Maryland's lackluster performance under Edsall created rumblings among many of the alumni and boosters who are being counted on to help fund a new indoor football facility that will cost a projected $155 million to build.
After becoming the 34th coach in Maryland football history, Edsall immediately instituted a strict regimen of rules at the school -- including the banning of ball caps, do-rags and earrings in the football house. He also ordered that names be removed from the back of game-day jerseys.
He backed off after a difficult first season in which Maryland lost its final eight games and went 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Although the Terrapins have struggled on the field under Edsall, their performance in the classroom improved dramatically. The football program's Athletic Progress Rate reached an all-time high in 2013-14, and 21 players earned a place on the All-Big Ten Academic Team last year.
He got rid of do-rags! But wait--not everyone who ever wore a do-rag was a thug or a poor academic achiever. That's why I have a photo of David Foster Wallace ready at all times.
Edsall was not a failure if you consider that Maryland's move to the Big Ten was ridiculous and ill-considered. That wasn't his fault--he was crushed by changes that had nothing to do with football per se and everything to do with unrealistic expectations for a school that has no business playing regular season games against Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa or Illinois.
Yes, you can make a joke about the do-rags. But he also improved the overall academic achievement in his program as well as had 21 guys end up on the All-Big Ten Academic Team. Of course you have to fire a guy like that.
What's Lane Kiffin Really Worth?
Quick exits from the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Volunteers and just 12 wins over two years did little to deter USC from making Lane Kiffin one of the highest-paid college coaches.
The private school, which doesn't make coaching contracts public, is paying Kiffin $4 million a year -- nearly as much as it paid Pete Carroll -- according to a report on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," which will air on Tuesday night.
Carroll was paid $4.4 million, and he won two national championships and seven Pac-10 titles.
Kiffin, who made $2 million last season in Tennessee, is on par with veteran coachesMack Brown of Texas, Alabama's Nick Saban, Florida's Urban Meyer, LSU's Les Milesand Oklahoma's Bob Stoops in terms of salary. He ranks ahead of Ohio State's Jim Tressel. Every one of those coaches has won at least 12 games in a season en route to national championships.
He's never won anything and he's never done anything to deserve the coveted spot that he occupies. There is no "Coach Lane Kiffin." There's Lane Kiffin, and then the people he brings with him, including his father. Now, is Lane Kiffin plus daddy worth that kind of money?
I have no idea. I suspect Kiffin will bail on USC after three games, possibly four, to go coach the Washington Redskins, who will fire Mike Shanahan if he goes 0-3. If ever there was an impulsive team that was perfect for the most impulsive of coaches, it's Washington.