A Message From Athletic Director Kevin Anderson

Dear Terrapin Supporter,

Over the last several days and weeks, Ralph Friedgen and I have had a series of discussions about the future of Maryland's football program. Unfortunately, during this time and especially since my comments last Friday afternoon, various rumors and speculation were published and reported by the media. The University of Maryland nor I found it appropriate to publicly respond to rumor and speculation, especially as we were talking with Coach Friedgen and his representatives throughout the weekend and into this morning about our internal deliberations.

Today, Maryland Athletics has made a strategic business decision to buy-out the final year of Coach Friedgen's contract, effective January 2, 2011. The buy-out will cover all of the approximately $2 million in guaranteed compensation benefits owed to Friedgen through January 2, 2012. Coach Friedgen will remain under contract through the Military Bowl and he will coach his team in that game.

I thank and commend Coach Ralph Friedgen, a Maryland football alumnus who cares deeply about his alma mater and its student-athletes. He took a struggling football program and turned it into a good one, and has raised the bar for our expectations. He ends his tenure at Maryland as he began it...as ACC Coach of the Year and having returned our team to a bowl game.

The monies necessary to fulfill Ralph and the current coaching staff's contracts will be paid entirely by the Department of Athletics. We are a self-support unit of the University, and as with all of our operational and salary expenses, we will cover the necessary costs through revenue generation, private fund-raising and strategic business decisions---state taxpayer dollars will not be used in this buy-out.

Even in difficult economic times the State, University and Athletic Department are currently facing, I no longer believed allowing a head coach to enter the final year of his contract was the best financial decision for Maryland Athletics or moving our football program from good to great. In the speculation and reporting surrounding the buy-out decision, some have referred back to my comments last month indicating that Coach Friedgen would finish out his contract next year. Even then, Coach Friedgen expressed concerns to me that entering the final year of his contract for the 2011 season as a "lame duck coach" would not serve the program well.

Last week, our former Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach James Franklin accepted the head football coaching position at Vanderbilt University. We wish James well in that new challenge, but that decision changed our coaching and recruiting infrastructure. With no offensive coordinator and chief recruiter, with the likelihood that several more assistant coaches would be leaving our staff, and with Coach Friedgen's contract coming to an end, it became clear that we needed to make a well-thought-out business decision about the long-term direction and success of the football program. Having a head coach entering the final year of his contract would have made it impossible to recruit high level assistant coaches and student-athletes to our program in the short term.

The decision I reached this weekend is about our vision forward as well as solidifying our football coaching staff and our recruiting efforts for the long-term.

Some of the decisions that lay ahead for our Athletic Department will not be easy. Today's decision is such an example, but as Athletic Director, I had to make a decision for what is in the best interest of the University of Maryland's long-term success, not just for next year or even the year after. We owe that to our students, student-athletes, parents, alumni and our loyal fan base.

To this end, we will immediately begin a national search to recruit a new head coach--one who has the experience and successful track record to deliver a top-25 program that is consistently competitive at the highest levels, on the playing field and in the classroom; who will make the commitment to the program's long-term success, and who will once again energize our fan base.

The search for our next football coach is beginning immediately, and I expect to have a search committee confirmed and a search consultant hired by the end of the day. The search is an open one and national in scope. Despite reports to the contrary, no candidate has been contacted by me or any member of my staff.

I believe that this change is in the best interest of the University of Maryland's football program and the student-athletes who come out here and work hard every day in practice, play hard in every contest, and then return to the classroom and study hard in order to graduate.

I thank you for your continued support of Maryland Athletics.

Sincerely,

Kevin B. Anderson
Director of Athletics