There’s only one near certainty when it comes to the situation at Maryland: reigning ACC Coach of the Year Ralph Friedgen will not be back as the Terrapins’ head coach in 2011.
The how of being pushed out the door still remains to be seen, however, as does just who will replace a coach who’s in his tenth season at the school.
The latest, courtesy of the Baltimore Sun, is that Friedgen has been told that he cannot coach the team next season. Sources told the paper that Friedgen has been asked to retire, but the coach is rebuffing efforts to push him into a rocking chair. If Friedgen continues to buck a forced retirement, the school would then buy him out of the final year of his contract.
With Friedgen entering the last year of his deal, and athletic director Kevin Anderson refusing to give his current coach an extension, the school does not want to head into next season with what would essentially be a lame-duck head coach with little -- or no -- chance of returning the following year. Offensive coordinator/head coach-in-waiting James Franklin‘s move to Vanderbilt, sources said, pushed Anderson into a new direction just a month after proclaiming very loudly and very clearly that Friedgen would be back in 2011.
As for Friedgen’s replacement, it is highly, highly likely that Mike Leach will be hired shortly after the current coach’s means of departure is determined. The ex-Texas Tech’s agent told the Sun earlier Saturday that neither he nor his client have spoken to Maryland. This afternoon, a source close to Leach told CFT that there’s a very simple explanation for that; Leach will not talk to the school while Friedgen technically remains in place, regardless of how obvious it is that the coach is not long for his current position.
That said, we were told yesterday that Leach would be “very interested” in the job if/when it came open, and have been told that remains the case even as the process has yet to begin in earnest.
It’s far from guaranteed that Leach will become the next head coach at Maryland, but it’s gotten to the point where it would be more than a minor upset if he’s not.