

The ACC shares bowl proceeds fairly, so the difference between a good revenue year and a bad revenue year is putting butts in seats, selling merchandise, etc. It can be expected that a 2-win season after a couple of middling years will lead to a lot of empty seats (see 2009), but there's trouble for the head coach when the second-biggest turnaround in the nation still leads to lots of empty seats and redheaded-stepchild treatment from bowl selection committees (see 2010).

In fairness to the fans, there were multiple years in the middle of Ralph's tenure that saw really lackluster, boring offensive output from a guy who was supposed to be an offensive mastermind. Not Vanderlinden-bad, but still unexciting. It can be hard to get DC/Baltimore region folks to show up for that kind of product, given that there are over a quarter-million D1 and NFL seats in the state of Maryland vying for their live-football dollars. When the product was boring, people stayed away and chose other options.

There's really no excuse for a season like this one to look so bad from an attendance and bowl-selection standpoint. Either Ralph lost the fans, or they took him for granted. Either way, the school needs people in those stadium seats. So from a business point of view Ralph had to go, even though it was brutal from a personal point of view. They might have let it ride until next year, but not with Franklin and many of the other assistants leaving. One year before retirement is no time to be rebuilding an assistant corps essentially from scratch.

A guy like Leach will put butts in seats, guaranteed. People will come out just to see what he puts on the field, which wasn't the case for Fridge and really hadn't been for 3-5 years.

[Beans]

While Ralph was better for revenue than anyone since Bobby Ross, the past few seasons have been pretty disappointing for revenue.

The ACC shares bowl proceeds fairly, so the difference between a good revenue year and a bad revenue year is putting butts in seats, selling merchandise, etc. It can be expected that a 2-win season after a couple of middling years will lead to a lot of empty seats (see 2009), but there's trouble for the head coach when the second-biggest turnaround in the nation still leads to lots of empty seats and redheaded-stepchild treatment from bowl selection committees (see 2010).

In fairness to the fans, there were multiple years in the middle of Ralph's tenure that saw really lackluster, boring offensive output from a guy who was supposed to be an offensive mastermind. Not Vanderlinden-bad, but still unexciting. It can be hard to get DC/Baltimore region folks to show up for that kind of product, given that there are over a quarter-million D1 and NFL seats in the state of Maryland vying for their live-football dollars. When the product was boring, people stayed away and chose other options.

There's really no excuse for a season like this one to look so bad from an attendance and bowl-selection standpoint. Either Ralph lost the fans, or they took him for granted. Either way, the school needs people in those stadium seats. So from a business point of view Ralph had to go, even though it was brutal from a personal point of view. They might have let it ride until next year, but not with Franklin and many of the other assistants leaving. One year before retirement is no time to be rebuilding an assistant corps essentially from scratch.

A guy like Leach will put butts in seats, guaranteed. People will come out just to see what he puts on the field, which wasn't the case for Fridge and really hadn't been for 3-5 years.

Oh, I understand their line of thinking with the move, I am just not sure it is going to actually work. And to the boring MD offenses, I think a lack of talent at the QB position has been killing this team since Shaun Hill went pro. O'Brien should be excitement enough for fans.

[abdcskins]

Way to go Terps! In college football all you can do is play hard and make a bowl game, then win. And that's exactly what they did.

Goodbye Ralph. Thanks for turning this program around. Bowl games the past several years (for the most part). You did well.

[Popeman38]

Well I waffle on Fridge. MD is not and will never be a Football school.

That said, Fridge's biggest success came on the players recruited by his predecessor.

Since then we are middle of the pack, bowl eligible football fodder.

If you think you can be better than that, you get rid of Fridge.

Otherwise you accept MD Football for all they can be. middle of the pack, bowl eligible football fodder.

The bowl system is why I think college football sucks.

Was Maryland a middle of the pack, bowl eligible team prior to Ralph? Not even close.

Ralph went to 7 bowl games in 10 years: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010; he has a record of 5-2 in those bowl games. In the 10 years prior to Ralph, 1991-2000, Maryland went to exactly 0 bowl games. In the 10 years before that, 1981-1990, Maryland went to 5 bowls: 1982-Ross, 1983-Ross, 1984-Ross, 1985-Ross, 1990-Duffner.

