Ralph Friedgen

Below is the text of the University of Maryland's news release on Terps football coach Ralph Friedgen's buyout. National search for next Maryland Football Coach to begin immediately; buyout effective following the Military Bowl The final year of Head Football Coach Ralph Friedgen's contract will be bought out by the University of Maryland Department of Athletics, Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson announced Monday afternoon. The buyout is effective January 2nd, 2011, and will cover all of the approximately $2 million in guaranteed compensation and benefits owed to Friedgen through January 2nd, 2012.

Each Sunday, Ralph Friedgen flips through the NFL games on television, looking for kids he coached at the University of Maryland. Watching them play now brings him back, maybe to a practice where he pulled one of them aside for one-on-one teaching or to quiet moment away from the field. He thinks about how they've grown. Friedgen, who was forced into retirement following the 2010 season, will have three former players in New Orleans for Sunday's Super Bowl: Vernon Davis, a veteran tight end and star for the San Francisco 49ers; wide receiver Torrey Smith, who has become one of the most exciting playmakers for the Ravens; and his teammate and Baltimore native LaQuan Williams, an important special teams player before being sidelined with a hamstring injury late in the season.

With trembling hands, he reached for the phone and dialed the number. He was nervous, but his mind was clear. He was done with Maryland football. Finished. Three head coaches in three years had told him 300 different things, and none of them seemed able to give him a straight answer. He was going to put College Park in his rearview mirror and never look back. There were other schools that would take him, maybe even let him play quarterback again. He just needed an opportunity. Ralph Friedgen had only one thing left to do. It was time to break the news to The Bear . For as long as he could remember, people had given his father nicknames like "Big Ralph" and "Ice Box," but "The Bear " seemed most fitting, and with good reason.

After every game, Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith returns to his phone and finds a text message from his former University of Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen . Some texts, like the one Friedgen sent last Saturday following the Ravens' 38-35 victory over the Denver Broncos, are congratulatory. Others offer support or encouragement. Almost all of them include Friedgen telling Smith how much his success means to him. "I try to tell him every time we talk how proud I am of him,” Friedgen said.

Ralph Friedgen has a gripe with Marylandmore than a year in the making. Maryland dismissed Friedgen in December 2010 after his 10th year as the Terps' football coach. Some perceived that Friedgen was not treated well toward the end of his tenure by his alma mater. Since then, Friedgen has avoided saying much of anything critical about Maryland. That is, until Tuesday, when he sent out an email to the media . “We would appreciate the current administration looking forward to the future and dedicating their energies to continue to forge ahead as a world class University and successful football program without demeaning the accomplishments of those who came before,” Friedgen wrote . Current Maryland coach Randy Edsall was critical of Friedgen after at the beginning of Edsall's tenure, calling into question how much Friedgen held his players accountable.

Ralph Friedgen's future as Maryland football coach is being determined in a series of continuing conversations with the Maryland athletic director that are expected to produce a conclusion by early next week on whether Friedgen will even return next season to finish his contract. Athletic director Kevin Anderson's options include Maryland buying out the final year of the coach's contract, but that hasn't been decided yet, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Sun. Friedgen's job uncertainty results from Anderson's desire -- which he has expressed in various settings -- to have the best coach, not only for next season, but for the long term.

After every game, Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith returns to his phone and finds a text message from his former University of Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen . Some texts, like the one Friedgen sent last Saturday following the Ravens' 38-35 victory over the Denver Broncos, are congratulatory. Others offer support or encouragement. Almost all of them include Friedgen telling Smith how much his success means to him. "I try to tell him every time we talk how proud I am of him,” Friedgen said.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and intern Connor Letourneau -- co-sports editor of The Diamondback -- weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. What was up with former Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen writing a long email to reporters defending his legacy ? Jeff Barker: Coaching transitions sure can be delicate, right? They remind me of presidential transitions. Remember when the incomingGeorge W. Bushadministration in 2001 accused the outgoing Clinton administration -- only part jokingly -- of vandalizing computer keyboards by removing “W” keys?

Of Maryland's highest-profile coaches, football's Ralph Friedgen and basketball's Gary Williams, it's "The Fridge" who has less room for error. Those three spectacular campaigns from 2001 through 2003 when Ralph led the Terps out of the wilderness and went 31-8 are beginning to dim in the memory, and among the issues weighing on the faithful is the way Maryland has faded lately. Three of the past four seasons have been marked by more losses than wins both overall and in the ACC and left a bitter aftertaste.

