Fridge Names Franklin as Successor

As was reported earlier this week, Ralph Friegen announced James Franklin as the heir to the Maryland Football Coaching throne. I have to admit that the first thing that crossed my mind was.... it's about time. The second thing that I thought about was when is Debbie Yow going to follow suit regarding Gary Williams' future. I for one do not put much stock into what was reported about a week ago, that Gary has Yow's vote of confidence. Before I continue any further regarding Gary, I would like to touch upon how excited/ anxious I got when I heard that James Franklin would become the head football coach at Maryland at the end of Fridge's remaining 3 year deal. Don't get me wrong, Fridge inheritted a football program that in many aspects was in disarray and had little to no respect in the college football world. He took a group of no name, low profile, misfit toys that Ron Vanderlinden left behind after his departure, and molded them into the ACC Champions and eventual BCS Orange Bowl contender in just one season. He took Maryland's football program to new levels that had only been dreamt about. Not to mention the considerable beatings that he laid on West Virginia in the first 3 years of his tenure. Fridge has produced on and off the field, and has been an innovator in terms of marketing the team and it's higher profile future NFL players. Personally I think that Under Armour owes Fridge a great deal of gratitude for what he has done for their company and allowing them to essentially set up their base camp in College Park which has launched nationwide. He has been able to recruit more physically gifted players from many different areas around the nation, but in recent years these recuiting classes have proven to fall short of expectations.

This is where I get to my main argument, which essentially is that Fridge has lost his recruiting touch. He has proven that he can recruit top athletes and absolute physical specimens... but this has not produced many stellar football players. I've always felt that no matter how great an athlete is physically, they will not amount to much if they don't have a natural instinct for how the game is played. Take for instance former safety J.J. Justice, a highly touted player coming out of high school, rated as a 4 star recruit. What did he do at Maryland in his four years? He showed off his uncanny ability to show why he was a huge bust. He proved to be a handicap to the Terps secondary and his obsession of dropping easy interceptions and making bonehead plays is just one example of a player who had it all physcially but didn't have that instinct that you need. Hell I think the only time I saw him catch an interception, he realized that he was not supposed to do that and instantly fumbled the ball back to the other team. Sorry for hating on you J.J., but a point must be made about this. One other thing that has grinded my gears over the years I've been in Maryland has been the lack of a sustainable and trustworthy quarterback who is capable of leading an ACC contending team. Fridge worked magic with every quarterback that Vanderlinden recruited such as Shaun Hill and Scott McBrien, but has failed to do the same with the very players he has recruited. Soon after Fridge's arrival, he brought in Heyward-Bey, Oquendo, and the Stonehand man (Isaiah Williams) all in one recruiting class..... only problem.... whose going to throw them the ball. Jordan Steffy proved that he was more suited for a B league Intramural team, Portis doesn't know how to cheat correctly, and Chris Turner has been sporadic and never consistent. I guess what I'm saying is that something with the coaching staff has been out of whack for the past 3 years. Maryland has had the talent to compete for the ACC title, but the execution and very questionable play calling and personnel decisions have caught my eye for some time.

With the announcement of Franklin, I immediately thought about all of the top level talent that has left the Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. area in past couple of years. Just to name a few, Derrick Williams, Derrick Harvey, Aaron Maybin, Navarro Bowman, the Haden brothers, Marvin Austin.... the list has only gotten longer after this past recruiting season with Jelani Jenkins choosing Florida in the past week. I beleive that Franklin has been the missing link as of late, and that he has a grip on how to compeitively recruit in this talent hot bed that we like to call home. Keeping local talent at Maryland should be the number one priority, not only are these players some of the best in the country but when you grow up somewhere, you have a certain home allegiance which has been lacking in many of these players for some reason. I am at least pleased that Franklin will essentially be in charge of all of the recruiting decisions for the remainder of Fridge's contract, and will be able to have a very hands on approach with these future Terps. Ideally these players will be well natured with how things will work when the time comes for Franklin to step in and make an easy transition to hopfeully a new era in Maryland football history. I hope that this next comment does not rub people the wrong way, because it is not intended to. I feel that players must be able to relate to their coaches, and the majority of college football players are African Americans. I have a hard time making the arguement that having an extremely obese, old, white man come visit you in your home and meet your family would be more effective than a young, impressive, African American coach doing the same. Now of course Fridge has a very impressive track record that includes a very successful career coaching in the NFL etc, but I think he has done a very poor job of managing the areas recruits. I have the hope that Franklin will build a solid base for his future, by recruiting well in the area and retaining the areas top recruits.