Football Program

Franklin wide receiver Ian Thomas had a few reservations about his intention to sign with Rutgers after the Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano announced his departure late last week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a lot of thought, however, Thomas decided Rutgers was still the place for him. “I can't stand here and tell anyone that I will be playing in the NFL,” Thomas said during his Wednesday morning signing ceremony, “but I can guarantee I will have a degree from Rutgers in the next four years.” In the Franklin gym before a crowd of family, teammates and friends, Thomas signed his national letter of intent to accept a full football scholarship from the New Jersey university on the opening day of the football signing period.

Bill O'Brien looks right out of Football Coach Central Casting: thick neck, hulking shoulders, receding hairline and a mug that looks like it caught a few forearms back when he played linebacker and defensive end at Brown. The new face of Penn State's storied football program was in town Tuesday, on the second leg of a nine-day, 18-stop bus tour to glad-hand alumni and assure everyone that autumn Saturdays in Happy Valley will still be special, despite the tragic events of last fall.

Villanova's football program was living on borrowed time. Telltale signs were the red ink that flowed over financial statements, the apathy that infiltrated the student body.Reports of the program's demise may have been premature at the start of the 1980s, but by the spring of 1981 they proved numbingly accurate.It was in April of that year when the university's board of trustees unceremoniously turned thumbs down on football. The decision was made in the early afternoon on a Tuesday. It wasn't until 8 that night that coach Dick Bedesem found out. And as legend has it, he was in the home of a recruit at the time.

Although I graduated from another university, I have followed the University of Maryland's sports teams for 40 years. Having been born and raised in the Baltimore area, I suppose it emanates from a "Maryland pride" mind-set. What does Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson know about Maryland pride? The way the Ralph Friedgen situation was handled gave me an indication of how little Mr. Anderson knows about decision-making situations. Just what did Mr. Friedgen, a school alumnus, do to deserve the thoroughly unprofessional, unethical treatment when he was abruptly dumped?

As part of its continued campaign to increase the size of its student body, specifically by adding more male students, Stevenson University said Friday that it will field a varsity football team next fall and begin to play games in the fall of 2010. Stevenson, which changed its name from Villa Julie College in 2008, was founded in 1947 as an all-women's school and didn't admit its first male student until 1972. In recent years, it has attempted to attract more male students in various ways and found success by adding sports such as lacrosse to its stable of Division III athletic programs.

One in a series of occasional articles High schools were closed for a second day after the historic Dec. 19 snowstorm, and Ed Hottle couldn't help but mourn the lost hours he could have spent wooing football players. "You always feel like you're behind," he said, picking at a plate of fries. It hardly mattered that Hottle was talking about a Division III football program that didn't exist this time last year and won't play its first intercollegiate game until 2011.

The Harford-Baltimore County Youth Football League is celebrating its 20th anniversary this season, and there's no question that the times are changing in local youth football. This league covers all of Harford County along with parts of Baltimore County, plus other areas nearby where teams can easily travel to play. It now covers 28 areas and 319 teams along with more than 8,000 players in nine different age groups, and it has become one of the biggest recreation football leagues in Maryland.

Negotiations continued into this weekend to settle a dispute that includes allegations of financial irregularities and other issues that have two parent groups fighting over the youth football program that competes as the Columbia Bulldogs. "When this sorts out, there'll be two organizations - that's become definite," said Mike Milani, who as the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks' community sports supervisor has been mediating the dispute. "It means, though, there'll be more opportunities for kids to play football," said Milani.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- He had been gone more than two years, a wisp of a man who spent 11 seasons here and, like many of the legendary coaches preceding him, became larger than life at Notre Dame. But when Lou Holtz returned to the campus one day last spring, it was as if he had never left.Holtz had come to give a motivational speech for 200 people at the business school. It turned into an impromptu pep rally for more than 500, including a horde of students that was barely out of grade school when Holtz led the Fighting Irish to their last national championship in 1988.

Two members of the Class 3A state champion Patterson boys basketball team -- forward Nyme Manns and center Leonard Livingston -- signed letters of intent Friday. Manns, who averaged 7.8 points and 8.2 rebounds on the hardwood and also was a standout wide receiver for the Patterson football team, will play football at West Virginia Wesleyan. "The Clipper football program is extremely [excited] that Nyme Manns will continue his scholastic and athletic career at West Virginia Wesleyan to play wide receiver for their football program," Patterson football coach Corey Johnson said in a news release.

