Edsall hire a 'home run,' recruiting analyst says
The similarities between new Maryland football coach Randy Edsall and his predecessor, Ralph Friedgen, are obvious to Matt Alkire.
The Scout.com recruiting analyst sees both coaches as men who care about academics and instill discipline in their players. He also sees Maryland’s decision to swap Friedgen for Edsall as an intriguing – and likely successful – move.
“He really is just a great coach in every aspect. Maryland really hit a home run there,” Alkire said Monday. “He does his own thing. The mistake people make is – and I’m going to go against Scout.com and Rivals here – but people rely on these star rankings. But Randy goes out and identifies kids that fit his program. And he’s tremendous at developing players. I have seen that time and time again. I can go through his roster and just pick out his entire starting lineup, his entire starting defense, and just player after player after player that came out ranked as a two-star.”
Those two-star players helped Edsall turn Connecticut from a Football Bowl Subdivision newcomer to Big East champion, culminating with the Huskies’ 48-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Sunday night.
“Obviously, they got smoked in that game, but when UConn goes up against Oklahoma, quite frankly I don’t expect Connecticut to win that game,” Alkire said. “But if he’s getting talent from schools in Maryland, which is talent rich, and schools in Virginia, which is talent rich, then it might be a different story three or four years from now. I thought it was an excellent hire. I was surprised that Randy took the job. I thought he was going to be a lifer up at Connecticut. But he has done a tremendous job.”
Alkire expects Edsall to hit the ground running on the recruiting trail, introducing himself to local coaches and scouring the East Coast for hidden gems. Alkire recalled UConn’s recruitment of Sio Moore, a backup fullback at Apex High in North Carolina who “barely touched the ball” in high school. Alkire noted that Moore was a “great kid,” but at the time was completely befuddled as to why Edsall was recruiting him. This season, however, it became clear why.
“In a game [against West Virginia] the kid has a 15-tackle performance and has been one of their standout linebackers,” Alkire said. “That’s why I’m talking about it in terms of development. This guy has an eye for talent that is amazing. If he can do that with Sio Moore, what would he have done with Shawne Merriman? What could he have done with a Vontae Davis? What would he have done with Tavon Austin, considering what he did with Jordan Todman? It’s going to be really interesting to see what he can do at Maryland. He is really kind of like an Italian grandmother that goes in the kitchen with a ton of ingredients, and everything’s just a mixed up bag of stuff, then she makes this great meal out of nowhere. And that’s Randy Edsall. Now he’s going down there to a ton of talent that he can make into something great.”
Alkire thought Maryland’s recruiting suffered the past few years because of perceived uncertainty regarding Friedgen’s job status. That uncertainty, Alkire said, ‘played a big part’ in the Terps missing out on several key in-state recruits. With Edsall on board as Maryland’s coach for the foreseeable future, Alkire expects the Terps’ fortunes in state to change.
“I do think you’ll see Maryland put more on lockdown now, and that’s not taking anything away from Ralph Friedgen,” Alkire said. “… The scary thing about Randy Edsall going to Maryland is that now he has the talent pool down in that [D.C., Maryland and Virginia] area to where he has the opportunity to actually pick up some bigger-name kids if he’d like to. The talent level of the player coming for him to develop [means] the ceiling is going to be higher. What he’s starting with is higher. I always compared him to Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. No. 1, he’s a great recruiter in the sense that Randy finds kids who fit his style, and No. 2, he just develops his guys so well that he gets every last bit of talent out of them. That’s something that Maryland could definitely use.”
