Coach Ralph Friedgen told reporters this afternoon on a teleconference he is “very thankful for the opportunity” to return and coach the Terrapin Football team for at least one more season.
Friedgen met with Athletics Director Debbie Yow on Sunday and Monday to discuss the state of the program and Yow called Friedgen this morning to tell him he would be retained.
“I hope I wasn’t just judged on this year,” Friedgen said. “But I think it shows the confidence the administration has in me and our program. I’m willing to repay that with everything I have.”
When asked how he made his case to Yow, Friedgen said he focused more on his vision for the future rather than on defending his past.
He said he mentioned the number of true freshman and redshirt freshman who played significant snaps this season and how much he expects the team to improve.
Friedgen’s current contract expires after the 2011 season.
“Next year’s team will have a chance to be good,” Friedgen said. “But I think the following year we have a chance to be really good.”
Friedgen said he has met with Yow after each of his nine seasons as head coach, as it is Yow’s policy to meet with all of her coaches after their seasons end.
But Friedgen said he obviously realized what was at stake this season, and said he had been concerned during the season about possibly losing his job after the season.
“I’ve been in this a long time and it comes with the territory,” Friedgen said. “I know when we’re not winning games we’re not making a lot of people happy. Our fans, our alumni, our administration, but more importantly myself.”
Finally, Friedgen said he has not had a chance to fully evaluate his staff yet and he has not made any decisions yet about a change in personnel.
He said he will meet with his assistant coaches over the next few weeks and continue to evaluate everything in the program.
“[Yow] called me this morning and said to me ’Are you ready to move on?’” Friedgen said. “I said ‘Yes, I am.’ We were both excited and said ‘Let’s get to work.’”
Greg Schimmel is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Football beat writer. He can be reached at schimmeldbk@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Greg_Schimmel.