A New Era in College Park: A Maryland Terrapins Dynasty
Randy Edsall first arrived in College Park to much indifference. Fans were angered at the perceived force-out of longtime head coach Ralph Friedgen and were disappointed with the athletic department's choice, having seen ex-Texas Tech coach Mike Leach's name linked to the vacant head coach's spot.
Leach seemed like the right choice at the time, with the Red Raiders one of the top-ranked Under Armour-outfitted teams during his tenure there. Fans were excited at the prospect of Air Raid connoisseur coming to College Park, and almost no mention was made of his turmoil-laden exit from Lubbock.
Instead, new athletic director Kevin Anderson hired Edsall days after his Connecticut Huskies were blown out by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Edsall had guided the Huskies from Division I-AA to the Big East Conference, posting four straight seasons with eight wins or more in his last four years in Storrs.
Still, Edsall's success in building Connecticut's program wasn't well received in College Park. With a returning ACC Rookie of the Year in Danny O'Brien and a strong defense led by safety Kenny Tate, most fans and pundits felt Edsall wasn't the right fit at the school.
Edsall's first year started out on a high note, with a primetime Labor Day win over Miami in their brand new "Pride" uniforms. It appeared the Terrapins would start right were they left off following Friedgen's departure.
It didn't.
It's safe to say it hasn't been smooth sailing in College Park at all. Edsall has gone just 6-18 in two seasons at the helm, with his teams erratic at best and downright awful at their worst. Maryland failed to beat another FBS team in 2011, with a win over Towson their only other victory. Crushing losses to West Virginia, Clemson, and N.C. State were the lowlights, with the Wolfpack's 27-point comeback in the season's final game leading to calls for Edsall's firing, most notably by John Feinstein.
Edsall's poor 2011 campaign was exacerbated by the reports of conflict he had with players. 24 Terps would transfer in Edsall's first year in College Park. O'Brien was benched against Georgia Tech, broke his forearm against Notre Dame, and would eventually transfer to Wisconsin in the offseason, where he failed to make an impact in 2012. After switching to linebacker, Tate was injured early in the season and struggled, unable to return to form as the star he once was.
Maryland could only go up in 2012--which they did, for a time. After hiring new coordinators in Brian Stewart and local recruiting whiz Mike Locksley, Maryland finally began making inroads at local football powers around the state. The Terrapins picked up several high profile locals, notably five-star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who spurned Ohio State to stay close to home.
With new top recruits, a defense anchored by All-American Joe Vellano, and C.J. Brown returning to run the spread offense, optimism was finally (if not cautiously) high in College Park.
Of course, Brown would tear his ACL in the preseason, the first of a line of Maryland quarterbacks to go down with injury. True freshman Perry Hills would step in and lead the Terps to a 4-2 start. Heading into a homecoming showdown with N.C. State, it appeared certain Maryland would be bowl-eligible. It took less than a half for it to all fall apart.
Hills tore his ACL making a tackle on an interception return just before the end of the half. Down 10-3, Devin Burns came on in relief of Hills and led the Terps on two scoring drives. A missed extra point and a failed two-point conversion left the Terps down 17-15, but Maryland held a one-point lead until an N.C. State field goal with 30 seconds left gave the Wolfpack a 20-18 lead.
True freshman Caleb Rowe took over for Burns, leading the Terps on a brilliant, last-gasp drive deep into Wolfpack territory. Rowe set Maryland up for a 33-yard chip-shot field goal, and it looked all but certain the Terps would win, needing just one more win in their final five games to become bowl-eligible.
As it seems to happen with Maryland athletics, it didn't turn out that way. Kicker Brad Craddock missed the field goal, hitting the left upright to give the Wolfpack the win. Three days later, it was revealed that Burns suffered a Lisfranc injury that could sideline him for 12 months, leaving Rowe as the sole quarterback on the active roster.
An ugly 20-17 loss to Boston College dropped the Terrapins to 4-4, but it was the news one night later that Rowe had torn his ACL against the Eagles that truly spelled doom for Maryland. Linebacker Shawn Petty would step in at quarterback, with no true signal callers left on the roster. Petty performed admirably, but the damage was done--Maryland would lose its final four games, three by 20 points or more. Edsall's 6-18 record was the school's worst two seasons since the Ron Vanderlinden era in the mid-1990s.