Comments
Leach was clearly a betetr choice to bring recruits and excitement to Terps football. No pundit (s) or talking heads will change that reality, no matter how much they spew. Everyone knows this except the nerds who made the selection. What were they thinking- afraid of Mikey? Watch and see the ticket numbers plunge. Randy Edsall? Yawnnnn and who cares/
Posted by: Blauman | January 4, 2011 4:09 PM
Hey Blauman, you can still hire Leach. He's available - Clearly. HAHAHAHAHA
Posted by: Michael Frederick | January 4, 2011 4:27 PM
Matt, Thanks for scouting out this story. Great job. You always find the story behind the story. As for the substance of the article, I completely agree with Alkire that this hire is a home run. He seems like a perfect fit for MD. This is not Texas or Florida, the coach needs to be a blue collar pit bull to recruit. Edsall seems to fit that mold. Plus, the fact that he is 10 years younger and 200 pounds lighter than RF can't hurt in recruiting. Like it or not, the best recruiters are all fit and younger than RF.
Posted by: CA Terp Fan | January 4, 2011 4:51 PM
Blauman, Mike Leach's record against ranked teams the last four years, ( when he wash't coaching against the North Dakota's and Northeastern State's of the college football world, ) was 9-11. I don't see how he would be such a superior hire.
Posted by: daddyman | January 4, 2011 4:59 PM
@daddyman and Michael, get real. I'll take 9-11 against Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and Baylor anyday. RUFKM? This article says watch out 3 or 4 years down the orad? Hello?? that is a rebuilding plan, we didn't nee d to rebuild, Leach would have hit a homerun NEXT YEAR!
And the theory behind the star ratings? Please bro, if this is the case then how come all the elite programs who stay in the elite have 4 and 5 star players? BECAUSE THEY R BETTER.
There is no way to spin this collasal F up. They said their intent - GOAL- was to put butts in seats and make a splash, do you really think that happened? I think these numbnuts thought it was a good hire because Uconn went to a BCS game, well so the F what? Its a tie-in game that they HAD to take Uconn for winning the weak-*** Big Least. You two are just as stupid for drinking the kool-aid OR you work for the AD and are trying to do damage control. My guess is the latter.
Posted by: Danny | January 4, 2011 5:13 PM
I have no idea why people assume Leach would bring in such great recruits. He was known for being a lazy recruiter at TT and had about the same recruiting rankings as Ralph did over the same span. Plus, although his offense is exciting, it actually scares off a lot of talent (especially QBs and defensive players) because his system has never put a QB in the NFL and he could care less about defense.
Posted by: Gillytech | January 4, 2011 5:23 PM
I was really excited when I thought they were going after Leach. It would not surprise me if this guy Edsall turns into a very good hire, but the reason RF was given the pink slip was supposedly a business decision. They wanted to make a splash to put fannies in the seats and sell luxury boxes. Edsall is not going to do that anytime in the near future.
My issue with the process is how it was handled. They set up the fanbase for chateau briand and gave them ground beef. Not to say that a really good hamburger isn't good, but when you are in the mood for steak, that is what you expect. I have been totally underwhelmed by this new AD. He better hope that this guy turns out to be a good hire, otherwise the AD era of this guy will be shorter than RF's trip back to the buffet stand on a Sunday morning.
Here's hoping the guy is a home run. It better be considering how pissed off the fanbase is at this time.
Posted by: edfromparkheights | January 4, 2011 5:55 PM
The very fact that Alkire didn't know Randy Edsall has been trying to leave uconn to return to the PA-MD area since the early 2000's shows he has no idea what he speaks of. Last I head, this is the 23rd and final inquiry he has made into other coaching vacancies.
Only maryland, excuse me, kevin andershun was dumb enough to hire him.
09/04/10 at Michigan Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich. L, 30-10
09/11/10 vs. Texas Southern Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. W, 62-3
09/18/10 at Temple Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pa. L, 30-16
09/25/10 vs. Buffalo Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. W, 45-21
10/02/10 vs. Vanderbilt Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. W, 40-21
10/08/10 at Rutgers * Rutgers Stadium, New Brunswick, N.J. L, 27-24
10/23/10 at Louisville * Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Louisville, Ky. L, 26-0
10/29/10 vs. West Virginia * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. W, 16-13 (OT)
11/11/10 vs. Pittsburgh * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. W, 30-28
11/20/10 at Syracuse * Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y. W, 23-6
11/27/10 vs. Cincinnati * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. W, 38-17
12/04/10 at USF * Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla. W, 19-16
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL
01/01/11 vs. Oklahoma University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz. L, 48-20
8 wins, 5 losses. Thats not BCS calibur.
kevin andershun calls him a winner, a champion. I call him a mediocre coach at 74-70, who went 8-5 in the weakest of all BCS conferences to land a spot in a bcs bowl game where they got destroyed and exposed by Oklahoma.
