The strange quotes from College Park keep coming. Now that he's already benched projected all-ACC quarterback Danny O'Brien this season, Maryland football coach Randy Edsall took some blame for how it went down. Well, sorta.
This head-scratching quote is buried in a long Edsall answer about how O'Brien needs to start having fun again, but it's still noteworthy. Via Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times (emphasis mine).
"Again, I think sometimes that expectations on young people can make it tough as well. Maybe I didn't do a good enough job of minimizing expectations for him. So again, I think those are things we all can learn from. The only thing that you can do is go out and do your best. Some days, you're going to be good. Some days, you're not going to be good.
Dave Tucker of Testudo Times is pretty mad, and I don't blame him.
Didn't do a good enough job of minimizing expectations for him? Really? If that's the case, maybe you shouldn't have taken O'Brien across the state to these Terrapin Club open houses and discussed how great he was. Maybe you shouldn't have let Kevin Anderson get in front of the crowd and tell people that he thought O'Brien would win a Heisman before he graduated! If you're arguing that you should have lowered expectations for him, that seems as if you never believed in the kid in the first place.
After the freshman season O'Brien had, there was no reason to minimize expectations for him. Suggesting that would have made a difference reveals one of two things. Either Edsall and the Terps dramatically overrated O'Brien, or this is a passive-aggressive line from Edsall suggesting O'Brien has let him down.
Or, it could just be one stupid line that means nothing. Somehow, though, I doubt it.