The big news from a few weeks ago was Maryland’s mutual parting ways with Head Basketball Coach Mark Turgeon as the school press release reported. However outside of that release many articles you read certainly made it seem that it was mostly Turgeon that decided to walk away. It did not make a lot of sense that Maryland would let a HC go 8 games into a season with several transfers that had just come into the program. It also did not make sense because the two sides had just recently agreed to a university friendly deal that gives Maryland the ability to get out of the deal early. It also put the onus and gave more incentive for Turgeon to do better especially in Tournament play. The deal signed was a three-year contract extension with intentional buyout terms. The deal was supposed to run through the 2025-26 season. The deal stated that if Turgeon was fired before May 1, 2022, he would be owed $5 million.
Although the decision to part ways was mutual, per the release, Maryland Athletics said they would honor the terms of the contract including the $5 million buyout, per a team spokesman. That last part raises the question as to whether it really was Turgeon who walked away. A $5 million parting gift for a coach who decided to walk away coming from an Athletic Department coming off Covid financial losses (although they are far from the major financial issues, they were dealing with in 2013) does not make sense. I know it’s the holiday and season and all but still…
My understanding is that beyond the Administration and AD (it was no secret that AD Damon Evans was not the biggest fan of Turgeon) that there were other forces at play that quickly became frustrated with the way the season started especially their performance in the Bahamas and then the VA Tech loss was the straw that broke the camels back. I was told that the news that the Athletic Department was going to get helped either fully or partially in the $5 million buyout came as a surprise. At that point with the knowledge that they had financial help, it then made it easier to make the decision coupled again with other forces that were unhappy and pushing for his ouster. It was the school that parted ways. Although I do not think it was too hard to push Turgeon out the door. He was not long for here at this point anyway and it was likely he would depart before his new deal was up unless he made headway in his areas of deficiency.
Football Thoughts
On Episode 35 of our ‘Talking Terps’ Podcast recently I voiced my concern about losing some top-notch football recruits from the year before to the transfer portal. My concerns were based around the fact that these players knew what they were getting into before coming to College Park visa vi a rebuilding project. So, had these young men after going 6-6 and going to a Bowl Game for the first time since 2016 already given up on Mike Locksley’s future vision for the program? Heck one of them, Terrance Lewis didn’t even play this season. After doing some further research on the matter let’s just say that in some cases despite the number of stars next to the name that sometimes when players leave it’s addition by subtraction. Not all players live up to their end of the bargain and can also cause a cancer in the locker room spreading to other players not just affecting the overall culture so it’s usually better for the program to part ways with that player (s). That said you still dislike having that amount of talent leave your program, but it might be better in the short and long term.
It does speak to the fine line that Locksley must walk in trying to bring in the best talent he can—some of whom have a questionable background or have some rough edges to put it mildly. Sometimes the chances you take backfire, but does it mean you stop trying? MD is in a situation where they have to take some risks, but better player identification always has to be strived for as the risk is not always worth the chance given. Those decisions though are ultimately up to the Head Coach. You cannot expect Maryland to make some strides without pushing the envelope in bringing in some players, but you can only do that if you have a strong culture and player leadership where a new addition like that comes in and is quickly policed by his teammates who hold him accountable. That guy will either buy in or leave but if he does not buy in it is a quick exit and the team is not adversely affected by that departing player.
The fact that Mike Locksley has recruited three straight Top 30 Classes at Maryland is a great sign and his work in the transfer portal has also been a successful one as well. To be successful Locksley must maximize his recruiting prowess and he has done that. Last year’s #18 class was probably the ceiling for this MD program. You’re not going to get much better than that in College Park. While we saw incremental progress this year on the field, the bottom line of it now is this coaching staff has to get better and coach these young men up to do a better job. Talent rules the day over coaching but unless you have consistent Top 5 recruiting classes you can’t get away with average coaching. There needs to be a sharp decline in penalties and mental mistakes. Penalties and mistakes in a game happen to the best of teams but this Terps program doesn’t have the margin of error to not allow it to affect them.
If Maryland is to makes strides, they need make improvement into these three areas: A. Special Teams. This area was woeful all year and got worse as the year went on, taking something off Ron Zook’s plate or delegating this job to someone else needs to happen…B. Running Game. The offensive line did a nice job in pass protection this year but were below average in run blocking which made the offense one dimensional…C. Secondary. The pass defense for the Terps was awful this season, part of that had to do with the amount of man to man they were asked to play but they still need to clean up their coverage skills.
Let’s hope with the Omicron variant and the mask mandates & restrictions in NYC that that does not adversely affect having fans or the number of fans in the stands for the Pinstripe Bowl Game for Maryland and VA Tech. A trip for a few days to NYC during the holidays and a game at Yankee Stadium sounds like a great mini getaway for fans of both programs. MD also has many alumni that live in NYC. Now that may be in jeopardy as the recent actions of the outgoing NYC Mayor may now preclude fans from going to the game. We at least want to have the game played even if it means no fans though. These young men have worked so hard all year and are still on campus during the holidays preparing to represent their school. They deserve to have this game played. On another note, as we talked about on Episode 36 of our ‘Talking Terps’ Podcast, this is a very winnable game for Maryland especially with the VA Tech opt outs and or players that have put themselves in the Transfer Portal. The latest news that came out Saturday is Hokies starting QB Braxton Burmeister has entered the portal and will not play in the Bowl Game. That coupled with an Interim Head Coach and Assistant Coaches that likely have spent as much time looking for their next job equals what should be a strong showing for the Terps.
One Final Note: Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Wishes to everyone. Thanks for your support in your readership and listenership. Special appreciation of the advertisers who also help to make this possible. I also want to thank Chris Stoner for bringing me on board to contribute. My busy schedule doesn’t allow me to be as consistent in writing articles as I would like to, but Chris has always been understanding of that. I look forward to great 2022! As always Go Terps!
Terps Analyst
Mike Popovec is a Weekend and Fill-In host at 105-7 The Fan. In addition Mike hosts the Pre and Post, Halftime and Scoreboard Updates for the Football Games on the Maryland Terrapins Sports Radio Network. He also hosts the Pre and Post Game Show on weekends for some of the Maryland Basketball Games. Popovec also hosts a local News, Talk and Sports Morning Program at the beach on 92-7 WGMD. He also produces and hosts High School Football Games and Shows throughout the season out of Easton covering the Eastern Shore’s Bayside Conference. He sideline reports for CW54 for the Maryland State High School Football Playoffs with Bruce Cunningham, Doug Duvall and Wally Williams.