For the second time in less than two months, a big-name candidate rumored to be joining the Terrapin football coaching staff will not be coming to College Park.
Former Miami coach Randy Shannon has turned down an offer to become the Terps' defensive coordinator, according to a report yesterday from The Baltimore Sun.
Shannon, who was fired as Hurricane coach in November after a disappointing 7-5 season, reportedly would have had to forfeit about $1.5 million in buyout money from Miami had he accepted the Terps' offer.
The development follows several reports late last week that Shannon and the university were close to reaching an agreement that would have made him the final member of new coach Randy Edsall's staff.
Shannon's reported decision means the Terps still are without a replacement for former coordinator Don Brown, who left the Terps on Feb. 4 to take the same job at Connecticut. Brown, a holdover from former coach Ralph Friedgen's staff, said he wanted to be closer to his family.
An earlier courting of a similarly high-profile coach also ended in disappointment for many Terp fans. Shortly after Friedgen's contract was bought out in December, former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach emerged as the front-runner to be the Terps' new coach. But Athletics Director Kevin Anderson ultimately decided on Edsall, who had just led Connecticut to its first-ever Bowl Championship Series appearance.
schneider@umdbk.com
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