Ralph Friedgen is 10 times the coach Edsall is.
What a DISASTER.
RESIGN NOW KEVIN ANDERSHUN.
Posted by: Rett | January 4, 2011 5:59 PM
ok, I hated the way the process played out and wasn't blown away by the initial result. But the real result won't be known for a few years. And, for the record, I'd prefer that we get a nice collection of multi-star players and ooach them up (don't you want more Torrey Smiths and Kenny Tates?). But what is decided is decided so let's get behind our new coach and see if we can collectively make this turn out to be a brilliant move.
Posted by: Baffled in Baltimore | January 4, 2011 6:17 PM
from what he was saying, it appeared that umd got themselves a gary williams type of coach in football
if he does as well as gary does, terps should be good for years to come
solid hire, but not as flashy as expected
Posted by: Chang | January 4, 2011 6:30 PM
What the Terps do not need is a likely repeat of what happened with the Michigan Wolverines who hired an exciting spread offense minded football coach of West Virginia and end up firing him after 3 years of misery. Thank you Kevin Anderson for playing it safe.
Posted by: John Dunning | January 4, 2011 7:06 PM
Vontae Davis? He went to Illinois. He must of meant Vernon Davis, his older brother.
Posted by: John | January 4, 2011 7:43 PM
"Home run?" More like a pop up. Maybe a bunt.
Posted by: sfx1127 | January 4, 2011 7:51 PM
Rett... the Big East champ got exposed? By 28 points if I recall....
How many did the ACC champ lose by? Gee... 28 to Standford.
Trying to paint the ACC in some kind of superior light to the Big East, atleast the past season or two is idiotic... both have sucked overall and its a coin flip on who gets the title as weakest BCS conference.
Posted by: Sean | January 4, 2011 8:16 PM
Hey Daddyman. If you are going to criticize Leach's 9-11 record against ranked opponents then perhaps you should also reference Edsall's 1-16 record against ranked teams.
Did you skip your homework in school as well?
Posted by: Anonymous | January 4, 2011 8:25 PM
John -- Alkire definitely said Vontae, right before he said Tavon Austin. I took it to mean that Edsall has a chance to keep local guys that might have left the area under the previous regime and develop them. Or maybe he meant Vernon and misspoke. Either way, his overall point was that the talent pool in this area is much deeper than in Connecticut.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | January 4, 2011 8:26 PM
I was referring to kids from the area that got away to other schools. Obviously I know that Vontae went to Illinois and obviously I know that Tavon went to WVU.
Yes, I know that Randy has inquired about other jobs, but I didn't think he'd move from Connecticut for quite some time, if ever.
I've helped with the Maryland Crab Bowl and Chesapeake Bowl for years now with guys like Sean O'Connor, Tony Kennedy and Chuck Harmon and deal with plenty of Maryland high school coaches and players.
Many of those kids left state because they didn't know what would happen with Friedgen. What happens if Maryland keeps kids like Vontae, Tavon, Darius Jennings, etc in state? How nice would it be to get Adrian Coxson (who I just spoke with at the Chesapeake Bowl) the first time around as opposed to as a transfer.
The point is, Edsall isn't as "sexy" as Leach with his passing game, but I watch these kids coming out of high school every year and I've never seen a coach do so much with less "perceived talent" than Randy Edsall does.
By the way, my 3-4 years comment was about making Maryland yearly ACC contender, not a solid team. I think they'll hit the ground running immediately.
I'd think Maryland fans want ACC titles or chances at it with this change, not 7-5 seasons.
Just wanted to follow up in here. Far from "clueless" as one person stated.
