The coach-in-waiting plan
Some of you have been speculating about how the coach-in-waiting plan developed.
Let me tell you what I know:
*Head coach Ralph Friedgen, athletic director Debbie Yow and coach-in-waiting James Franklin were all involved in the negotiations.
I can't look into Friedgen's heart and tell you exactly how he feels about it.
I do know that Friedgen likes Franklin, and that Franklin considers him a mentor.
I interviewed Friedgen and Yow together over the summer and he told me that Franklin was considered a candidate for the head coaching job almost from the day he returned to College Park. Friedgen said the plan was "that I would bring him in and show him things and try to groom him for that position."
Said Friedgen then: "The reason I consented to this is because I think it's a way for us to do well for many more years, long after I'm gone."
I do think that head coaches can feel boxed in by succession arrangements that have a strictly defined timeline. Friedgen is no different. He suggested during that interview that he wanted to leave on his own time.
Comments
Jeff, thanks for the updates I really appreciate your posts. College sports is much tougher to receive updates on than professional updates so I wanted to let you know your doing a good job.
I'm personally not excited about Franklin in what I've seen. I know I've heard talks that they signed Franklin because he was being "heavily recruited" by the NFL. I don't see what others see in him. Honestly, I think the Offense the past 2 years has been the most vanilla I've seen in the Ralph Friedgen era. I think that the offense play calling has been horrible. I look at Friedgen's early years with Shaun Hill and O'Brien and we use to run that option very effectively. We had the athletic QB's in Josh Portis (who we let transfer for Turner) and now Robinson who could run it. I know the West Coast offense is many times an effective offense in the NFL but I haven't been happy with it at all under Franklin's tenure. I don't know if he's not running it right or if it isn't a good fit for us but our offense the last 2 years has been horrible. The only way I'd say Franklin would be a good coach for MD is if he can recruit some talent. Since he is a younger guy that might help with recruiting but so far I haven't seen him have any impact on our recruiting. Honestly, I think if Friedgen goes Franklin is not the answer at all. In fact, I think Franklin should be the first guy to be fired and Yow should be fired for brining him in and agreeing to the $1 Million dollar buyout. Obviously, this wasn't Ralph's call it was Yow's. Thanks Jeff and keep up the good work.
----FROM JEFF------
Thank you. One note about Franklin: he really likes mobile quarterbacks but hasn't had one at Maryland the past two seasons until Turner got hurt and Robinson stepped in late in the year.
Posted by: BmoreSportsFan28 | December 1, 2009 8:56 AM