Maryland at Virginia: Nov. 13
There’s not much you can do to dress up a 2-10 season. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen doesn’t try to.
“It’s not something that we talk about daily, but they know the score. I kind of like it like that myself. I kind of enjoy that kind of motivation,” said Friedgen, whose Terrapins don’t exactly come into 2010 with anything more in terms of expectations than you’d expect with a program spinning off its axis in recent years.
Friedgen came to his alma mater in 2001 with little in the way of expectations back then, either, and quickly raised the bar, winning the ACC title and going to the Orange Bowl in ’01 and winning a school-record 11 games in 2002.
After a third consecutive double-figure-win season in 2003, Maryland and Friedgen were hot properties, but it turns out that ’03 was as good as it would get. Friedgen’s teams have gone just 35-38 since, and 2010 very well could be the Fridge’s last year in College Park.
“It is what it is,” Friedgen said. “I think we’re kind of where we were when I got there. When I came to Maryland, I was 32 years an assistant coach, 53 years old, come to a program that had went to one bowl in 18 years, and we did some pretty good things. And now we’ve kind of come full circle. ”
That all said, Friedgen likes his young team. “I know what this team can turn into, and I’m hopeful we can do it this year, because the following year I think we have the chance to be a very, very good team.”
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].
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