Two members of the Class 3A state champion Patterson boys basketball team -- forward Nyme Manns and center Leonard Livingston -- signed letters of intent Friday. Manns, who averaged 7.8 points and 8.2 rebounds on the hardwood and also was a standout wide receiver for the Patterson football team, will play football at West Virginia Wesleyan. "The Clipper football program is extremely [excited] that Nyme Manns will continue his scholastic and athletic career at West Virginia Wesleyan to play wide receiver for their football program," Patterson football coach Corey Johnson said in a news release.

If I'm Randy Edsall right now, I'm thinking of that old Al Davis motto: just win, baby. Oh, and graduate players, too. I say that after a chat Wednesday with Wallace D. Loh, the president of the University of Maryland, who stopped by The Baltimore Sun to talk to our editorial board and also provide an impromptu assessment of the state of Terps ' athletics. The highlights: •Loh gave the dreaded vote of confidence to athletic director Kevin Anderson. ("He came into a very, very difficult situation.

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Football Columbia Ravens Football, Inc. is seeking qualified, committed individuals to coach in its youth tackle football program, for players ages 5-14, for the spring 2012 indoor and fall 2012 outdoor seasons. Interested parties should contact the director of football at columbiaravens@gmail.com . For more information, go to http://www.columbiaravens.com.

Franklin wide receiver Ian Thomas had a few reservations about his intention to sign with Rutgers after the Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano announced his departure late last week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a lot of thought, however, Thomas decided Rutgers was still the place for him. “I can't stand here and tell anyone that I will be playing in the NFL,” Thomas said during his Wednesday morning signing ceremony, “but I can guarantee I will have a degree from Rutgers in the next four years.” In the Franklin gym before a crowd of family, teammates and friends, Thomas signed his national letter of intent to accept a full football scholarship from the New Jersey university on the opening day of the football signing period.

The courtship between the Big East and the Navy football program was made public last fall, but league and academy officials said Tuesday that the mutual wooing went on for the better part of a decade. Neither Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk nor Big East commissioner John Marinatto could pinpoint the day it began, but the courtship officially has become a marriage that will be consummated when the Midshipmen begin league play for football only in 2015. "We feel really strongly that it's clear to us the future of college football is in a conference," Gladchuk said during a joint teleconference.

Maryland announced the hiring Thursday of former New Mexico coach Mike Locksley as offensive coordinator, then switched its focus to the defense where the evaluation of coach Randy Edsall's staff may well lead to the team hiring a new defensive coordinator, according to multiple sources. Under Todd Bradford, Maryland ranked last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in defense, surrendering an average of 34.2 points and 457.2 yards per game. Bradford, in his first season with the Terps, was a replacement for Don Brown, who had served as defensive coordinator under former coach Ralph Friedgen.

The college football season has not even kicked off, and already it is overwhelmed by scandal. Fifteen members of the University of Miami team, which will play the University of Maryland on Labor Day in a nationally televised season opener, are being investigated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The probe comes on the heels of a report from Yahoo! Sports that over the last eight years, Nevin Shapiro, a former Miami businessman who is serving a 20-year stint in federal prison for fraud, lavished more than 70 University of Miami players with gifts ranging from booking hotel rooms serviced by prostitutes, to jewelry, to free use of a party boat — breaking multiple NCAA bylaws.

Towson State appears to be on the verge of suspending its football program after 22 seasons. The athletic department could face a deficit of more than $250,000 at the end of this school year, and the quickest way to get back in the black would be to suspend football, which had a scholarship budget of $330,000 this year.If it is suspended, the football program could return in a year or two at a lower level of competition, where players would get fewer scholarships, or perhaps no scholarships at all.About 500 people attended an open forum yesterday on campus, and most urged that the program be saved.

Three more players have decided to leave the Maryland football program, the school announced Tuesday. Defensive back Titus Till, a starter at safety, and reserve running backs Rahsaan Moore and Jeremiah Wilson -- all redshirt freshman -- have been granted releases and intend to transfer. "We appreciate the effort of all three of these young men and wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors,” head coach Randy Edsall said. Till was seventh on the team in tackles, with 47, and started six of the final nine games after Matt Robinson was injured.

Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson plans to meet with football coach Randy Edsall Saturday night as part of a "top to bottom" review of a football program that ended the season with a 2-10 record that Anderson called "unacceptable. " Edsall's job is safe. "There's no question in my mind I got the right guy here," Anderson said Friday in an interview. But neither Anderson nor others connected to the program would rule out the possibility of changes to Edsall's nine-member staff following a season in which Maryland lost its last eight games.