It’s not like we’re unaware of the questionable decision making at Maryland of late – passing on Mike Leach to hire Randy Edsall to replace Ralph Friedgen, watching the program decline precipitously in Edsall’s first year and hiring the baggage-encumbered, über recruiter Mike Locksley as the new offensive coordinator.
Given what Locksley brings to the table, I guess a sort of “in for a penny, in for a pound” approach shouldn’t be overly surprising, but this sure seems like a dumb thing to do anyway:
New Maryland offensive coordinator Mike Locksley will receive $500,000 in guaranteed compensation annually and be eligible for bonuses based on the Terrapins’ recruiting rankings…
Locksley will receive $25,000 if Maryland is in the top 40 of the Rivals.com or Scout.com rankings on signing day. He also will receive $20,000 if the Terps rank among the top four teams in the ACC on signing day…
At least they left Tom Lemming off the list.
Get The Picture 
Hiring a coach because he’s got a rep as a great recruiter is like auditioning for an opening in your band and picking the guy with the coolest guitar.
We’ve already seen in the cases of Zook, Orgeron, and now Locksley that guys with awesome reps as recruiters but no established coaching chops are doomed to fail almost from the get-go. Now Maryland is going to dish out actual cash money for . . . star ratings? It’s almost as if someone in the Terrapins’ athletic department is actively trying to end the football program and turn the place into a permanent basketball school.
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Jim Donnan likes this and would like you to buy his video.
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Wow. Just wow. I gotta get my resume cleaned up and get me one-ah them there jobs at Maryland. Sounds like easy money…
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Now all he has to do is offer to bribe someone at scout or rivals $5-10,000 to rank them in the top 40 overall and 4th in conference. Brilliant.
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Hate to say my paranoia ran in the same direction, but it did.
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It gets even worse: almost all of the staff has multi-year deals! And let us not forget, the Athletic Dept is just about broke to boot.
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Talk about a lose-lose scenario. If Locksley brings in the bigtime recruits so his incentives kick in, it also puts a noose around his (and Edsall’s) neck to perform on the field with said recruits. Dangerous business, there. His seat is hot whether he recruits well or not.
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You have got to think the memo has gone out at the NCAA to pay close attention to Maryland in the future.
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So winning is desirable insofar as it gets you more recruiting stars. Not the other way around. Interesting.
You know who would love this arrangement: SOD, since he can’t win on the field.
You know who else would love it? Any coach who’s willing to tell a kid anything to get his commitment.
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