Time has just about run out on Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen. The 63-year-old will lead his team onto the field Wednesday at venerable RFK Stadium, where it plays East Carolina in the Military Bowl at 2:30 p.m. But when the final whistle blows late on a cold winter afternoon there will be no more games left for the Maryland alumnus — at least not at his alma mater, which will soon terminate the final year of his contract. The search for a new coach is well underway, even before the old coach has been put to rest. Fair or not, it is the way of modern college athletics where an 8-4 season and an ACC coach of the year award gets you a retirement send-off instead of a contract extension.
“It is kind of like you are dying,” Friedgen said at a Military Bowl news conference on Monday. “It is a slow death. Everything you experience is for the last time. It has been a very stressful week, especially from an emotional standpoint. I am looking forward to one more time with these players.”
Slipping attendance at Byrd Stadium and the loss of his offensive coordinator and top recruiter, James Franklin, eventually forced the hand of new Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson, who in November had said Friedgen would be back for his final season. But when Franklin took the head coaching position at Vanderbilt the equation changed. Anderson wasn’t comfortable giving Friedgen an extension even after a fine season in 2010. And without an extension, no football coach can hire top assistants to replace the departed ones. Recruiting effectively also becomes increasingly difficult under that scenario.
| The Friedgen file |
| » Ralph Friedgen is a 1970 Maryland graduate and spent the three years following his playing career as a graduate assistant football coach. |
| » After stops at the Citadel, William & Mary and Murray State, Friedgen returned to Maryland as the offensive coordinator under Bobby Ross from 1982 to 1986. |
| » Entering his final game Wednesday in the Military Bowl, Friedgen has posted a career record of 74-50 in 10 seasons at Maryland with appearances in the Orange, Peach and Gator Bowls. |
So Anderson made the change now even though it meant firing a loyal Maryland graduate who had led the team to seven bowl games in 10 years — an unheard of success rate for a program that had been to just one bowl game in the 14 years before Friedgen took over in 2001. As his final act, Friedgen took a 2-10 team in 2009 — by far the worst of his tenure — and turned it into a winner.
“This has been emotional for us,” Maryland wide receiver Torrey Smith said. “We know this is his last chance. We want to have the best experience individually. But we want to come together and support him.”
