Though you would certainly hope a 22-year-old senior were prepared for this kind of pressure, I still fault the fans as much as the quarterback. Steffy hasn't changed that much over the past couple of years. He's incredibly poised in practice, exceptionally confident in interviews - and inexplicably lacking in game situations.
Friedgen knows this, and, just as importantly, fans know this, too, which is why booing your own fragile quarterback is senselessly counterproductive.
I asked Friedgen whether he's concerned about Steffy's confidence. The coach didn't specifically answer the question, yet he sufficiently addressed it.
"There are a lot of things that bother me right now with this whole thing," he said. "I've got a kid who has done everything that I could possibly ask him to do. Would I like him to make some better decisions or throw some better passes? Sure. But this kid to me is the epitome of what we want in this football program. With what he is dealing with and the scrutiny of every pass being judged, some of those people booing him would love to have their children be like Jordan Steffy.
"And I personally don't think it is justified. ... I get a little discouraged because he is the type of kid that he is and he wants to please, he wants to do as well as he can. Instead of having a positive effect, it probably makes his job even tougher. And yet he hasn't hung his head. He was trying to [practice Monday] and Coach [James] Franklin told him not to. I want that guy in the foxhole with me. That is the type of kid he is."
And yet, looking ahead to the second week of the season, Friedgen can't commit to wanting a healthy Steffy in the huddle, which tells us more about the head coach than it does the quarterback.
For the past two seasons, Friedgen has been eager for Steffy to take over. The emergence of Chris Turner and the arrival of Josh Portis should have only encouraged Steffy. But it simply has not translated to Saturdays, confirmed again by the second half against Delaware.
"People don't believe me. I have a lot invested in this, also," Friedgen said, "and I would not put a guy out there who I didn't think was the best guy. In practice, he is. ... It is a learning process. The game has to slow down for you. It has not always for Jordan right now."
It's too early in the season for the tea leaves to be this muddled. But if you listen to the football coach and not the salesman, the message seems to be clearing up: Steffy should be lauded for all he represents and all he has brought to the program, but even Friedgen doesn't seem completely sold on him as the Terps' week-in, week-out starting quarterback.
