This is what I don’t get about the art of being an athletic director. You get rid of a guy after realizing that the program has plateaued and the fan base has grown financially apathetic… and you replace him with basically the same kind of coach?
… Edsall ran a Connecticut program progressing from the F.C.S. to the F.B.S., from Independent status to the Big East; Friedgen didn’t inherit a powerhouse, but one could say that Friedgen had it easier at Maryland than Edsall did with the Huskies.
Of course, Edsall didn’t have to play in the A.C.C., which helps the bottom line. Yes, Maryland was more talented, but Connecticut played the likes of Rhode Island, Colgate and Northeastern over Edsall’s first handful of seasons. The bottom line: over a dozen years at Connecticut, Edsall posted a 74-40 mark; Friedgen went 75-50 over 10 years with Maryland.
Each went to one B.C.S. bowl — Edsall to this past weekend’s Fiesta Bowl, Friedgen to the 2002 Orange Bowl. This is how things work: much like it pays to suffer a loss in September than in December, Maryland looked at what happened yesterday, not nearly a decade ago.
Well, maybe Maryland didn’t take a close enough look: can you say that Connecticut’s 2010 season, B.C.S. bowl or no, was more impressive than what Friedgen’s team achieved this past season? Nine wins for Maryland — in the A.C.C. — and eight for the Huskies — in the Big East.
I have a blogger’s rooting interest in Mike Leach being a head coach again, but taking that out of the equation, how is this move supposed to inspire the Maryland fan base?
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UPDATE: Edsall told his (former) UConn players about his departure by conference call… a day after he made Jordan Todman get up and tell his teammates in person that he was leaving early for the NFL draft. Real class, there.