Maryland Refuses To Shake Hands With Penn State Before Coin Toss

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall has always said Penn State will be the Terrapins Big Ten rival.  After the shenanigans today before they game I would say it's on.


Of course it adds to the intrigue that Penn State head coach James Franklin was the "head coach in waiting" at Maryland back when he was on then head coach Ralph Freigen's staff.

The pre-game hand shake refusal by the Terps was something Franklin had not seen on a football field.

"I guess we all have a choice and option to do whatever they want to do." Franklin said.  "They decided to start the game that way. That’s their prerogative. I’ve never been apart of that. In 20 years, I’ve never seen that before."

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall did apologize for his team's pre game actions.

"First of all, let me just start off by saying that I want to apologize to the Penn State fans, to their team and their university for what took place at the beginning of the game." Edsall said.  "That is not who we are. Our emotions got the best of us and we've got to be above that. I know Kevin Anderson, our athletic director, talked to their athletic director and president as well. Like I said, I want to apologize for that and I feel bad about that.

Never seen this. RT @MattGlenesk: Seriously, Maryland? No handshake? Welcome to B1G, clowns. http://t.co/JNcjeIg3CD pic.twitter.com/9YR8NWTccG
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) November 1, 2014

Wow… nice hand shake by Maryland. Said nobody. http://t.co/tBryAKgDX7
— Matt Yocum (@MattYocum) November 1, 2014

Dear Maryland football team. You are classless. I hope you lose every game for that no handshake crap. #maryland #PennState
— Cary Whitt (@CaryWhitt) November 1, 2014

Maryland kids refusing handshake, Penn State fans booing hurt MD kid. Big 10 should have stayed 10 teams. #Purdue
— Chris ODonnell (@chrisod) November 1, 2014

Things You Can't Unsee: Maryland Coach Randy Edsall Doing the Dougie

((ht: lostlettermen.com))

Oh boy.

You know you want to see it.

The power and force of the Internet compels you.

We all know coaches shouldn't dance.

Okay, some aren't horrible at it. And heck, really Maryland head football coach Randy Edsall isn't embarrassingly bad. According to our friends at LostLettermen.com, Edsall broke out the dance during a fundraising event.

His timing may be a bit off since the Dougie hasn't been too popular in a couple of years.

But...

Did we mention he's a college football coach?

Your evidence:

Randy Edsall Relives Bizarre S. Florida Recruiting Trip

((HT: CSNWashington))

The HQ really can't do this justice... at all...

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall and an assistant went into the muck trying to get some recruiting done in the Pahokee-Belle Glade area of South Florida and...

Well, we really should just let him tell you in this interview with Chick Hernandez...


See what recruiting has become these days...???

It ain't all sunshine and rainbows now, is it...???

Dumb Ass Rumor of the day: Maryland to Big Ten? (UPDATED: Well, maybe, not so dumbass...)

Huh? Really? Are they delusional? Maryland?

Seriously?

Nah.

A Maryland rivals website (Maryland247) is claiming that there is truth to rumors that the University of Maryland will move to the Big 10.

The obvious question is why?

And it's not that we don't believe that Maryland might consider it, though they'd be certifiably insane to do so.

The question is: Why would the Big 10 go after the Terps?

Sports-wise alone, you are talking about one of the ACC's lightweights. A team that has collapsed to epically bad levels under coach Randy Edsall. And it's not like they were Clemson or Florida State previous to that.

Yes,Maryland is decent in basketball, but really, would the end here justify the means?

The Big 10 already has plenty of teams. Twelve to be exact. Why go to 13 and be unbalanced? Yeah, sure, Maryland would fit on a level with the Minnesota's, Illinois and Purdue's of the world, but it's not like you are bringing in a school that screams "Contract Negotiation" with ESPN or anything.

It kind of both pisses us off and makes us laugh that this is even brought up. And yes, we know sites like the 24-7 sites exist to put rumors and crap out there. And before someone from a 24-7 site says "What the hell do you know?" we aren't saying you don't serve a purpose, you do. We believe you when you say someone told you this. We just question whether that person realized it was probably a joke?

PM UPDATE: David Jones, columnist for the Harrisburg Patriot-News (via his Twitter), had an interesting take on the Maryland egress...

Not scoffing at BWI report of Maryland to B1G. It's credible. If it happens, that would indicate someone must be #14. Rutgers makes sense

Which means that the egress from the Big East is still ongoing and people think the long-term viability of the conference in football is still in question...

