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Rumor! - washingtonismoney - 02-13-2012

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/2/13/2795274/danny-obrien-transferring-maryland-football-max-garcia-mario-rowson

Do we have any ACC followers here? Think...not.

Anyway, one Randy Edsall of Connecticut was hired by Maryland in 2011 and proceeded to operate in accelerated Idiotfacian fashion, alienating just about everyone and driving out a substantial number of good players from a team that went 9-4 in 2010. One of those players, it's been announced today, is quarterback Danny O'Brien, who had a promising freshman season (2400 yards, 22 TDs 8 INTs, 7.23 YPA, 134.5 QB RTG, ACC Rookie of the Year)  derailed by what would appear to be incompetent coaching. So Monsieur O'Brien wants to transfer to one of four destinations, it seems: Vanderbilt (Edsall won't let him go there), Michigan State, Wisconsin and Stanford.

Re: Rumor! - terry - 02-13-2012

O'Brien redshirted in 2009, then played in 2010 and 2011. So he has two years of eligibility remaining. The Baltimore Sun reported that O'Brien is on track to graduate this spring and wants to enroll in a graduate program, which would make him eligible to play this year rather than sitting out a year due to his transfer.

According to a recruiting story from 2008, O'Brien had a high school GPA of 4.5 on a 4.0 scale. So perhaps he would have a reasonable chance to be admitted at Stanford. He was a 3-star recruit ranked as the # 58 QB in the recruiting class of 2009 (Scout).

Washingtonismoney gave O'Brien's 2010 stats. O'Brien's 2011 season wasn't as good. He completed 150 of 266, 56.4%, 1648 yards, 7 TDs, 10 interceptions, 6.2 yards/attempt, QB rating 109.6.

Stanford doesn't need another QB if he's just another guy who will compete for the job. We have six scholarship QBs -- Nottingham, Nunes, Picazo, Crower, Hogan, and Lloyd  (assuming Picazo is still on scholarship). All of them except Picazo were significantly more highly regarded than O'Brien coming out of high school, although none of them has proved anything at the college level yet. Unless the coaches think O'Brien is quite clearly head and shoulders above those guys, I don't see why we would want him.

Re: Rumor! - OutsiderFan - 02-13-2012

When he sees the Stanford QB depth chart he may re-consider the Farm. 

As for Edsall, he worked wonders at UConn.  His style probably didn't mesh with a lot of players he didn't recruit.  The reality is he got 5 star WR Stefon Diggs, to stay home, so even coming off a lousy year (2-10), and eight Ls in a row.  So he's being given the benefit of the doubt.

Re: Rumor! - Kathy - 02-13-2012

(02-13-2012, 01:14 PM)washingtonismoney link Wrote:So Monsieur O'Brien wants to transfer to one of four destinations, it seems: Vanderbilt (Edsall won't let him go there), Michigan State, Wisconsin and Stanford.
How can Edsall stop him from going to Vanderbilt, or anywhere if he graduates and enrolls somewhere as a grad student?


Re: Rumor! - fullmetal - 02-13-2012

NCAA won't let him play for Vandy unless his previous coach releases his eligibility--something akin to that St. Joe's player who wasn't allowed to play for UAB as detailed in SI.com recently.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/seth_davis/01/09/Todd.O.Brien/index.html

Re: Rumor! - yvonne - 02-13-2012

must be the O'Brien rule.

Re: Rumor! - Kathy - 02-13-2012

So graduating and then going to another school for graduate school is the same as transferring in the eyes of the NCAA?


Re: Rumor! - Rule of Tree - 02-13-2012

I grew up a Maryland fan and, living in the DC area, still follow the Terps somewhat closely.

Vandy head coach James Franklin was the offensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting at Maryland before Kevin Anderson replaced Debbie Yow as AD. Franklin, who was one of the main reasons that O'Brien committed to Maryland, bolted for the HC position in Nashville after the season and Anderson dumped Ralph Friedgen in favor of Randy Edsall. Edsall may have blocked the transfer to Vandy because he thought Franklin influenced his decision to leave.

Edsall's first season was a disaster of Idiotface proportions. Terps fans can thank DC native Mike Locksley, who was recently hired as Edsall's offensive coordinator after two dismal years as the HC at New Mexico, for landing the 5-star Diggs. I was shocked he chose Maryland. 

As for O'Brien, he had an excellent freshman year throwing to current Baltimore Ravens burner Torrey Smith. I'm not sure where he'd fit in on the Stanford QB depth chart. It would be something if Wisconsin landed another former ACC star.

Re: Rumor! - washingtonismoney - 02-13-2012

re: transfer rules. Not quite true. A transfer who's graduated who goes to a school that offers a graduate program that his original school doesn't is exempted from the rule that you have to sit out a year. Thus O'Brien will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Anyway, I thought this was just intriguing enough to post--it all depends on which O'Brien is the "real O'Brien." If you think the real O'Brien is the freshman year one plus the normal progression that college players make, then it's very possible if not probable that he'd be the best QB on the roster. That view has some support owing to the incompetence characterizing the first year of the Edsall administration. If you think the real O'Brien is worse than that then the move probably isn't worth it.

Re: Rumor! - Roberton3 - 02-13-2012

(02-13-2012, 01:48 PM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:As for Edsall, he worked wonders at UConn.  His style probably didn't mesh with a lot of players he didn't recruit.  The reality is he got 5 star WR Stefon Diggs, to stay home, so even coming off a lousy year (2-10), and eight Ls in a row.  So he's being given the benefit of the doubt.

I agree.  It's far too early to label Edsall as a failure.  His style clashed drastically with the team's existing players: he runs a really tight ship, and Friedgen (the previous head coach) was just the opposite, so it was a really rough transition this year.  Combine that with his record at UConn, and I'm inclined to cut him a lot of slack for the first couple of years.

That said, I wish they'd hired someone else.  Promoting Franklin would have been a great choice.  Hiring Mike Leach would have been riskier, but still likely a great move.  I would have taken either of them well ahead of Edsall.  But I'm not close to ready to give up on Edsall yet.

Re: Rumor! - fullmetal - 02-13-2012

Instead, Mike Leach will wreck shop in the Pac-12...should be interesting.  Don't count out WSU.

Re: Rumor! - doublespiral - 02-15-2012

(02-13-2012, 09:17 PM)fullmetal link Wrote:Instead, Mike Leach will wreck shop in the Pac-12...should be interesting.

He may wreck ship here, too: http://www.lostlettermen.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-mike-leach-leach%E2%80%99s-pirate-obsession/

Arrgh, Matey!

Interesting indeed.