According to the Washington Post, the University of Maryland’s Head Football Coach in waiting – James Franklin – is leaving College Park for the head position at Vanderbilt.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/terrapins-insider/
You can somewhat understand Franklin’s thinking here. Maryland’s new Athletic Director has made it known he was not fond of the Head Coach in waiting tag. With the Terps rebounding from their 2 win season of 2009, to 8 wins and a Bowl in 2010; the existing Head Coach Ralph Friedgen is looking more secure. He could stay at Maryland and get his $1M dollar payday if he was not named the HC by January 2012, or he take over a job now in the best college football conference in the land.
With Auburn’s Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn turning down Vanderbilt’s very public offer, Franklin gets increased leverage in his contract talks with the Commodores.
You wish Franklin good-luck, but everything is not rosy for him or for Maryland with this move. Franklin gets the chance to take over an SEC program, but he has little chance of competing within the Conference. The academic standards at Vanderbilit are profound, and he will inherit a program that has won just 13 Conference games since the 2000 season. While he is known as a quality recruiter, that is a hard sell for anyone.
This obviously impacts the Terps as well. Maryland fans have been disappointed with the finesse of Franklin’s offense the last two years, but you have to give him plenty of credit for the development of O’Brien. You wonder how his departure will impact the young QB. Also, as I mentioned above, Franklin has helped the Terps on the recruiting trail.
Jeff Barker from the Baltimore Sun had a story just yesterday of Franklin visiting several Baltimore schools.
The immediate question for Maryland is will they extend Friedgen’s contract further?
Assuming that occurs, the question becomes who will Friedgen select to replace Franklin on his staff?
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