For any weekend that didn't see a single bent blade of field grass, it sure was a wild couple of days for the Maryland football team. Let's recap. Friday morning, Maryland's offensive coordinator and previously designated "coach in waiting" James Franklin headed for Nashville, where he put weeks of speculation to relax upon being named the new head coach at Vanderbilt. Friday afternoon, rumors lit in the Maryland finish of the internet with predictions that athletic director Kevin Anderson would ask coach Ralph Friedgen to retire. Saturday afternoon, those rumors proved appropriate, as word dropped that Fridge had accepted a buyout from the final year of his contract. Saturday evening, reports surfaced naming former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach as Friedgen's successor.
Here we are. Even though Leach's hire is not a done deal, Maryland is gunning for him with both barrels. Leach has stated prior to that he is "willing to talk to anybody" in regards to a coaching job, and presumably Maryland would be in a especially great position to have his ear, given that Leach is tight with Kevin Plank, a Maryland alum, board member and owner of a little company named Under Armour. (As an aside, Plank might be poised to become to Maryland what Phil Knight and Nike are towards the University of Oregon, and facilitating this type of flashy hiring would surely be a feather in his cap. Only time will inform how that can ultimately shake out, even though in the meantime, please buy Under Armour!) The most immediate question, needless to say, is no matter whether the controversial Leach may be the right man for this job. The way I see it, Maryland is fighting a two-front war here: among actual football, and 1 of public opinion.
In terms of Xs and Os, the Terps could potentially thrive under Leach's high-flying vertical passing attack. With Leach in the helm, Texas Tech completed second within the nation in passing in 2009 and first in 2008, averaging about 40 points per contest in the course of those two campaigns. By comparison, this year Maryland finished 65th within the nation for passing yards, and from 2008-2010 scored a relatively paltry 24.6 points per game. But adding 16 points per game for your output isn't as simple as just transplanting coaches. The Terps are losing primetime receiver Torrey Smith and several senior receivers, while ACC offensive rookie of the year Danny O'Brien appears as much as the challenge Leach's offense would present under center. Hopefully wideouts Ronnie Tyler, Adrian Coxson and a new crop such as Nigel King and Marcus Leack could pick up the slack when the older guys depart. Nonetheless, this option are largely untested. An much more pressing question is no matter whether Maryland's offensive line can boost adequate to give the passing game a chance to work. The Terrapin backfield is also uncertain, with the unit's only proven receiving choice, Da'rel Scott, graduating and no genuine threat having emerged at tight finish (though Will Yeatman indicates flashes).
As most fans know, nevertheless, to speak about Leach's on-field exploits is to tell only half the storyline. Because, let's see, how must i place this, the dude is crazy. According to the linked write-up from the Ny Instances, Leach can be a rambling eccentric, "a walking parenthesis, without a companion to bracket his stray thoughts." The article tells the tale of the time when Leach, right after a team loss, lectured players for 3 hours?athat's 180 minutes?aabout pirates. Pirates? But at the same time, he is portrayed as an individual who could possibly get players to run by means of a brick wall for him. Interesting. Oh, and there's that entire locking-a-player-in-a-closet issue. Oh, yeah, that. That's what got him run out of Lubbock, though in a lawsuit that is still very much ongoing, Leach claims it was a wrongful termination, which the powers that be at Texas Tech were simply looking for a reason to fire him because they all hated him and were looking for a reason to let him go. Oh, OK. Also, over Thanksgiving he slapped a libel and slander suit on ESPN. So he's got that opting for him, too. 1 excellent sign on this front is that Leach has been living in Key West this past year. He's just as crazy as always apparently, although maybe (and hopefully) a little more mellow as a result (if Key West can't help you in that region, I don't know what will).
But as far as the PR battle goes, Leach's filterless make of coach-babble (remember such hits as "fat small girlfriends?") will play well with fans and media, but only so long as the team is winning and that he does not, you know, lock anybody in a closet. And to be particular, the higher Washington D.C. area is going to be placing a couple of much more microphones in the face than he encountered within the Texas panhandle. Which brings me to my final point. Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson should have watched with bemusement (at best) as Friedgen's Terps racked up an 8-4 record, but accomplished it in front of a partially empty home stadium. The 54,000-seat Byrd Stadium averaged 39,167 fans for his or her six residence games, in support of broke the 40,000 mark twice (against Florida State and home opener Morgan State). It had been the poorest showing since 2002 and, in an age when ticket sales matter for all sorts of reasons (like bowl placement, for better or worse, and I've said my piece on that), you need to put the backsides in the seats. The Terps played pretty much this year, completing a key turnaround from their 2-10 performance in 2009 and earning Friedgen the ACC's Coach of the Year award within the procedure. But it was anything but exciting. At the very least within the games Maryland won.
That can bring us back to Leach. No denying that the guy is an thrilling presence each off and on the field. But at this point, it appears he might be just a little too exciting. To this point, he hasn't proven he can comport himself in a expert (or lawful) manner from the field. And though his passing scheme has rightly drawn lots of praise, it's not a lock (at least not for me) that Leach can easily plug himself into Maryland's roster and instantly start producing 50-point games. I'd rather not be a Negative Nelly right out of the gate, and I'm positive Maryland will reap some benefits from this hiring. But simultaneously, I feel it is fairly reliable advice Leach hasn't carried out sufficient to generate the benefit of the doubt. .
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