A lost year for Edsall

It was about a year ago this time that the Terrapins football team was complaining about its selection to the Military Bowl. The Terps had gone 8-4 after soundly defeating N.C. State. Surely, players argued, they deserved better than one of the lowest bowls in the country. Really, fans wondered, one of the nation's best stories was going to culminate at RFK Stadium?

A year later, after a 2-10 mark in Randy Edsall's first year as coach and a tumultuous season marred by an apparent locker-room divide, the Military Bowl looks pretty good.

All the hope that existed in Gossett Football Team House is gone. There is nothing to build on, no bright light to signify that things will get better. There's no reason to think this team is going from "good to great," as Athletic Director Kevin Anderson said was the goal when Edsall was hired to replace Ralph Friedgen.

The only thing that remains now is a question: Just what exactly is Randy Edsall doing?

Going 2-10 after 9-4 last season is bad enough. But on top of that, Edsall seemed to alienate just about every important demographic in College Park in less than a year.

The list of players leaving the program this offseason will include far more names than David Mackall's. The fans don't want to pay to see Edsall's team play, and many of them are calling for his job. The media isn't far behind in that sentiment, and a season's worth of press conferences that were about as colorful as a black-and-white photo probably didn't help.

There isn't much more that could have gone wrong for the Terps in 2011, which might just have been the worst season in program history. It's been only a year, but it is fair to wonder whether Edsall really is the right coach for this team.

In fact, at this point, it's fair to wonder whether he'll even be able to repair the damage he's done in his only season on the job.

So how do you fix it? Not by firing Edsall — at least, not yet.

The athletics department is on the cusp of cutting eight programs, and it will take years to balance the budget. Shelling out $10 million to buy Edsall out a year after paying Ralph Friedgen $2 million would look horrendous. Even if Anderson were able to secure outside funding from a certain prominent alumnus who owns a certain Baltimore-based athletic apparel company, he wouldn't be able to justify Edsall's costly ouster while sports are being terminated left and right. Not only would he have to pay another coach even more money, but doing so would amount to a concession that Edsall's hiring was a mistake.

But you can take financials or reputations out of the equation. Whether he was the right hire is beside the point — you just can't judge Edsall on his first year, regardless of how disastrous it was. He's a discipline-based coach who had a team filled with players who didn't want to play for him. He deserves a chance to be judged when he has a team of his own players.

The question, of course, is who wants to play for him. It seemed as though Edsall lost the locker room pretty early in his first season. When you have players turning to Twitter to express displeasure with their coach, and some even comparing the football house to a prison, you know you have a problem. It's hard to imagine many high school players will want to play for such a taskmaster.

"I don't need the outside world telling me," Edsall said last week. "I know that what I'm doing is right for these young people."

He could take a page out of former boss Tom Coughlin's book. Coughlin has a similar militaristic style of coaching, but he won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants only after he softened up and listened to his players more.

Could a similar move work for Edsall? The damage may be done. Mackall is already gone. D.J. Adams spent more time in Edsall's doghouse than he did on the field this year, and it wouldn't be shocking if he left. Danny O'Brien, the face of the Terps' program, could very well be on his way out after playing quarterback roulette for most of the season.

College Park wasn't a very desirable landing spot for recruits before this year, and Edsall's reputation probably isn't going to make it look any better.

But chances are, Edsall isn't changing. And the athletics department had to know about his style of coaching before they picked him over the swashbuckling Mike Leach. As questionable as Edsall seems right now, this style has worked in the past.

He better hope it works again, and fast. His job depends on it.

schneider@umdbk.com