Maryland decides to buy out the final year of football coach Ralph Friedgen's contract... evidently 74 wins at a program over ten years (Terps went 37-73-1 in the previous decade) plus 7 bowl games at a school that had gone nine years without postseason play before he arrived wasn't good enough to earn a contract extension. Did I mention he graduated players as well? And not a whiff of scandal. Friedgen seemingly was doing everything right-- except sell out Byrd Stadium and advance to the ACC Championship game every year. Everything was apparently set in motion when offensive coordinator James Franklin departed for the Vanderbilt job. That freed up one million dollars coming to Franklin if he wasn't the head coach by 2012... and created a staff erosion that would take four assistants with Franklin to the SEC school.
Instead of extending Friedgen, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson felt that the ceiling had been reached and there were greater possibilities out there. If Franklin had stayed, they likely would have kept the status quo uncomfortable in place... with Friedgen coaching not knowing if he'd be back in 2012 and Franklin wondering if he'd actually get the gig. It's a shame a loyal alum has been shown the door so unceremoniously. Why cut ties? There are many who think the program has plateaued (43-42 over the last seven seasons) and Friedgen has a reputation as a so-so recruiter; for some reason he's reportedly rubbed local high school coaches the wrong way in his tenure. If the Terps had won the Atlantic Division this year (a loss to Florida State in November ending their hopes), or 2008 (Florida State again) or 2006 (Wake Forest the culprit) Friedgen may have generated the necessary momentum for an extension before this fall. Ex-Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is the expected successor-- be prepared for a high-octane offense and eccentric pirate talk.
Donovan McNabb's tenure as the Redskins quarterback apparently is coming to a close... at least that's what common sense would lead one to believe with #5 getting benched for the final three games of the season. Rex Grossman threw for over 300 yards in his debut and is priced well enough to be a good holding pattern for the team until they get and groom the quarterback of the future. Meanwhile, they drastically cut McNabb's value if they want to trade him... so those draft picks that could have been used on building blocks (say one seven and one eight year player) go towards 13 games for a former Pro Bowl quarterback. Donovan, we hardly knew ye.
Gilbert Arenas came to DC with plenty of promise and he actually delivered for a while-- the crazy shots... the monster games... the magnetic personality on and off the court-- until injuries hijacked two prime years of his career. Then the gun thing. Since last December, his clock has been ticking on agent zero's district residency. Rashard Lewis will provide a little more of a stable leadership role as this team claws its way back to respectability-- this move also lessens the backcourt logjam of Nick Young/John Wall/Kirk Hinrich...allowing each to learn and improve under Flip Saunders' guidance. Unfortunately, we've had to deal with the shadow of Arenas the last few years. But for a while, he was real-- and that was pretty cool.
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