Maryland announced yesterday that they had fired head coach Ralph Friedgen, subsequently buying out the remainder of his contract for a the sum of $2 million. Friedgen went 74-49 (.600) in ten seasons at Maryland, finishing with a winning record in six of those seasons, and three seasons with ten or more wins. This past season, Maryland finished 8-4 - an incredible turnaround from 2-10 a season ago that led Friedgen to be named ACC Coach of the Year.
However, Maryland did not see Friedgen as the coach of the year, or the future. Rather, with the head-coach-in-waiting James Franklin departing to be head coach at Vanderbilt, the Maryland athletic director saw this as the perfect opportunity to perform his coup and oust Friedgen in favor of former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach (rumored). Sources state that Maryland wanted to perform this magic trick after last season, but had too much money on the table for Friedgen and Franklin.
This is but another example of two rising trends in college football. One, coaches can be fired for winning. Two, it does not pay to name a head-coach-in-waiting (HCIW).
Randy Shannon (7-5), Dave Wannstedt (7-5), and now Ralph Friedgen (8-4) were all fired after winning seasons. Both Shannon and Wannstedt had completed their third straight winning season, and all three teams are playing in a bowl game. Recall, Ty Willingham was fired after an unsuccessful 6-6 campaign, his second straight losing season, and all hell broke loose. Charlie Weis was fired after a 6-6 season, essentially his third straight losing season, and all hell broke loose.
The Willingham situation resulted in the infamous, "From Sunday through Friday our football program has exceeded all expectations, in every way," (Then Athletic Director Kevin White) said. "But on Saturday, we struggled. We've been up and down and sideways a little bit." It's ironic to think that Notre Dame fired their coach for on-field performance and all of sudden, it was showered with the chants of "Football Factory." Schools nowadays are firing coaches for great on-field performances, but just in front of too few people. All three schools mentioned above cited lack of attendance as reasons for making changes and not a word has been spoken about it!
Interesting enough, take a look at some of the big name coaching changes at the close of the 2004 season. Much like Maryland, Notre Dame had the opportunity to go after the guy they wanted in 2004, Urban Meyer, and thus set the wheels in motion to oust Ty. It was a program dedicated to getting the best coach possible at a time when the picking was ripe. In reality, one could say Notre Dame was doing it long before most other schools, except that Notre Dame took the most heat for it. (I could go on and on about media hatred for ND)
As to the second point, Will Muschamp threw away his HCIW position at Texas to become the head coach at Florida. James Franklin turned away from his HCIW position at Maryland to become the head coach at Vanderbilt. Dana Holgerson left his post as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State to become HCIW at West Virginia. What is happening?!? Teams now not only need to hire head coaches, but also head-coaches-in-waiting, while spending an extra few million dollars to do it.
The situation of a HCIW is intended to create a smooth transition for the program during the coaching transition, thus facilitating recruiting and player development. In theory, it's also intended for major programs, already with high profile and successful coaches, to retain talented assistants for the future. However, these recent examples have shown that the almighty dollar can lure any coach away, or push them out the door. This begs the question, why even announce or designate a HCIW then?
Only time will tell whether these coaching trends are here to stay. As for Notre Dame, I do not anticipate the firing of Brian Kelly anytime soon. Most logical Notre Dame fans cannot help but be impressed with the 7-5 record compiled by the IRISH this season. Compared to Willingham's 10-3 start and Weis' 9-3 start, Kelly's 7-5 has produce some realistic expectations and hopes for the future of Notre Dame Football. As for the head-coach-in-waiting, there is no need to name one as I envision Kelly will be here as long as he likes.
-DH
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