Ralph is probably the best football coach Maryland has ever had. He is right there with Bobby Ross. Ralph made football relevant again, something it hadn't been since Bobby Ross 25 years ago. He did not deserve to be fired. If anything, he deserved a 10 year extension. If he could go to 7 bowls in the next 10 years, that 20 years of football would trump the entire history of Maryland football (14 bowls in 20 years vs 17 bowls in 84 years - using 1916 as the bowl start point).

[BeachSkin]

Dominating a 6-6 C-USA team doesn't necessarily mean canning Fridge was the wrong move. Navy dropped 76 on ECU & Rice put up 62...just saying.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR2010122905075.html?sid=ST2010122905172

Ralph Friedgen choked back more tears as his players embraced him on the last night of his Maryland career, after this 51-20 demolition of East Carolina paved the way for the new young thing to spice up the university's dying marriage with its boosters.

Indeed, at the exact same time a 63-year-old football lifer was coaching his final game at his alma mater, Leach, the former Texas Tech coach who has been accused of ordering a kid complaining of a concussion to be locked in a shed, was touring Maryland's campus.

Let's give the administration and Kevin Anderson, the neophyte Maryland athletic director who fired Friedgen, at least this: They will stop at nothing when it comes to finding their bottom.

People of Terrapin Nation, please: The body wasn't even cold. You couldn't have at least waited until he cleaned out his office at Gossett Team House on Thursday? It was just too much to let the ACC coach of the year have one more day before the mail-order bride from Texas arrived?

To the Fridge-Needs-to-Go folks: You can trot out your stats and your figures forever. You can make persuasive arguments about lapses in recruiting and interest. And even if you were right - and you, like the new red necktie in College Park calling the shots, believe this is a "strategic business decision" - this was no way to bring an end to the most memorable era of Maryland football since Bobby Ross employed a pretty good offensive coordinator named Ralph Friedgen more than two decades ago.

Friedgen knows it's big-time college football with monster money involved and sometimes there is no easy way to usher people who don't want to leave out the door.

But when the athletic director guarantees your job security for 2011, then rescinds that pledge a month later; when university officials can't just flat-out say, "We screwed up in how we handled this"; and finally, when his hoped-for replacement is in College Park the very day he is taking the Terrapins to their seventh bowl game in his 10 years and their fifth postseason victory, well, that's just about as classless as it comes.

As the big man lumbered off the podium at about 8 p.m. Wednesday and out the door for the last time, they can say what they want about him and debate how good of a coach he was or not.

They can't debate this: Forty years after his old man swore he would change the locks if his disenchanted kid left College Park - because, as his father said, "quitters don't live in my house" - Ralph Friedgen never quit on Maryland.

It's a damn shame that on the night of his last triumph, in the cold at RFK where they chanted his name and he sang the alma mater as the band played, the university he continues to love can't say the same

[Popeman38]

Dominating a 6-6 C-USA team doesn't necessarily mean canning Fridge was the wrong move. Navy dropped 76 on ECU & Rice put up 62...just saying.

The point is, Maryland SUCKED before Ralph. Horribly.

[chipwhich]

Was Maryland a middle of the pack, bowl eligible team prior to Ralph? Not even close.

I am not arguing for or against Ralph.

The simple truth is Ralph doesn't sell tickets. Attendance at football games has consistently been on the decline, and the big money alumni wanted him out.

Anyway the point of my post is you either recognize MD is a middle of the pack bowl eligible team at best, or, if you think the program can be better, you hire someone who you think can take the program to the next level. Ralph couldn't.

Personally I don't think MD can ever be more than where Ralph has them.

Oh and Bobby Ross > Fridge.

[Popeman38]

I am not arguing for or against Ralph.

The simple truth is Ralph doesn't sell tickets. Attendance at football games has consistently been on the decline, and the big money alumni wanted him out.

Anyway the point of my post is you either recognize MD is a middle of the pack bowl eligible team at best, or, if you think the program can be better, you hire someone who you think can take the program to the next level. Ralph couldn't.

