Maryland recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach John Dunn on this year’s group of 24 players, ranked seventh in the ACC.
On the Terps’ lack of defensive line help, a major weakness last year. Maryland adds two defensive linemen, both smallish – Quinton Jefferson (6-4, 250) who signed in 2011, but grey-shirted, and Roman Broglio (6-3, 240):
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“We try to fit our needs at every position. The thing we don’t want to do is just have bodies. We want to have guys that help us win championships … We’ll never just take a guy to take a guy.”
On the Terps recruiting 21 players who were team captains:
“When you come here it’s very important. The seniors don’t have to be the leaders. It can be the freshmen.”
On recruiting three players from the Atlanta area:
“The thing about Atlanta – it’s an easy plane trip, it’s a place that’s kind of a transient place. People will leave from there. Obviously, the University of Maryland’s a very easy sell. There’s a lot of things going for it … You add the Georgias and Floridas, there’s a lot of good football players down there. It’s very important we create inroads there because we’re gonna be tapping those areas.”
On talent evaluation:
“What happens with other evaluators who are out there, they’re looking at overall, not how [the player] fits to a particular scheme or a particular program. We have to look at it as: Who’s the best quarterback for us for us in the realm of what we’re going to do? Who’s the best running back that’s gonna fit what we do? Georgia Tech doesn’t recruit offensive linemen that other people do because of their scheme. When you look at ratings and you look at stars and those types of things, we have to go out and do our own evaluation, because it applies to us in particular.
On the previous question and the Terps two quarterback recruits, 6-2 Perry Hills (Central Catholic/Pittsburgh) and 6-3 Caleb Rowe (Blue Ridge/Greer, S.C.):
“Those two quarterbacks were here. We saw them in person. We threw the routes we’re going to throw. We made them go through the drills we’re going to do. Those guys were the two best. We have to look at who’s the best for the University of Maryland, not who’s out there in general because it’s not general. It’s specific to Maryland.”
On recruiting with the perception that Edsall is a rigid disciplinarian:
“That’s what’s so important about getting coach Edsall in the household because now he can sit down with the parent. If they have any questions, he was able to answer them. Coach does a great job in the home. He says, ‘Hey, we just ask you to do what your parents ask you to do.’ Every single place that he’s gone, he’s walked out of there and people love him. It’s been an advantage for us because all these parents, they want structure. It’s actually been an addition.
On recruiting to a team that went 2-10 last year:
“They look at the program as a whole and what we’re doing. Not as many kids look at, OK, what’s the record of this university, because I’m going to go where they have the best record. The thing we’ve told kids and the things they believe in is more our vision of the future program … We did have a tough season but these guys see what the future holds and the program that we’re establishing and the foundation that we’re building. One of the unique things about this [class] is, you can be the first official class of Maryland football under Randy Edsall. They can be the reason why we take this to the next level.”
