Sources: Randy Edsall to Maryland

[Chrispy]

Randy Edsall, who built a fledgling Connecticut program into a Big East champion and BCS bowl team, has been hired by Maryland to succeed Ralph Friedgen, sources told ESPN's Joe Schad on Sunday.

Edsall, whose team lost to Oklahoma in Saturday night's Tostistos Fiesta Bowl, did not return Sunday to Connecticut on the UConn charter flight.

Instead, said ESPN.com sources, he and his family were to fly from Phoenix to Maryland to meet with Terrapin school officials.

Meanwhile, an ESPN.com source also said there is a possibility of a 6 p.m. team meeting at Maryland.

Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach had been considered a leading candidate for the Maryland opening.

Instead, Maryland targeted the well-regarded Edsall, who in his 12 seasons at Storrs led UConn from Football Bowl Subdivision infancy in 2002 to a league championship and a BCS bowl in 2010.

Friedgen was forced out of Maryland in December after being named ACC coach of the year. The final game of Friedgen's 10-year head coaching career at his alma mater was a Dec. 29 victory in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman against East Carolina.

Earlier Sunday, when contacted by text message by ESPN.com, Edsall indicated that an agreement had not yet been finalized with Maryland. Asked if it were "a done deal," Edsall texted, "That is not the case."

E-mail and phone messages from ESPN.com to Edsall's agent Gary O'Hagan were not returned.

UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway was asked Saturday night about the likelihood of Edsall leaving Connecticut for Maryland.

"I think Randy is going to be at the University of Connecticut," he told ESPN.com's Ted Miller. "I think he's here and this is his focus."

Hathaway wouldn't elaborate when asked if Maryland talked with Edsall.

"I focus on who's at our place," Hathaway said. "Randy is at our place. I think that's where we are."

Asked if Edsall would remain at UConn rather than become Maryland's next coach, Hathaway paused and said, "I think Randy Edsall is at the University of Connecticut."

Information from ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski and Ivan Maisel was used in this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5981463

 

[Chrispy]

:crying:

Looks like i might have to become a Maryland fan too

 

[JeremyHight]

Great hire for Maryland, bad luck for UConn. They are never going to be great in football and keep losing solid coaches to other schools.

 

[Chrispy]

Great hire for Maryland, bad luck for UConn. They are never going to be great in football and keep losing solid coaches to other schools.

Yeah, this is a huge step back for us, especially losing a lot of key players like Todman. I really thought Edsall was going to stay after not being hired by Miami or any other big name school. Huge gain for Maryland, they get one of the top coaches in college football.

 

[Boucher]

Me>Edsall

 

[NAHSTE]

Great hire for Maryland. I think UConn will be okay, they'll just poach from another up-and-coming school. It's a dog-eat-dog world.

 

[SuperKevin]

Thank god. We have too much talent at RB to waste on a spread passing attack like Leach offers

 

[FirstTimer]

Still waiting for ND to jump to the Big East very soon.

Wait for Big East to get weak.

Make jump.

Rape.

 

[Lanteri]

After getting embarrassed in UConn's only BCS appearance, can't say I blame him at all. Should instantly have more talent to work with in Maryland than he ever did at UConn.

 

[Chrispy]

I don't see how uconn got embarrassed but doesn't really matter because thats all u have been doing is bashing them.

But i do agree he will have more talent at Maryland then Uconn.

 

[Lanteri]

I don't see how uconn got embarrassed but doesn't really matter because thats all u have been doing is bashing them.

But i do agree he will have more talent at Maryland then Uconn.

How is losing by 28 points and not scoring a single offensive touchdown not being embarrassed?

There was never a point in that game where they ever in it.

 

[SuperKevin]

He's going to turn Davin Meggett into a star

 

[Chrispy]

How is losing by 28 points and not scoring a single offensive touchdown not being embarrassed?

There was never a point in that game where they ever in it.

Yes the offense was putrid but they kept it close pretty much all game, only down 10-14 points. Nobody expected them to win. I don't see it as an embarrassment, they made it to a bcs bowl game and got national exposure.

 

[Lanteri]

Yes the offense was putrid but they kept it close pretty much all game, only down 10-14 points. Nobody expected them to win. I don't see it as an embarrassment, they made it to a bcs bowl game and got national exposure.

Yeah, the only national exposure they got was further proving that there should not be automatic BCS berths, because they damn well showed the nation that they didn't belong there.

 

[Chrispy]

If a few more plays or calls went their way they could of been right in the game, getting stopped on 4 and 1, no PI call when it clearly was, our wr doesn't flip the ball into the defenders arms and he returns it for a TD.

 

[SuperKevin]

I just hope Edsall is able to stop Penn State from stealing the top talent in Maryland

 

[kmanharris]

Lanteri loves to shit all over Uconn. Give them a break. The game was closer for longer than anyone ever expected. Considering Uconn doesn't have a decent quarterback or a WR who can catch a fucking ball, they did alright. Uconn hasn't played an offense that was anywhere near as talented as Oklahoma's all year. They haven't played a defense that was as fast or as good as Oklahoma's was all year. Oklahoma had over a month to study Uconn. Uconn can only study so much on Oklahoma and their no huddle, spread offense. There was no way to imitate it during practice.

Keep on hating though.

It is obvious that there needs to be a playoff but Uconn's performance in the bowl game didn't make it anymore obvious.

 

[NAHSTE]

LOL at all the Moral Victory cries from the newfound UConn fans. (You know the ones that can't even tell you what conference UConn was in before moving up to the Big East.) So what if they kept it "close"? They got blown the fuck out, for their 5th loss of the year. They had no business in that game. But hey, at least they got paid 13 million for it, I guess.

 

[JeremyHight]

LOL at all the Moral Victory cries from the newfound UConn fans. (You know the ones that can't even tell you what conference UConn was in before moving up to the Big East.)

Trick question, they were independent before joining the Big East. :smug:

 

[Chrispy]

LOL at all the Moral Victory cries from the newfound UConn fans. (You know the ones that can't even tell you what conference UConn was in before moving up to the Big East.) So what if they kept it "close"? They got blown the fuck out, for their 5th loss of the year. They had no business in that game. But hey, at least they got paid 13 million for it, I guess.

newfound fans? lol stfu, Who cares if it was their 5th lose of the year, not their fault the big east is weak and they won the conference.