Is James Franklin the next head coach of Maryland?
Coach Ralph Friedgen has several seasons remaining with Maryland before retirement. Franklin seems the worthy successor after returning from a three-season absence as the Green Bay receivers coach and Kansas State offensive coordinator to become the Terrapins offensive coordinator.
Nothing was promised Franklin over the future. Everything still has to be earned by revamping a program with three losing seasons in the last four. But does Franklin’s return after an earlier stint as receivers coach indicate Maryland is thinking ahead?
The answer brings only a lot of smiles to Terps leaders.
“I always thought I would come back at some point in some form or another,” Franklin said. “I didn’t think it would happen so fast, but it was a goal of mine to get back here at some point in my career.”
Franklin, 36, has the growing resume of a head coach whether it happens in College Park or elsewhere. There were stops in Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, James Madison, Washington State and Idaho State before spending 2000-04 as the Terps receivers coach. After Green Bay and Kansas State, Franklin also worked an internship with the Minnesota Vikings in May.
College coaching is all about one rung at a time and Franklin simply needs more time at No. 2.
“Until you’ve been a head coach, it’s hard to get the training you need,” he said. “Ralph has been really good about sharing things with me, preparing me to one day be a head coach. But you’re never totally prepared.”
Unlike some coaches who selfishly try to keep assistants from leaving for better jobs, Friedgen has long pushed his staff to grow. Perhaps Friedgen remembers waiting 32 years before getting his chance at Maryland. Franklin was among a series of staff losses that hurt the Terps in recent years, but Friedgen regains a coordinator prepared to expand the offense.
“What has been interesting to me is seeing where [Franklin] has progressed in the three years since he left,” Friedgen said. “He has some other thoughts and he still knows what I expect. I’m like a father who’s proud of his son. He’s matured and grown and still has a tremendous work ethic and very, very organized. I think he’s developed into a very good football coach.”
Franklin brings an expanded version of Friedgen’s West Coast Offense. The Terps will start quarterback Jordan Steffy because he fits the system’s need of finding multiple receivers.
“It’s not really my offense. This is [Friedgen’s] offense,” Franklin said. “For me to come in here and think I have all the answers makes no sense. I have an idea of what we’d like to do.
“We might go out one week and throw 80 times to win and never run it. The next week we might run it 70 times and throw it six times. That’s what balance is. It doesn’t mean you throw it 50 percent of the time and run 50 percent. It’s that you can run and throw to keep them off-balanced.”
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
