July 24, 2012|By Don Markus | The Baltimore Sun
I am very proud of what we had achieved together over our 10 years term. These football accomplishments include:
- A 75-50 on field record
- An ACC Conference Championship
- 7 bowl appearances with 5 wins
Our teams have also included individuals that have received the following accolades: - A Chuck Bednarik and Butkus trophy winner (EJ Henderson, 2002)
- The only two-time consensus All-American Terp in school history (EJ Henderson, 2001 & 2002)
- 4 First team All-American honors (EJ Henderson, 2001 & 2002; Vernon Davis, 2005; D’Qwell Jackson, 2005)
- 34 First team All-ACC honors
- Jim Tatum Award (Nick Novak, 2004; Josh Wilson, 2006)
- Brian Piccolo Award winner (Matt Crawford, 2001)
- ACC Defensive Player of the Year (EJ Henderson, 2001 & 2002; D’Qwell Jackson, 2005)
- ACC Offensive Player of the Year (Bruce Perry, 2001)
- ACC Rookie of the Year (Danny O’Brien, 2010)
- ACC Coach of the Year (2001 & 2010)
- National Coach of the Year by 12 Organizations (2001)
- ACC Player of the Year (EJ Henderson, 2001)
As of 2011 season, sixty of our Terps have gone onto careers in the NFL and 36 players were on an NFL roster at the beginning of the 2010 preseason. Twenty-four Terps have been drafted over the past 10 years, three of who were first round picks. Through the generous support of donors, we had modernized our team house, added state of the art practice fields, expanded and updated Byrd Stadium, and built an excellent academic support facility. We saw an increase in giving to the Maryland Gridiron Network from $40,000 per year when we first arrived in 2000 to $600,000 in 2010. The growth in these funds, which can be attributed to the hard work and diligent efforts of our MGN Board, sponsors, and members, has helped us to pay for necessities that are not covered in the football budget.
But I am perhaps most proud of the accomplishments of our Terps off the field. Forty-three of our players from 2001 to 2009 have been recognized with Academic All-ACC honors and during my tenure, 179 of our players have earned their degree. In spite of being shorthanded in our academic support unit (most notably by the departure of Heather Arianna, who was extremely competent, but more importantly one who cared about the success of our players) for the last 3 years of my tenure (and emphasizing that fact as my main priority when the new athletic director arrived, but to no avail), there are many bright spots. My wife, Gloria spent countless hours at Gossett to get to know each player by name. As a former high school biology teacher she tutored players for 10 years. Our two younger daughters also tutored players, as our daughters were both excellent students and graduates with honors from UMD. In fact the football graduation cohorts ending in 2004, 2006, and 2010 exceeded the benchmark of 66%, with 2 of them exceeding 70%, and one at 79%. Gloria and I were always extremely pleased to attend some of our players' graduation ceremonies. Gloria still works for the School of Public Health.
Our players were also encouraged to become active in community service. Despite the extensive time commitment they make to football and their studies, a number of them volunteered their free time to various service organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters (thanks to Dahlia Levin for coordinating this), the TERP reading program, Uplifting Athletes and other worthy causes while on our team. Their commitments often continued after they leave us, as many of our players have gone on to start or support community service programs, including several who have started their own foundations, where they now live or in their hometowns (foundations that we continue to support).
Our entire family acted as goodwill ambassadors for the University in so many ways. We donated, not pledged, over $500K to the University directed to the Maryland Gridiron Network, Terrapin Club, School of Public Health (naming two lounges), the Jerry P. Wrenn Scholarship, the Friedgen Family Theater Scholarship, the Friedgen Family Fund for Arts Honors and Graphic Design, the Italian Department Study Abroad Fund, and the Catholic Student Center. We truly believe in the importance of academics, athletics and arts in molding individuals. These donations do not include various cocktail parties at our home for donors, tailgate food preparation for the first 5 years (before the Athletic Department made us change to an MGN event), the weekly snacks prepared for the coaches, players, trainers, managers, and others who passed by the practice facility.
