Yesterday the news broke that former Miami head coach Randy Shannon would not be accepting Maryland;s offer to become the new defensive coordinator. This was a tough one to take for Terps fans, because Shannon would have been the perfect replacement for Don Brown, and somebody that they could get legitimately excited about.
↵The circumstances surrounding these negotiations are a little bit surprising. The Terps interviewed Shannon, he returned to Florida to consult with his former school, then turned down Maryland's offer when he found out that his $1.5 million buyout from the Hurricanes would be void if he took this new job. There are a few questions that come from this.
↵Why would Kevin Anderson bring Shannon in for an interview (or why would he even come for that matter) if he knew that the buyout from Miami was an issue? This is something that a lot of Terps fans are asking today. But I think the answer is simple; he just didn't know and neither did Shannon. Shannon had to go back to Florida to find out the details of his buyout. It would have been nice to know ahead of time to avoid this whole mess, but that isn't Anderson's fault.
↵Why didn't the Terps just pony up the money to make this job worth his while? Well, they just can't afford to pay a defensive coordinator that much money. Even $1 million is a tremendous amount to pay a defensive coordinator. And even if they decided to offer him $1.5 million (the cost of the buyout) he would basically be doing the job for free. Any salary they could offer him would have to be $1.5 million plus a competitive salary, and I don't think they were willing to go there.
↵Fine, so where do the Terps go from here for a defensive coordinator? Testudo Times throws a couple names out there in Larry Johnson Sr. of Penn State and Iowa's Darrell Wilson; who are both well known recruiters of the area. But no matter who they bring on, it won't have the same sizzle as Randy Shannon would have, but that isn't necessarily their fault.
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