Posted by: Matt Alkire, Scout.com | January 4, 2011 9:05 PM
I thought I heard Edsall say that he modifies his system to fit the players he has. Maybe I heard wrong. I also read somewhere (I think on the Sun Sports site) that he was contacting his OC at UCONN plus some of his other coaches to possibly come here. Say it ain't so.... Say it ain't so. I am OK with Leach not being hired, even though I thought he would bring excitement to the program, but bringing in an OC who coached his team to zero offensive TDs the last three games of the season is going to alientate even more fans. I also wanted to comment on UCONNs BCS game, the BIG LEAST was tied into the game, and this year was an extremely down year. Does anyone think that if WVU, Cincy or Louisville were their normal level of play that UCONN would have come close to playing in the Fiesta Bowl? Yeah, VT got smoked by 28 points, but they also won 10 in a row. I didn't see UCONN doing that either. So, Edsall, please bring in someone for OC who has a little imagination. Folks can watch the game on the internet and take a nap instead of paying for the ticket, parking, food etc. and sleeping in their seat at Byrd.
Posted by: Lew | January 4, 2011 9:35 PM
You are clueless we want national championships and to play on the big stage with the big boys no reason we can’t do it! We have all the ingredients here to be great, had the one chance to pick the right coach to take us to that level also would have added instant credibility with recruits and we blow it for the mediocre thought process of being politically correct and avoiding bad press from ESPN so we hire some crap coach from the big least!
Posted by: bmoreballer | January 4, 2011 9:42 PM
You MD fans are making Mike Leach out to be the greatest coach in the history of college fball. He is not! Aside from 1 really good year, he is around an 8 win coach with A LOT of baggage. And you all didnt attend games when Friedgen was the coach. Its the reason why you didnt get a better bowl, remember? So your threats of not going to games now because of this hire is a joke.
Posted by: Frank | January 4, 2011 9:58 PM
During the coaching interview process, I heard an interview on 105.7 with a Lubbock media person who claims to be a Leach supporter and friend, but even he warned MD fans not to expect Leach to be a good recruiter. That was probably the biggest fan complaint of Friedgen, so I'm glad we now have a coach of whom the recruiting experts -- whose job it is to have their fingers on the pulse of recruits -- think very highly, and think will be able to recruit talent that Ralph might not have been able to get. Another point that I think Alkire was trying to make is that if Edsall was able to do as well as he did at UCONN, he should be way more successful at MD given the talent level in the area AND the fact that MD is really a better place to sell than UCONN. I mean, have any of you ever been to Storrs? What a dump. With no football tradition or hot women. I think Alkire's overall point is that what Edsall accomplished in Storrs, CT --with all the handicaps -- is very impressive. And that is why he and the other recruiting analyst on the previous post are high on him. I trust their opinions more than the fools posting on this site.
Posted by: Skin | January 4, 2011 10:51 PM
Are you people kidding me? Do any of you even go to the Maryland games? Friedgen is a Maryland Alum. He is a stand-up guy. And we are going to replace him with some 74-70 loser who won two SHARED Big East championships at 8-5? Hey...dufuses, there are no "Shared" titles in the ACC. You win it, or you don't. We were promised a move from "Good to Great." We were told this was a "Strategic Business Decision." We were promised a Mustang and sold an "Edsall."
Edsall has ZERO 4-Star Recruits at Connecticut.
Edsall was 1-6 VS West Virginia.
Edsall was 4-13 VS ACC opponents.
Edsall was 1-16 VS Ranked opponents.
Edsall has Never coached a Ranked team.
Do you jokers even look at the facts before you start talking about what a supposedly "great" hire this is? You people are complete idiots.
Posted by: Justin F. | January 5, 2011 4:22 AM
1-16 agsinst Ranked Opponents.
1-6 against West Virginia.
4-13 against ACC.
This Edsall guy (74-70) is no great coach based on those numbers...Wasted $2 Million dollars to buyout Ralph Friedgen (75-50) for this guy? Kevin Anderson should be Fired.