THEY'RE GIVING thanks for more than turkey and trimmings at College Park this week. University of Maryland students, boosters and fans are grateful that athletic director Debbie Yow hired Ralph Friedgen as the Terrapins' head football coach around last Thanksgiving. Mr. Friedgen had been passed over for head coaching jobs several times. Now, many athletic directors must be shaking their heads. He has worked wonders in his first year, raising expectations along with his team's status.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and intern Connor Letourneau -- co-sports editor of The Diamondback -- weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. What was up with former Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen writing a long email to reporters defending his legacy ? Jeff Barker: Coaching transitions sure can be delicate, right? They remind me of presidential transitions. Remember when the incomingGeorge W. Bushadministration in 2001 accused the outgoing Clinton administration -- only part jokingly -- of vandalizing computer keyboards by removing “W” keys?

Ralph Friedgen has a gripe with Marylandmore than a year in the making. Maryland dismissed Friedgen in December 2010 after his 10th year as the Terps' football coach. Some perceived that Friedgen was not treated well toward the end of his tenure by his alma mater. Since then, Friedgen has avoided saying much of anything critical about Maryland. That is, until Tuesday, when he sent out an email to the media . “We would appreciate the current administration looking forward to the future and dedicating their energies to continue to forge ahead as a world class University and successful football program without demeaning the accomplishments of those who came before,” Friedgen wrote . Current Maryland coach Randy Edsall was critical of Friedgen after at the beginning of Edsall's tenure, calling into question how much Friedgen held his players accountable.

An interesting e-mail was sent today to members of the Baltimore-Washington media covering Maryland  athletics. It came from former Terps football coach Ralph Friedgen, who wrote about the accomplishments of his program during his 10-year tenure. But the most interesting part of the e-mail was the last sentence.   “We would appreciate the current administration looking forward to the future and dedicating their energies to continue to forge ahead as a world class University and successful football program without demeaning the accomplishments of those who came before,” Friedgen wrote.

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank says it's time for Maryland supporters to "wrap our arms around" football coach Randy Edsall, who endured a 2-10 season and plenty of fan criticism in his first year in College Park, and to "stop rooting against him. " "Randy Edsall is a good, strong, decent man who is working his tail off on behalf of the University of Maryland," Plank said. "And there are more people that want to spend their days burning things down than building it up. At least just stop rooting against him. You know, give the guy a chance.

Maryland cornerback Cameron Chism started 32 straight games from 2009 until being benched near the end of last season. He is one of just three players in school history -- Curome Cox and Bob Haley are the others -- with two interception returns for touchdowns (Miami and Clemson games of 2011) in the same season. Like the Terps as a whole, Chism, a criminology and criminal science major from Washington D.C., didn't  have the sort of 2011 season he aspired to. But he finished his career having played in 44 games -- 34 under former coach Ralph Friedgen and 10 under Randy Edsall -- and had seven interceptions.

- For new offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, returning to Maryland - where he previously served as an assistant to two Terps ' head coaches - feels like renewal. After a trying stint on and off the field as New Mexico's head coach , Locksley hopes to renew his bonds with the parts of the game - the play calling, the interaction with his quarterbacks - that head coaches typically must delegate to others. He hopes to fall in love with the sport all over again. "For me, it's welcome to be back to having a relationship with the quarterbacks and the offense, implementing, installing, calling plays.

COLLEGE PARK -- When Ralph Friedgen took over Maryland's struggling football program in November 2000, the Terps were coming off back-to-back 5-6 seasons, and the goal was to win six games - a total that Maryland had achieved just once in the decade before his arrival. This year, a sixth win would again be an improvement. "We've been struggling the last two years just to get six wins," senior cornerback Josh Wilson said. "You look on paper, you win six times, it doesn't seem that hard.

With trembling hands, he reached for the phone and dialed the number. He was nervous, but his mind was clear. He was done with Maryland football. Finished. Three head coaches in three years had told him 300 different things, and none of them seemed able to give him a straight answer. He was going to put College Park in his rearview mirror and never look back. There were other schools that would take him, maybe even let him play quarterback again. He just needed an opportunity. Ralph Friedgen had only one thing left to do. It was time to break the news to The Bear . For as long as he could remember, people had given his father nicknames like "Big Ralph" and "Ice Box," but "The Bear " seemed most fitting, and with good reason.

A year ago today, Kevin Anderson announced that he was firing Ralph Friedgen after the longtime Maryland football coach refused to retire. A year ago today, the mess that is now the Maryland football program began to take hold in College Park. While first-year coach Randy Edsall certainly played a major part in the team's embarrassing 2-10 record in 2011, so did Anderson. In fact, Anderson might be even more responsible. Not only did he hire a coach with a mediocre overall record (74-70)