SCHNEIDER: Right call, wrong timing for Edsall

Randy Edsall did the right thing. It just took him more than a week to do it. Yes, after seven days that included several national columnists absolutely crushing him, Edsall relented and gave former Terrapins football quarterback Danny O'Brien a full release from his scholarship.

The 2010 ACC Rookie of the Year can now go anywhere he wants to. Even ACC schools. Even schools on the Terps' upcoming nonconference schedule.

And yes, even Vanderbilt, where former Terps coach-in-waiting — and O'Brien's first offensive coordinator — James Franklin is now in charge.

You can credit Edsall for doing the right thing, something we haven't been able to do, well, maybe ever.

But I'm not quite ready to do that. There are still three burning questions I need answered: Why did it take this university a week to make this move? Why was Vanderbilt blocked for O'Brien in the first place? And was it really Edsall's idea to give O'Brien his full release?

In a year filled with Randy Edsall gaffes — and let's face it, there have been enough to fill a SportsCenter Not Top 10 — this is likely the worst. He didn't just embarrass the football program with this one. He embarrassed the entire university.

The Washington Post. Sports Illustrated. CBSSports.com. Name a well-regarded news outlet, and chances are it was trashing the decision. Reversing it a week later isn't going to fix that.

It's hard to blame them. The man who preaches character and accountability pulled the pettiest move of all on a student-athlete who has been classy throughout this entire process.

The athletics department made O'Brien the face of the program, taking him around the state to Terrapin Club meetings throughout the summer and featuring him in marketing campaigns. But as soon as he struggled, Edsall benched him. He was given several chances to voice support for his now-former quarterback. He never did. Thus, O'Brien will move on.

Edsall then had the nerve to say he couldn't go to Vanderbilt, a program that runs O'Brien's preferred pro-style offense and one that the Terps aren't scheduled to play.

Don't want him to play for another ACC school? Fine. A nonconference opponent the Terps are facing soon? Understandable. But Vanderbilt? Just because Franklin, the man who recruited O'Brien to Maryland, is coaching there?

It's not head-scratching. It's not curious or questionable. It's mind-blowing. They alienated the guy, basically pushed him out the door and then wanted to tell him he couldn't go somewhere else. The fact that Edsall, Kevin Anderson or Wallace Loh didn't realize how bad this would look is incomprehensible.

Luckily, it's been resolved. O'Brien can go wherever he pleases. And apparently, it was Edsall who had a change of heart. But it's hard to believe that the man who has been so staunch and steadfast in his ways would all of a sudden reverse a decision on a dime like this. It had to come from the top.

"This was a decision reached by Coach Edsall after some reflection," William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, said in a statement to The Diamondback. "Having learned of the decision, I applaud it."

Kirwan had to have gotten some heat for the debacle. This story received national attention, and none of it was positive. Even if he did make the call to release O'Brien, he can't admit it. He would be undermining the first or second most important person in Terps athletics.

But that might just be what happened. Though Edsall has received consistent support from the higher-ups, it seems this may have cracked that foundation. There's only so many slip-ups a boss can take before you have to step in. Edsall may be reaching that threshold.

Edsall has accused Franklin and Vanderbilt of tampering for having illegal contact with O'Brien. But more important than anything Franklin could say is what Edsall did, or didn't do, to support O'Brien. The Commodores coach didn't convince Danny to leave. Edsall did.

Vanderbilt should not matter to Terps football. But it's obvious that there's bad blood between the two schools, specifically Edsall and Franklin. The former Terps assistant was considered crazy after bolting for Nashville. He looks brilliant now, taking the long-maligned SEC doormats to a bowl game in his first year.

It could be that Edsall is just scared that we'll realize it would have been smarter to let Franklin take over the Terps than Edsall. Too late.

Maybe O'Brien will end up at Vanderbilt. Maybe not. But if he does, it's hard to blame him. After all, it's a better football program than the one here in College Park. And Franklin's probably a better coach.

schneider@umdbk.com