Univ. of Maryland President Wallace Loh yesterday indicated that the school is "positioned much better than it was five years ago to attract a top-notch football coach," in part because of the school's move to the Big Ten, according to Don Markus of the Baltimore SUN. Loh said, "We are in a very different situation than when we let go of (Ralph) Friedgen and we hired Randy Edsall. It was at a time when we were facing a major financial crisis." He added AD Kevin Anderson "now has the tools" to hire a big-name coach. Loh: "He did not have the tools back then." Edsall was fired on Sunday "midway through his fifth season." Loh said that he believes UM, through its "exposure on the Big Ten Network and the connection with ... Under Armour, could become the Oregon of the East Coast." He said, "I would think that this is one of the most attractive jobs in the country for somebody who is ambitious and willing to take risks" (Baltimore SUN, 10/13). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck wrote Edsall's firing leaves Anderson under pressure to "make sure his second football coaching hire at Maryland turns out much better than the first." Anderson has "staked a lot on making Maryland more than what it has long been considered -- predominantly a basketball school." The decision that Anderson ultimately makes will "determine whether the Maryland athletic program continues to revolve largely around its two very strong basketball programs or will step up to become a credible member of what is, first and foremost, a football conference." It "remains to be seen if Maryland will ever reach the point where the Terps can compete on the same level as Big Ten's football traditional powers, but if this quick coaching change is any indication, Anderson seems determined to find out." This time, it is "his future that might depend on it" (Baltimore SUN, 10/12).
WHAT NOT TO DO: SI's Thamel & Evans wrote Edsall's firing capped a four-day stretch that "showcased the school's administrative dysfunction" and Anderson's "ineptitude." When reports came out last Thursday afternoon that Edsall "would likely be fired this weekend, Anderson went dark." The school "released a weak statement that said that Edsall would coach against Ohio State on Saturday, essentially confirming the report and leaving Edsall twisting in the wind." Anderson "bungled every angle -- letting the news leak out, not communicating and then hiding when the lights got bright." His lack of communication with Edsall "included not calling him for nearly eight hours after the news was released." This "irked" UA Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank, a UM booster who "found it disrespectful that Anderson didn't communicate with Edsall after the story broke." Anderson's "clunky moves achieved a brutal daily double," as he managed to look like an AD "for whom no big-time coach would ever want to work, while also irritating his top booster" (CAMPUSRUSH.com, 10/12).
