At this point, it's time to look ahead

Sitting at a table in the Wake Forest football team house, Randy Edsall seemed at ease. His Terrapins football team had just lost to the Demon Deacons, 31-10, but he answered questions more thoroughly and casually than he had all year. Gone was the coachspeak, the clichés, the non-answers. Despite the Terps' seventh straight loss and ninth of the year, the first-year coach who had been a man of few words all season long was finally talking.

What had gotten into him? It could be he was just feeling talkative, or maybe he was sick of treating press conferences like some sort of interrogation. He'll never admit it, but perhaps he'd also come to terms with what this really is: a transition year.

As high as hopes were coming into this season, and as much as Edsall talked about winning every game, the writing was on the wall that this year might see the team take a step back. Bringing in a new coach is tough enough. But for a coach such as Edsall, having to implement a whole new system and culture? Even tougher.

So it's really not all that surprising the Terps were blown out by the Demon Deacons. The missed tackles, dropped passes and general disarray in every facet of the game that plagued them in Winston-Salem, after all, have become the norm this year.

By the time it had lost to Florida State late last month, it was crystal clear this team was not going to take the leap from "good to great," as Athletic Director Kevin Anderson had preached. Instead, somewhere along the way, 2011 became about 2012, no matter how many times Edsall insisted he was just focusing on next week.

Maybe Edsall realized a year of struggles would be worth it if, in the process, he showed his players he was the new sheriff in town. These days, it's play his way, or play somewhere else. Can't deal with taking your hat off in the team house or trimming your beard? Then don't bother the players who just want to play football, the guys who might find some success in a united locker room.

Of course, coming off a 9-4 campaign last year, this season isn't what the fans wanted — especially when Edsall was painted as a guy who would win early. Ralph Friedgen was let go after being named ACC Coach of the Year, and Edsall was supposed to be an improvement. Everyone wanted to build on 2010's surprising success.

But it never happened, and sections of the fan base are now calling for Edsall's job. They can holler as loud as they want — he isn't going anywhere. The athletics department couldn't afford a buyout even if it wanted to. And it's absolutely impossible to judge him on his first year.

Sure, Edsall could have handled this debacle better — not treating Gossett Football Team House like the Pentagon would have at least won him some goodwill. But his inheritance of Friedgen's leftovers wasn't as promising as you might think. This year's team lost most of last year's best players. And even that team, record notwithstanding, was never all that impressive. Take away summer practice time and a handful of scholarships, and the going doesn't get any easier.

"Whatever could go wrong," Edsall said, "has gone wrong."

This year has been a nightmare, and it wouldn't be a surprise if the Terps ended with a loss Saturday to finish 2-10 — the same record they had in 2009. That team might not have had the talent these Terps have, but it also didn't have debilitating injuries on both sides of the ball. It also wasn't in the midst of a program-wide makeover.

Is this year as bad as 2009? You be the judge. No one went into 2009 expecting the Terps to compete for an ACC title, and those dreams were irrational this year from the start. Nonetheless, there's no question the Terps have underachieved this year.

The one hope has to be that this downturn is necessary for Edsall to make this program truly his. If not, the move to buy out Friedgen will be questioned even more.

No, the Terps haven't taken the step from good to great, as Anderson said they would. But this year's collapse might one day prove necessary for them to build themselves up the way Edsall said he would.

schneider@umdbk.com