Ralph Friedgen Proves Why Head Coach Designates Are a Bad Idea

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

And as far as recruitment, I find it difficult to imagine a promising young blue chipper being convinced to join the Terrapins by a coach who won’t be there by the time they’re finished redshirting.

Why would they commit to a school that can’t even commit to a coach?

By making the head coach succession so public, Maryland opened the second-guessing compartment of Pandora’s box.

No matter who coaches, everybody will question the decision if the team doesn’t have a great season come 2012.

If Friedgen stays, it’ll be, “Why did they keep this old, out-of-touch geezer when they had already promised the Terrapin future to the young buck?”

If Franklin is the choice, fans will question the entire concept of promising someone a job that isn’t now, and won’t assuredly be, vacant until 2012 with every interception, every missed tackle.

The biggest risk here is that the second guessing will reach the minds of the Terrapin football team and the coach will lose control of his locker room.

The obvious solution would be to keep the coaching decisions behind closed doors.

But ever since Jimbo Fisher was named head coach designate at Florida State, the trend has been heading in the other direction.

The Terps obviously see something in Franklin that they really like, and I’m sure they would be kicking themselves if they saw him flourish in the NFL because he didn’t know his future at UM.

So offer him the job, but keep it to yourselves, Terps. And maybe, just maybe, don’t put a date on it—especially not with a $1 million out-clause.

This isn’t the Obama administration: There is no need for complete transparency.

Eventually you’ll have to make a tough decision, but it should be made privately. And a head coach should be in place before any official announcements are made.

This type of distraction can only detract from the most important factor: the quality of play on the field.

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