Maryland is expected to formally announce that current Connecticut coach Randy Edsall will be hired to be the program's next football coach on Monday, according to multiple reports. Edsall still must go through the interview process on Sunday night, but all signs are pointing to him replacing Ralph Friedgen.
Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post is reporting that barring "any unforseen developments," the job in Edsall's.
Updates: Randy Edsall interviewing today. Barring any unforseen developments, he will be named Maryland's new football coach tomorrow.
Edsall will therefore beat out Mike Leach, the former Texas Tech coach that emerged as the favorite as soon as Friedgen was fired. Leach visited campus on Thursday and went through the interview process, and his connection to Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank caused many to vault him up the list. However, according to Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun, Maryland hasn't been in touch with Leach since the visit on Thursday.
Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has not been contacted by Maryland in the past three-and-a-half days. Meanwhile, Edsall is there now.
So why didn't the Terps just give Leach the job? According to Prisbell, the search committee members were worried about the way Leach went out at Texas Tech and didn't want to rock the boat.
Source, on Leach: Maryland "got cold feet...They wanted to make the conservative, safe, non-confrontational hire. That's the bottom line."
If so, that's surprising, considering Friedgen's success. Friedgen delivered a strong record to College Park, but there was a distinct lack of buzz by the end of his tenure. Hiring Leach may have solved that. Hiring Edsall, at first glance, does not seem to do so, even if Edsall may be a talented coach.