In staff overhaul, football gets one for the price of two

After the Terrapins football team went 2-10 in Randy Edsall's first season, the Terps faithful wanted change. They got it this winter.

No, Edsall isn't gone, much to the chagrin of many who were calling for his head. But the two coordinators who helped craft the worst season in the program's history are. Offensive coordinator Gary Crowton is out, replaced by Mike Locksley, and Brian Stewart has taken over for Todd Bradford at defensive coordinator.

Both coaches have their merits. Locksley is a bona fide recruiter in the Washington area, and Stewart's defenses were impressive at Houston. After the Terps' abomination of a season, a massive shakeup was necessary. If they weren't going to fire Edsall, they had to bring in some new blood somehow.

So now the question becomes not whether Crowton and Bradford should have been replaced, but why they were hired in the first place.

Think about the logic behind the Crowton hire. Keep thinking. Anything come to mind? Didn't think so. He was a disaster at LSU, with his disorganized antics becoming something of a running joke around college football. There wasn't much reason for the Terps to even consider him. Somehow, someone decided he was the guy to lead the offense.

Admittedly, Bradford was a stopgap option after Don Brown abruptly left for Connecticut last February. But was the man who coached a pretty abysmal Southern Miss defense really the best they could do? Edsall should have had someone in mind when he took over, just in case Brown did leave.

But take their coaching abilities out of the discussion. Maybe the most puzzling move of all was that both coaches got three-year deals, an all but unprecedented move in college football. The athletics department, one in extreme financial straits, gave two wild-card coaches deals that were financially binding. Crowton's deal was for about $500,000 annually. How on earth a coordinator as unqualified as Crowton got such a massive deal is scary.

It didn't seem there was any way a department that had just put eight sports teams on the chopping block would be able to find the funds to buy out the coaches and hire new ones. But they did. And considering the economic situation, it's fair to ask how they're finding all this money. They threw good money at bad coordinators last year, and suddenly a terrible situation became even worse.

With that said, their ousters were completely necessary. After all, for the athletics department to have any chance at all of solving its debt crisis, the football team needs to turn things around. Season after season of mediocre results — about what you could expect from that coaching staff — will only exacerbate the already dangerous financial situation this department is in. It doesn't matter how many sports the athletics department cuts — if Byrd Stadium is empty like it was this season, climbing out of this economic crater will be nearly impossible.

It's hard to imagine Crowton and Bradford were part of that solution. Locksley and Stewart might be. If nothing else, they make a whole lot more sense than their predecessors.

Still, financial questions remain. Why was Locksley given a $500,000 annual salary filled with incentives for recruiting goals? The man went 2-26 as the coach of New Mexico. While he was there, he allegedly punched an assistant. A recruit picked up a DUI while driving Locksley's car. An administrative assistant accused him of sexual harassment. Not exactly the type of behavior Edsall appreciates in his young men.

And it doesn't seem like the Terps were even competing against anyone for his services. Considering Locksley's off-the-field baggage, weren't the Terps doing him a favor by offering a way back into the coaching game? An athletics department in financial shambles should be smarter with its money than this and use its leverage to get a good deal.

For all we know, the two new coordinators could help lead a resurgent Terps team in Edsall's second year. But what if they fall on their face, just like the men they replaced? Will Anderson stick with them, or bite yet another bullet and buy them out in favor of new coaches?

The athletics department made the right move in bringing in the new coordinators. It just shouldn't have been in this situation in the first place.

schneider@umdbk.com