Entering 2013, optimism was once again high in College Park. Brown returned, fully healthy, ready to lead an offense he once had shown flashes of greatness in. Alongside Diggs, transfer Deon Long seemed to give the Terps a second they so desperately needed in 2012. An experienced defense, led by cornerbacks Dexter McDougle and Jeremiah Johnson, looked ready to turn the corner.
With all the right parts in place, Maryland seemed poised for a strong 2013 campaign. A softer non-conference schedule seemed to favor the Terps, with matchups against FIU and Connecticut to open the season. Maryland faced tougher tests in the ACC slate, with games against top-15 squads Florida State in Tallahassee and Clemson in College Park. Still, it finally looked like Maryland and Randy Edsall were back on track, and the new era promised when he was hired in 2011 was finally arriving.
| 2013 Maryland Terrapins Depth Chart, Head Coach: Randy Edsall (3rd Season) | ||||
| Offensive Coordinator: Mike Locksley (2nd Season) | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| WR | Stefon Diggs, SO | Marcus Leak, JR | Nigel King, SO (RS) | Taivon Jacobs, FR |
| TE | Dave Stinebaugh, SR (RS) | P.J. Gallo, FR (RS) | Andrew Isaacs, FR | |
| LT | Mike Madaras, SO | Ryan Doyle, SO (RS) | Maurice Shelton, FR (RS) | |
| LG | Andrew Zeller, SO (RS) | Gary Harrak, JR (RS) | ||
| C | Sal Conaboy, JR (RS) | Evan Mulrooney, SO (RS) | ||
| RG | De'Onte Arnett, SR (RS) | Silvano Altamirano, JR | ||
| RT | Nick Klemm, SR (RS) | Jake Wheeler, JR (RS) | Michael Dunn, FR (RS) | |
| WR | Deon Long, JR (RS) | Tyrek Cheeseboro, SO | Amba Etta, FR (RS) | |
| QB | C.J. Brown, SR (RS) | Ricardo Young, JR (RS) | Perry Hills, SO | Caleb Rowe, SO |
| FB | Tyler Cierski, JR | Kenneth Goins, FR (RS) | ||
| HB | Brandon Ross, SO (RS) | Wes Brown, SO | Albert Reid, SO | Joe Riddle, FR (RS) |
| Defensive Coordinator: Brian Stewart (2nd Season) | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| LDE | Zeke Riser, SR (RS) | Quinton Jefferson, SO | Andre Monroe, JR (RS) | |
| NT | Darius Kilgo, JR (RS) | Nate Clarke, SO (RS) | Alex Walker, JR (RS) | Azubuike Ukandu, FR (RS) |
| RDE | Keith Bowers, JR | Roman Braglio, FR (RS) | Ty Tucker, FR (RS) | |
| LOLB | Marcus Whitfield, SR (RS) | Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil, JR (RS) | Yannick Ngakoue, FR | Shawn Petty, SO |
| LILB | Cole Farrand, JR | Abner Logan, FR (RS) | ||
| RILB | Bradley Johnson, SR | L.A. Goree, JR (RS) | ||
| ROLB | Alex Twine, JR | Matt Robinson, JR (RS) | Avery Thompson, SO | Jermaine Carter, FR |
| CB | Dexter McDougle, SR (RS) | Jeremiah Johnson, JR (RS) | ||
| SS | Anthony Nixon, SO | Zach Dancel, SO (RS) | ||
| FS | Sean Davis, SO | A.J. Hendy, JR | ||
| CB | Isaac Goins, SR | Milan Collins, FR | Will Likely, FR | |
| Special Teams Coordinator: Andre Powell (3rd Season) | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| K | Brad Craddock, SO | |||
| P | Nathan Renfro, SO (RS) | |||
| H | Ricardo Young, JR (RS) | |||
| PR | Isaac Goins, SR | |||
| KR | Isaac Goins, SR | Stefon Diggs, SO | ||
| LS | De'Onte Arnett, SR (RS) | |||
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