Personally I don't think MD can ever be more than where Ralph has them.

Oh and Bobby Ross > Fridge.

Do you know who ran Bobby Ross' famed offense? Ralph Friedgen. Hmmmmm, makes ya think, doesn't it?

[chipwhich]

Do you know who ran Bobby Ross' famed offense? Ralph Friedgen. Hmmmmm, makes ya think, doesn't it?

I am a MD alum. Went to school there/games when Bobby Ross was coach. Was on campus when Boomer was drafted. Went to high school and MD with Kevin Glover. I am familiar with the program.

Not for a against Ralph. He is clearly the best coach post Ross. But other than the first couple of seasons, we are crappy bowl football fodder. The money earning alumni who pay the bills didn't think that was good enough. On top of that, fans stopped buying tickets.

[pjfootballer]

Whatever anyone thinks, great win. Total domination. I think they go after Leach because of the type of offense he runs. He'll try to score alot of points and that will put butts in the seats.

[TimmySmith]

I am not arguing for or against Ralph.

The simple truth is Ralph doesn't sell tickets. Attendance at football games has consistently been on the decline, and the big money alumni wanted him out.

Yup. Plain and simple. MD has to be a consistent winner to keep selling out games and Fridge had jumped the shark. This decision was made last year, nothing short of a BCS appearance could change it. The fact that Fridge had a good season put a bit of egg on MD's face, but they made a tough choice and stuck to it.

[Popeman38]

UMD needs a new football stadium. Byrd is too, I'm not quite sure what word to use? Big? The upper deck at Byrd is like sitting on the moon. You have an open end of the stadium. The student section needs to be redone. James Madison is going to have/already has a better stadium than UMD will/does.

They need to close in the east endzone with seats. Remove the UL and wrap the existing mezzanine level all the way around. That would keep capacity right around 60,000, and provide a more intimate, loud environment.

[heyholetsgogrant]

Sorry Fridge, but beating a lot of out of conference cupcakes and a weak ACC, your 8 wins feels more like 5. With Bobby Bowden gone and Florida State on the up swing, a change had to be made (if you dont beat Fstate, that means no ACC Champ or BCS bowl shot). Ralph had struggled against the big boys in the conference (VT and FState). Lets be honest most of Ralph's success came during his first 3 years with someone else's players.

---------- Post added December-30th-2010 at 03:29 PM ----------

UMD needs a new football stadium. Byrd is too, I'm not quite sure what word to use? Big? The upper deck at Byrd is like sitting on the moon. You have an open end of the stadium. The student section needs to be redone. James Madison is going to have/already has a better stadium than UMD will/does.

They need to close in the east endzone with seats. Remove the UL and wrap the existing mezzanine level all the way around. That would keep capacity right around 60,000, and provide a more intimate, loud environment.

Yeah, that 1990's upper deck expansion was plain dumb. But who will pay for all of this?

[Beans]

Sorry Fridge, but beating a lot of out of conference cupcakes and a weak ACC, your 8 wins feels more like 5. With Bobby Bowden gone and Florida State on the up swing, a change had to be made (if you dont beat Fstate, that means no ACC Champ or BCS bowl shot). Ralph had struggled against the big boys in the conference (VT and FState). Lets be honest most of Ralph's success came during his first 3 years with someone else's players.

Don't be a hater. Do you think any other coach could have done better than Ralph at MD?

[heyholetsgogrant]

Don't be a hater. Do you think any other coach could have done better than Ralph at MD?

Where does Ron Vanderlin recruit now?

Do you think any other coach could have done better than Ralph at MD? Mike Leach

[mjah]

Oh, I understand their line of thinking with the move, I am just not sure it is going to actually work. And to the boring MD offenses, I think a lack of talent at the QB position has been killing this team since Shaun Hill went pro. O'Brien should be excitement enough for fans.

Yet objectively, O'Brien (and the other talent on both sides of the ball) clearly wasn't enough this year. The empty seats told the story.

Any coaching change is always a gamble. Devil you know vs. devil you don't know, etc. But when the empty seats look the way they have for the past few years and then still lag badly even in the face of success, it's time for the business to make a change.

