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Mike Leach Is New Maryland Football Coach, According To Report

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Maryland has a new head football coach, according to Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com:

Mike Leach is going to be the next head coach at Maryland, a key Big 12 source told Orangebloods.com.

When Maryland coach-in-waiting James Franklin took the Vanderbilt job last week, it apparently spelled the end for current Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen in the mind of new Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson, my source said.

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But when Maryland AD Kevin Anderson was asked about Friedgen's future last week, he told reporters, "Next week, everyone will understand where we're going."

The news of Leach's hire, along with Friedgen's buyout of his contract, is a stunning turn of events for the Maryland football program. When Friedgen led his Terps to an 8-4 record (a 6 game improvement over the previous year), it was believed he would be able to play out the last year of his contract, which ended in 2011.

But new athletic director Kevin Anderson apparently had other plans.

Leach's teams went 84-43 over ten seasons, with his 84 wins being the most by a coach in school history. The Red Raiders were a team that were consistently ranked over the last several seasons and were always in the mix for a Big 12 championship. He will bring his experience to a Maryland club that went 8-4 this season, led by freshman quarterback Danny O'Brien.