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Friedgen begins rebuilding process
Tend to the little things, and the big things usually take care of themselves. There are a lot of big things to take care of at Maryland, a program that hasn't won more than six games since the Bobby Ross era of the mid-1980s. The Terrapins are 1-46-1 against ranked teams since Ross departed after the 1986 season. Joe Krivak, Mark Duffner and Ron Vanderlinden failed to build a winner at a school that captured six Atlantic Coast Conference championships in the 12 seasons prior to Krivak's arrival. To rectify the situation, athletic director Debbie Yow hired a big thing, Ralph Friedgen, the supersized coach who has the best offensive mind in Saturday's America. It's the same mind that Yow ignored when she bypassed Friedgen and tabbed Vanderlinden four years ago. By choosing the Maryland graduate this time, she admitted her mistake. I've never bought into the idea of a "players' coach." Most coaches care about their players. But at Georgia Tech, where Friedgen spent the last four seasons as offensive coordinator, he used to hold pre-breakfast meetings with Joe Hamilton, largely to make sure that the quarterback got out of bed to eat and go to class. Friedgen was also known to throw the occasional graduation party for the academically challenged player who earned his degree. Friedgen is smart and unafraid to speak his mind, which may be why it took him 32 years in the coaching business to get his own gig. He won over the student body at Maryland immediately, getting a standing ovation the first time he walked into Cole Field House for a basketball game. The students loved him even more after The Washington Post reported the next day that an ACC official admonished Friedgen for mouthing off during that midseason overtime loss to Duke. Friedgen insists the comments came from the guy sitting next to him. Whether he was an innocent bystander or not, the "Fridge Fever" T-shirt has become an integral part of every College Park students wardrobe. Friedgen won the players over quickly, too. When Yow brought Friedgen to Maryland last November to size him up, she arranged for a players' committee to interview him as well. Senior linebacker Aaron Thompson sat next to Friedgen. Thompson is soft-spoken for a hard hitter. He turned and looked Friedgen in the eye and asked, "What are you going to do to make us win?" "First," Friedgen said, "I'm going to teach you how not to lose." More important, Thompson remembers, "He didn't stare at the ceiling. You knew everything he said, he meant. Not one time did he blink. He said what he had to say. That did a lot for me. You look for someone to be real with you. When I've got a feel for someone, I'm going to want to play for him. I wanted him to be my coach right then and there, not to mention his offensive genius." Once Friedgen got to College Park, he began attending to the little things. When he emphasized to the players the importance of eating breakfast, they told him that skipping the eggs and bacon had nothing to do with wanting to stay in bed. They explained that their meal plan gave them X dollars each week and the cafeteria charged them à la carte. If they didn't eat breakfast, they would have more money to spend during the rest of the day and over the weekend. Friedgen arranged for an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast. It doesn't sound like much, unless you're a 20-year-old football player burning thousands of calories a day. "That meant a lot to our team," Thompson says. "This helps us on the field and off. If you're up early, you're going to class. You're lifting harder and then you're going to bed earlier. Coach Friedgen is the kind of guy who looks out for his players. You want to go out there and bust your tail for him. You don't want to let him down." Friedgen has got plenty of big things to tackle. Under Vanderlinden, the Terrapins perfected the November collapse. The offense sputtered despite the presence of graduated All-ACC running back LaMont Jordan. Byrd Stadium was refurbished yet remains unfilled. But if Friedgen continues to fix the little things, the big things just might fall into place. Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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