My feelings on Florida State as a football fan have wavered from simple dislike (most of the time) to outright hatred (cheering a Chris Rix injury the series after he taunted the Maryland student section while running up the score in a blowout). However, especially as I've started paying more attention to the sport as a whole, I've always liked Bobby Bowden. It's a shame to see him leave under such circumstances, especially after Joe Paterno survived a similar (maybe worse) stretch at Penn State to bring that program back.
As for Friedgen, my freshman year at Maryland was 2001. He spoke at freshman orientation as a brand new coach, where they handed out tickets to the first game in hopes of getting a decent student crowd. By the end of the season the stadium was packed and the Terps were a BCS team. So my support for Friedgen is completely irrational, especially when most Maryland fans range from fairly tepid support to outright disgust over the fall of the program from those early heights.
He has the support of the boosters, both for football and for the athletic department as a whole. He also has a close-by example in Gary Williams, who survived almost being fired last year to return the basketball program to the NCAA tournament and the edge of the Top 25 to start this year.
I didn't honestly think there was much of a chance of his firing, mostly because of his support and because the school couldn't afford the cost of firing him. The school would have either had to promote Franklin, with no reason to think he would do any better, or fire him as well and skimp on the cost of the next coach which wouldn't create many worthwhile options.
The team was extremely young this year (I believe 14 seniors and more than 40 players returning with at least three years of eligibility left), so there's a good opportunity for improvement. Friedgen has already mentioned trying to go back to the more option-style offense he ran early in his tenure, and Jamar Robinson looks like he could be successful as a dual-threat.
Sorry to turn this into a Terps thread. Any other ACC guys want to talk about their coaches?
---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poppinjay
***edit*** part of Fridge's deal is that he has to fire Franklin, and Franklin will instantly be a millionaire.
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Where did you hear that? I haven't seen anything about it.
---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jetée
It's basically the same thing they've done to Bowden, but he decided to step down when it was announced. Friedgen, I think has an incredible track record, but has been on the decline, and the University program decided to "lessen his workload and duties". I'm sure if it wasn't for his name and his history with Maryland, he could have been (still be) axed come next season.
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They aren't saying that about Friedgen. He just wasn't fired; no other changes have been made, at least publicly.