Posted by: Fred | January 5, 2011 4:26 AM
Danny and Annon.(couldn't think of a name?), I stand corrected. Annon. he couldn't be 1-16 ver.ranked teams because he was 3-7 against them the last four years. Did you forget to do your homework? Anyways, it was the republican in me coming out. I was only pointing out stats that would help my argument. I gotta stop drinking so much koolaid.
Posted by: daddyman | January 5, 2011 9:56 AM
Can someone please update me on how many National Championships or BCS games has Leach actually won? What really makes him more of a Winner than Edsall? I'm buying Edsall, and I will be at Marylands BCS game in the near future! Why hasen't anyone else picked Leach up with so many opportunities that have been out there in coaching, is Maryland the only one getting this wrong? I think KA absolutely did the right thing!
Posted by: LarryB | January 5, 2011 10:04 AM
LarryB, I completely agree with you. By the way, the overall record of a coach only tells a tiny part of the story. The hottest coach possibly EVER, Jim Harbaugh, has a record of 29-21 as a head coach.
Posted by: CA Terp Fan | January 5, 2011 10:44 AM
Randy Edsall took the University of Connecticut from being a run-of-the-mill I-AA program to a BCS bowl game. There was NO UConn football until he arrived.
Just because so many "experts" on this site aren't excited, it doesn't mean that this is a bad selection.
Give the guy a chance.
Posted by: Nutmeg1971 | January 5, 2011 10:47 AM
This hiring is absolutely a home run....in a Little League ballpark!
Nutmeg1971, and several others, however, are completely missing the point.
None of this is about who is the better coach. None of that matters to the program's evolution.
Edsall may be a better than average coach, no one is disputing that. He took UConn from nothing to something, no one is disputing that.
What has many of us fans, alums, and season ticket holders angry is that Edsall is not an upgrade, and Kevin Anderson's biggest goal is to fill seats.
Edsall does not fill seats, Leach, or even a guy like Brian Billick, would've filled seats immediately - and that's what potential blue chip recruits see first.
This was a "safe" hire, which is why Maryland will always be mediocre at football. Our whole history is safe hires.
Teams that win titles win because they take risks, spend money on the program and generate excitement within the fan base.
Kevin Anderson, and the UM brass, failed on all of these fronts.
The bottom line is that the only way fans will fill the seats is if Edsall wins it all in Year 1.
In the meantime, I think I speak for most Terps fans when I say that we all would have been much happier with taking a chance on a renegade/wild card coach capable of generating excitement - even if it was for only a few years.
Look around college football - which coaches are in it for the long haul? Not many. Urban Meyer only lasted six years at Florida, but he had 2 National Titles. Now, I'm not comparing Leach or Edsall to Meyer, but the point is that hiring a coach for the long term (the safe play) was not the right course of action.
Anderson should have taken off his skirt and rolled the dice on this one.
Posted by: Brad | January 5, 2011 11:56 AM
If all the people commenting here about putting people in seats actually bought tickets, there wouldn't be an attendance problem. Grow up - he's the coach. Either support him or not, but quit complaining about what might have been.
Posted by: Terps4ever | January 5, 2011 12:38 PM
"What has many of us fans, alums, and season ticket holders angry is that Edsall is not an upgrade, and Kevin Anderson's biggest goal is to fill seats."
OK. Let's call Dr. Frankenstein and get him to reanimate Vince Lombardi. Seriously, do you think Maryland is going to do better than this? Maybe if they offer a $10MM annual salary plus bonus. Get real morons. You are overthinking this. Good hire or not, it was the best that could be done. And BTW no one is going to take Leach any time soon, "Mark my words..." as the morons say.
Posted by: JLin | January 6, 2011 10:18 AM
Yes JLin,
Actually, I do think Maryland could do better.
How do I know? All you have to do is look no further than the blogs on this web site from the past week about Edsall.
These Terps blogs rarely have more than 20-30 responses on a good day, but on this issue there has been overwhleming negative response from hundreds of people.
