Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen is so busy juggling recruiting visits, hiring assistant coaches and preparing his team for the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl he’s asked his daughters to help him check something else off his list.
“Once again,” he said, “I’ll probably have to pay my daughters to Christmas shop for me.”
Friedgen is working without defensive coordinator Chris Cosh, who took a similar job at Kansas State last week. Friedgen named linebackers coach Al Seamonson the interim defensive coordinator, and Brian White as interim special teams coordinator to replace Danny Pearman, who took a job at Clemson.
“It’s just a crazy time of the year,” said Friedgen, who has 22 recruits visiting College Park this week.
Meantime, Friedgen is prepping Maryland (7-5) for its game on Dec. 30 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho against the Western Athletic Conference’s Nevada (7-5).
The Terrapins will practice through Sunday before having next week off to take final exams. The Terrapins will practice from Dec. 20 to Dec. 23 before players get to go home for the holidays. The players will leave for Boise the day after Christmas and will practice twice before taking the field at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.
“It’s going to be pretty hectic,” senior linebacker Moise Fokou said. “This is the last week of classes and final exams start next week, but we also need to find time to prepare for the game, so we’ll have to balance that. We’ll have to cram everything in, and hopefully we can find time.”
The Terrapins will have some time to study up on Nevada’s “pistol offense,” which features dual threat quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the shotgun formation, with the running back directly behind him, roughly 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
“I have watched enough film to know they will run inside and outside,” Friedgen said. “They also run the zone option. [Kaepernick] is a really good runner, and they have [tailback Vai Taua] who runs well. They do things that are non-conventional from the formation that they run.”
Kaepernick, the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, has rushed for 1,115 yards and 16 touchdowns and thrown for 2,479 yards and 19 scores. Taua has rushed for 1,420 yards and 14 touchdowns.