Sadly, that means Fridge won't be around to reap the likely benefits of this year's season, in the form of better ticket sales next season. But the notion of Fridge filling the house is conjecture too, just like the idea that a new coach will fill it. You take a big gamble either way.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Where does Ron Vanderlin recruit now?

Do you think any other coach could have done better than Ralph at MD? Mike Leach

Fwiw, Mike Leach isn't known for his recruiting ability either.

And he won't have the luxury of being in the state of Texas.

[mjah]

UMD needs a new football stadium. Byrd is too, I'm not quite sure what word to use? Big? The upper deck at Byrd is like sitting on the moon. You have an open end of the stadium. The student section needs to be redone. James Madison is going to have/already has a better stadium than UMD will/does.

They need to close in the east endzone with seats. Remove the UL and wrap the existing mezzanine level all the way around. That would keep capacity right around 60,000, and provide a more intimate, loud environment.

That upper deck is ridiculous. It was added in the mid-90s when the program was absolutely nothing, and I'm convinced that they built it that way to minimize foundation footprint. At least they put those seats in a good location with respect to the 50 yard line, but they could have done a lot better. It was a very short-sighted plan.

I have a personal master plan for Byrd and the UMCP campus, but unfortunately the only way it could happen would be if the College Park campus played an active hosting role for a DC Olympics. Basically you buy up and level all of the Knox hillside, rename it Fraternity Hill, and move the fraternities over there. Now there's a giant open space facing Route 1 which used to be called Frat Row, and which actually was the site of a stadium long ago. Build a new 60,000 seat stadium there and call it Big Byrd. Leave one end open to the Chapel Fields. Big Byrd is right next to the East Campus project, which will get built someday. Level the Leonardtown apartments -- all of them -- and make much more efficient use of the space for premium parking and high rise apartment living (or skip the apartments, as lately there's a ton of apartments in town). Now you have a legit stadium complex and a kickass stadium too.

Level the existing Byrd -- good riddance -- and build a world class teaching hospital there with ready access to Rt. 193 (screw the Baltimore medical campus, the flagship campus deserves this). North Campus gets re-envisioned as the Olympic Village. In my plan, a 900-foot stretch of Rt. 1 in front of the campus gets dropped about 20 feet in a cut-and-cover operation that gives pedestrians easy access across that godawful road on gameday.

Oh, and the Purple Line is already slated to run from the vicinity of my new hospital to East Campus and my new stadium. It's perfect.

Now I just need a billion dollars to start...

[Popeman38]

That upper deck is ridiculous. It was added in the mid-90s when the program was absolutely nothing, and I'm convinced that they built it that way to minimize foundation footprint. At least they put those seats in a good location with respect to the 50 yard line, but they could have done a lot better. It was a very short-sighted plan.

I have a personal master plan for Byrd and the UMCP campus, but unfortunately the only way it could happen would be if the College Park campus played an active hosting role for a DC Olympics. Basically you buy up and level all of the Knox hillside, rename it Fraternity Hill, and move the fraternities over there. Now there's a giant open space facing Route 1 which used to be called Frat Row, and which actually was the site of a stadium long ago. Build a new 60,000 seat stadium there and call it Big Byrd. Leave one end open to the Chapel Fields. Big Byrd is right next to the East Campus project, which will get built someday. Level the Leonardtown apartments -- all of them -- and make much more efficient use of the space for premium parking and high rise apartment living (or skip the apartments, as lately there's a ton of apartments in town). Now you have a legit stadium complex and a kickass stadium too.

Level the existing Byrd -- good riddance -- and build a world class teaching hospital there with ready access to Rt. 193 (screw the Baltimore medical campus, the flagship campus deserves this). North Campus gets re-envisioned as the Olympic Village. In my plan, a 900-foot stretch of Rt. 1 in front of the campus gets dropped about 20 feet in a cut-and-cover operation that gives pedestrians easy access across that godawful road on gameday.

Oh, and the Purple Line is already slated to run from the vicinity of my new hospital to East Campus and my new stadium. It's perfect.

Now I just need a billion dollars to start...

A billion? Try $10B! At least my plan would be in the ballpark of a $100M!