There is one way to save eight Maryland sports that are slated for extinction, jettison an unpopular football coach and save an athletic department from becoming a joke: Under Armour Stadium. Maryland needs a bold move or nobody will fear the turtle again, especially in swimming, water polo, track and tennis. Those teams need fundraising to survive, and let’s be honest — it probably won’t happen. Nobody’s giving away tens of millions of dollars nowadays.
Football coach Randy Edsall surely would be fired if the Terrapins could afford the $10 million to buy out his contract. In his first season, Maryland went 2-10 as the stadium emptied, alumni were angered and 20 players left.
Unlike superpowers LSU or Alabama, who have boosters to write farewell funding, Maryland has nobody other than Under Armour owner Kevin Plank, and he rightfully will want something for it. Something big.
Give Plank what he really wants — the right to rename Byrd Stadium. Probably not one in 50 students knows Curley Byrd spent a half century rising from student to university president while coaching football for 24 years. He was one of the leading figures in school history, but Byrd departed 58 years ago.
It’s time to move on. Sacrificing the past and tradition for the future is worth it. So is saying goodbye to Byrd. It often happens around town. Remember Washington National Airport before a political land grab renamed it Reagan?
But what about the Capital One Field part? Seriously, the name gets little play from anyone other than Terps officials who stick it on podiums. Still, the company is paying good money, so Capital One stays. If Maryland wants to say “Capital One Field at Under Armour Stadium,” so be it. Everyone will call it Under Armour Stadium just like they say Byrd Stadium now. Capital One doesn’t have exclusive rights, so Maryland can shop the stadium name, though the bank has first rights to a deal for 90 days.
Plank may be the only person who can make this happen. He already outfits the university’s teams and turned football into some obscene “Project Runaway” show with 36 combinations of jerseys, pants and helmets that Maryland wore while losing every way possible.
Plank is a former Terps linebacker who owns one of the nation’s top sports apparel companies. (He once told reporters on the sideline of practice years ago about starting the company, and I blew him off like many alumni jawing while I’m working. Sure wish Plank made me listen harder about buying stock.)
Terps officials won’t have to hard-sell Plank on this deal. The only question is the amount. Maryland should front-load the contract with a signing bonus to fund those eight teams and replace Edsall before football ticket sales sink to mid-1980s levels next season.
The Terps once propelled Under Armour’s national identity with “Protect this House” commercials. It’s now time for Under Armour to protect Maryland sports from obscurity.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
