Maryland is looking to take huge steps in the Big 10, and it appears that it will happen without head coach Randy Edsall.
Jeff Ermann is reporting that Edsall will be fired after Saturdays game against Ohio State.
http://t.co/CL4vgvPjoq exclusive: #Terps to fire football coach Randy Edsall: http://t.co/wIEjPOGG0a pic.twitter.com/Ao6T4GodDW
— Jeff Ermann (@Jeff_Ermann) October 8, 2015
With the team off to a miserable start, fans revolting and boosters withholding donations, Maryland athletics officials are expected to move forward with their plan to fire Edsall, 57, in the fifth year of his original six-year, $10 million contract, and name interim head coach — perhaps offensive coordinator Mike Locksley — before eventually hiring a replacement to revive the struggling program.
Edsall’s contract was extended for three years in June — a move aimed at stabilizing his public standing, especially with high school recruits — but just $500,000 of the $7.5 million was guaranteed money; by firing Edsall before his original deal ends Jan. 15, 2017, the school will have to pay him for the remainder of this season and an additional $2.6 million: $2.1 million for next year’s salary and that half-million buyout.
The athletic department will absorb that financial blow, multiple reliable sources told IMS, to cut its losses on the field, in the ticket office and in its fundraising efforts. Already on shaky ground entering this season, Edsall also has fallen under a hailstorm of criticism from fans and media during a 2-3 start during which his team’s three losses have come by an average score of 40 to 11. Most damning, though, multiple sources said players have begun tuning him out.
After going 74-70 at UConn & leading them to BCS bowl, Randy Edsall is just 22-33 – and 10-23 in-conference games at Maryland.