It appears that the Ralph Friegen era may finally be over at The University of Maryland, according to a report from Jeff Errman of InsideMDSports.
The report states that Friegen has verbally agreed to accept a buyout on his contract, marking this his final season as Maryland head football coach:
Friedgen, 63, first learned of athletic director Kevin Anderson's intentions to buy him out early this week. Sources close to the situation say Anderson gave Friedgen a choice: he could coach the final year of his contract with no extension, or accept the buyout.
The sudden nature of this decision has to be a shock to the program. Friegen had a successful season in 2010, finishing 8-4 and won ACC Coach of the Year. It seemed as though he would be granted to play out the final year of his contract, but AD Kevin Anderson clearly had other ideas.
According to the report, Friegen took the news hard and is now considering whether or not to return to Maryland with an administrative job, or look for other coaching opportunities.
As for the Maryland football team, Mike Leach, the former coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, appears to be the leading candidate to take the job.