Maryland Terrapins to Hire Mike Leach? The Mad Pirate's Impact on ACC Football
While there is much that is not official yet, a variety of reports suggest that Mike Leach will be announced as the new head football coach at the University of Maryland.
First, university officials told the Baltimore Sun that Maryland is forcing football coach Ralph Friedgen out.
Friedgen, in his tenth season as Terrapins coach, has been asked to retire. If he chooses not to retire, Maryland can reportedly buy out the final season of his contract, which pays him almost $2 million a year.
Next, Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com is reporting that Mike Leach is going to be the next head coach at Maryland.
New Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson has been evasive about a number of details recently, as Maryland coach-in-waiting James Franklin took the Vanderbilt job last week.
If Leach is hired as the Terrapins' head football coach, what will the impact be on Maryland football and the entire ACC gridiron scene?
Prolific Passing-Oriented Attack
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Mike Leach's teams break school and NCAA records.
Whether it was as an offensive coordinator at Valdosta State, Kentucky or Oklahoma, or as the head coach at Texas Tech, Leach's teams are incredibly successful at throwing the football.
It is nothing for Leach's teams to throw the ball 70 or 80 percent of the time. Running the football is almost an afterthought, which is a foreign idea in a conference that is much more conventional in its offensive philosophy.
No team in the ACC has nearly the play-calling mix that Leach's offense would bring.
In 2008, Leach's Texas Tech team, led by QB Graham Harrell, threw the ball 662 times (68 percent) and attempted 317 rushes.
In comparison, NC State, the conference's leading passing attack in 2010, attempted 500 passes while running the ball 425 times.
This season, Maryland ran 762 offensive plays. 367 were passing attempts, less than 50 percent of the time.
High Scoring Games
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I don't know the condition of University of Maryland-Byrd Stadium's scoreboard, but someone better check things out, because Mike Leach's teams score lots and lots of points.
In 2008, Leach's Red Raiders scored 75 TDs.
This year, Virginia Tech, the ACC's leader in scoring, crossed the goal line 58 times.
Leach also hasn't always had great defenses that stopped the other team from scoring lots and lots of points.
Leach isn't upset by winning games 49-35.
His focus is... score more points than your opponent and get the W.
Winning Teams
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Maryland has enjoyed good success under Ralph Friedgen.
When he took over in 2000, Maryland had not won a bowl game in 16 years and had only one winning season since 1990
The Terrapins are 66–46 (.589) in his ten years at the helm.
However, 2009 was a tough year for the program, finishing 2-10 in the school's first ten-loss season.
Mike Leach was 84-43 in his ten years at Tech.
His teams qualified for bowl games every year.
He is the winningest coach in post-season play in school history.
On his watch, the Red Raiders never had a losing season.
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Fan Support and Fan Excitement
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The entire ACC may need a shot in the arm in terms of fan excitement.
John Feinstein said it all in his recent Washington post article "Fans aren't Buying what the ACC is Selling."
The fans love to follow Mike Leach's teams.
They win. They throw the ball a lot. They score lots and lots of points.
Fun football that broke attendance records at Texas Tech.
Look Out, ACC!
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If Mike Leach can duplicate the success he had at Tech for the Maryland program, the landscape of ACC football is getting ready to change.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