While there are plenty of "morons", as you would say, I also think that many of these opinions represent a pretty good sampling of the folks, like myself, who spend a lot of money on this university's sports team.
The message from season ticket holders has been clearly NOT in support of Edsall.
The bottom line is that, time and time again, the school refuses to listen to the people who actually spend money going to games.
Just once, I would like to see the Terps take a chance.
I don't think Leach is necessarily a better coach (although his record in a tougher conference certainly supports it) or the right fit, but I can guarantee that if he had been announced as head coach earlier this week, season ticket sales would be climbing as we speak.
Would we win the ACC? Maybe not.
But would the first home game be a sell out - absolutely. And if I am a potential recruit, I want to see seats with butts in them.
I maintain Leach would've achieved that instantly. Edsall is going to need a miracle.
Go ahead JLin, tell me I'm wrong - I've been going to these games for more than 30 years and I know exactly how this is going to play out.
Posted by: Brad | January 6, 2011 11:01 AM
Are you people who are simply blindly throwing money at the team really that dense? A coach's record hardly tells you anything? Are you kidding me. What are you people smoking?
1-16 versus *Ranked* teams.
How does this guy get Maryland to play in a BCS bowl with that *Poor* of a record against ranked teams?
He built the Football program at Connecticut? What is so bad about a FCS team? Nothing. DELAWARE, where Baltimore Ravens' QB Flacco went to school, is an FCS program. Just because you are FCS doesn't mean you are mediocre. What makes Edsall MEDIOCRE is the fact that he did so poorly in such a weak FBS conference like the Big East.
West Virginia is by far the best that the Big East has to offer. Edsall is 1-6 versus West Virginia. Guess what? Maryland plays them EVERY YEAR for the next seven years.
Maryland played three ranked teams just this year. And, with teams like Temple, Notre Dame, West Virginia, NC State, Miami, and the like on our schedule...all of whom are going to be RANKED. How does this hire make Any Sense whatsoever when they guy clearly cannot beat ranked teams?
Why didn't we stick with Friedgen...or promote coach Brown to Head Coach. Edsall is nothing special. He's a guy who has lucked out in a terrible conference and managed to eek out a couple of SHARED Big East titles....earning an AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION into a BCS bowl..at a pathetic 8-5.
Posted by: Justin F. | January 7, 2011 9:53 AM
Leach NEVER recruited the East Coast. Big problem.
Posted by: Mark | January 7, 2011 10:20 AM
Wonder where all of you "experts" are now that the news broke about Leach breaking NCAA recruiting rules, leaving that stellar academic institution Texas Tech on NCAA probation? Edsall will win the right way, no gimmicks or rules violations.
Posted by: Skippy | January 9, 2011 6:09 PM
It's so obvious that Edsall is the right choice and a much better choice than Leach. That is, it's obvious to people who follow winning football programs and actually knew who Edsall was before last week. I'd believe that the average Edsall hater posting to these related articles, doesn't really follow college football closely enough to even know who Edsall is. They need to pull their heads out of Big Ralph's butt and stop sounding like uninformed moron's.
Posted by: Rich | January 9, 2011 7:05 PM
Iam so glad he is YOUR coach now....hey stand-up guy but... though thats in question these days with the way he exited from his players...Just think terp fans you will get to understand his offensive tactics and call all the plays from the stands. You just received Mr. vanilla...If he gets rid of your OC you will definitely be in trouble...His offensive game plan with Oakalahoma was to go head to head... what kind of an idiot does that..a true "Davey and Goliath" situation and he goes head to head..no Creativity, No Charisma a tactician ?? ABSOLUTELY NOT.. but hey he will make sure his players show up to meetings devoid of wearing do-rags or baseball caps...HE WILL MAKE THEM INTO 'good football citizens'..CANT WAIT TO PLAY YOU GUYS IN 2012 AND 2013...His "dream job just became your nightmare
Posted by: Roadrunner | January 13, 2011 3:08 PM