Terp coach Ralph Friedgen often wears his heart on his sleeve. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
Ralph Friedgen loves his players. I tell that to anyone who asks about the guy. He really does.
He meets with them regularly, on an individual basis, just checking in about how things are going. And he loves to tell the media stories, particularly this year with the team struggling and Friedgen showing unabashed belief in his squad.
“I had a kid come in today and say, ‘How you doing?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m doing about as well as you can when you’re 2-6,’” Friedgen said Thursday. “He was in there trying to give me a pep talk. Interesting scenario.”
Friedgen’s been trying everything lately, as I mentioned in my print edition preview of Saturday’s game at N.C. State.
“I’ll give you an example,” Friedgen said. “We’re in the team period where we move the ball down the field. And normally I stand in the back, you know. Sometimes I got this scowl on my face. And [wide receiver] Adrian Cannon goes, ‘Get in the huddle with us coach. We like it when you’re in the huddle with us.’
“So I get in there, and I get caught up in it. Maybe it’s a sign that I’m with them, I don’t know. But they had a pretty good practice. But I think — I might be wrong — I think the feeling [of love Friedgen has for his players] is mutual. I might be wrong about that, but I don’t detect a lot of animosity.”
It’s with that in mind that Friedgen has sat down and worked with players on the minute facets of the game head coaches so often leave for assistants to correct.
“This group has been — it’s been a real strange year,” Friedgen said. “I had a guy in today, I was talking to him about what I saw he needed to improve. I’m trying to get us a little better. Whatever it is. Whether I’m meeting with young offensive linemen, or whatever.
“I was meeting with this kid — I’m not going to tell you who he is. He’s a defensive player, and I watch him rush the passer in individual drills and we have trouble blocking him. Then he gets in the game, and I don’t see quite the same thing. So I showed him film. ‘Here you are in practice, and here you are in the game.’ He said, ‘Well, they don’t cut [block] in the game.’ I said, ‘You’re worried about being cut? You need to force them to cut you. You’ve got a heck of a mismatch.’
“I’m just trying to get us one or two percent better. We’ve just got to kind of push through.”
Friedgen still believes. And he believes his players believe.
“We try to find a way to push through,” the ninth-year coach said. “Whether it’s reducing fumbles or reducing penalties or sacks or making plays. I’m even rewarding guys for making plays. Anything I can do. I lay awake at night just thinking of things, how can I motivate these guys to make that play to win the game for us?
“It just seems to elude us. Whether it’s a dropped pass or we drop an interception or we don’t get a call. It’s just magnified because it’s just not flowing right for us right now. We get into the red zone and we have three dead plays. If we score two times in the red zone the last two games, we win two games. The margin of error is so small right now. I just believe with all my heart that if you just stay the course and keep working, it’ll turn. That’s just what I believe.”
ajoseph@umdbk.com