According to an article by O'Neil, McMurphy, and Katz over at ESPN, Maryland president Wallace Loh is fronting the talks with the B1G and AD Kevin Anderson has told staffers that there are talks going on...

The larger issue for a Maryland exit is the exit fee with the ACC- now $50-million- considering all their financial problems at present. The ACC would then, in turn, probably pursue UConn to fill the space left by Maryland's transfer.

That would keep ACC at 14 football members- Commissioner John Swofford's desired number...

Maryland has new Uni's: Will anybody notice?

Courtesy: Maryland Athletics

So, we are happy that the University of Maryland has a wonderful apparel deal with Under Armour.

That agreement seems to allow them 1-2 new uniform combinations every season.

Unfortunately, it also seems to allow them roughly the same amount of wins per season.

In today's New Marketing revenue news, Maryland debuted the new "Black Ops" uniforms they'll be wearing vs. Florida State Saturday.

The Maryland folk--well, okay, the athletic department at least, wants to get all their fans to wear black and have a "Blackout" game.

Which would be a great idea--if they could fill more than half their stadium.

Hey, after the sportswriters that cover the team had to listen to a 6-plus minute Randy Edsall plea for attendance, the least the school could do was give them a reason to come.

We wish the Terrapins luck in this endeavor, the whole flavored uniform thing might work once, but never works twice. Just ask the folks in Georgia who tried that one.

Here's some video of the result:

TWTW: Saturday's Close Calls- Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa

((HT: ACC Digital Network))

FOSG Scott Singer almost had one yesterday as William and Mary was close to sending Randy Edsall's new toy into a continued tailspin...

Maryland escaped 7-6...
Here's the lowlights...


Northern Iowa went to Madison and picked up a $450,000 check- and almost got out with a win... 26-21 was the final as Wisconsin survived...
((HT: KCRG-TV Cedar Rapids))
Chris Earl has the highlights of the last close call (naturally, in the Big 10/12) as Northern Illinois lost 18-17... Damon Bullock scored with 2:15 to go for the win... ((HT: KCRG-TV again))

Maryland relents on transfer restrictions

((ht: baltimoresun.com))

This is somewhat bizarre.

The University of Maryland and head coach Randy Edsall have apparently decided that they will allow transfers Danny O'Brien, Max Garcia and Mario Rowson that the can transfer to Vanderbilt if they want to after first denying that option.

If it sounds weird, that is because it is.

The trio announced and we reported February 13th. (you can read the story HERE)  that the three wanted to leave the Terrapin program. When that happened they were told they could transfer anywhere in the SEC they wanted to...except Vanderbilt.
There was also a no transfer to upcoming ACC opponent clause put in there too.

Read more from the Baltimore Sun RIGHT HERE

But wait. It gets better.

Maryland is filing a complaint...stating that Vandy and head coach James Franklin, a former offensive coordinator for the Terps, tampered.

They believe Franklin made contact with the players, O'Brien specifically, were contacted by Franklin before being granted his transfer.

So...to summarize...we've got the makings of a Soap Opera here. Or at the very least a "He said, he said" argument.

Is it possible Franklin contacted O'Brien, sure. And yes, Franklin is a relatively new head coach, but surely he knows better than to do that. Could O'Brien be interested in Vandy because his former coach is there...absolutely.

In the meantime, the SEC will investigate this. We'll keep an eye out and let you know if and when something else happens.

Because its fitting (and we love us some Cee-Lo):

Let the Maryland transfer tally begin

((ht: collegefootballtalk.com))

Randy Edsall

Yeah, before you say it, we know. Maryland plays football in the ACC which is essentially like talking about Conference USA football.

But this is somewhat significant.

The tally for defections out of fairly new Maryland coach Randy Edsall's program now stands at 24 since the beginning of last year. 12 of whom bailed after this past season.

The latest casualties...former starting QB Danny O'Brien, Tackle Max Garcia and LB Mario Rowson. And while O'Brien didn't end the year as the starting QB in 2011, he began it there.

Read more about what is going on from CFT.com RIGHT HERE

The rumors of unhappiness have been flowing non-stop from the Maryland campus and it is starting to all point in the same direction. The Terp alumni have made no secret of their desire to achieve football prominence, something under former coach Ralph Friedgen they were close to achieving.

But the defections don't look good.

According to CFT, O'Brien may end up with his former coordinator, James Franklin, who is now in charge at Vandy...and he'll have 2-years of eligibility left that he can use beginning tomorrow.

The others, we don't know.

Keep your eye out on Maryland, its our position that if the Terps don't have a banner year in 2012, they'll be one of the earlier riders to take a seat on next years Coaching Carousel.