COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Ralph Friedgen will get the opportunity to rebound from his worst season as Maryland’s head football coach.
Friedgen’s job status appeared shaky after the Terrapins lost a school-record 10 games this season. But after meeting for two consecutive days with athletic director Debbie Yow, Friedgen was given the go-ahead to make plans for a 10th season as coach at his alma mater.
“Coach Friedgen and I are in complete agreement on the expectation to return the football program to its competitive stature,” Yow said. “He has assured the University and fans of his intentions to do whatever is necessary to become a top 25 program again. “He continues to have my full support.”
The 62-year-old Friedgen has two years left on a contract that pays him $2 million annually. He is 66-46 at Maryland and has gone to six bowl games, but the Terrapins have endured four losing seasons over the past six years.
After Maryland’s final game Saturday, a 19-17 defeat to Boston College that extended the team’s losing streak to seven games, Friedgen made it clear he intended to return.
He got his wish.
“Keep the faith,” Friedgen said. “We have a lot of guys coming back next year and I believe in this team very much. I think the future’s pretty bright.”
Friedgen, a former player at Maryland, took the Terrapins to the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference title in his first season as a head coach. But Maryland had the worst overall record of any ACC team this year (2-10) and won only one league game.
In February, offensive coordinator James Franklin signed a contract that would enable him to take over for Friedgen after the 2011 season or receive a $1 million buyout. Now that Friedgen knows he’s coming back, he can begin working with Franklin to improve an attack that loses only one player on the line, center Phil Costa.
“We have three impressive young quarterbacks that are pretty good. We have all our running backs returning, as well as our wide receivers,” Friedgen said. “All of our offensive linemen are back, except one, with a full year of experience under their belts. We had a very young team this season. We took our lumps this year, but we won’t be taking our lumps next year.”
He also expects to benefit from the current recruiting class.
“The entire staff has done a great job on this class,” Friedgen said. “James Franklin has been a huge part of that, helping to re-energize our recruiting locally. In all, it’s been a terrific team effort.”
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