Posts Tagged ‘maryland football’

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May 8th, 2009 | 05:24 pm

From Boise to Mobile

An interesting bit of information just crossed my e-mail inbox that Terp football fans hope they don’t have to worry a whole lot about in 2009.

The ACC has released its official bowl tie-ins for this year, and the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. has replaced the Humanitarian Bowl as the conference’s 9th bowl option. It was previously announced that the Humanitarian Bowl would go with a Mountain West Conference vs. WAC match-up after seven years as an ACC affiliate. The Terps beat Nevada in Boise, Idaho, on December 30, 2008, in the conference’s final appearance on Bronco Stadium’s blue turf.

But conference officials have replaced it with the GMAC, which has been around since 1999 and currently pits a Conference USA team against a MAC foe. After an ACC-record 10 teams qualified for bowls in 2009, it’s a good bet that an ACC team will appear in this bowl, which Tulsa has won the last two seasons.

For more optimistic fans, here is the complete 2009 ACC Bowl lineup:
FedEx Orange Bowl – January 5, 8 p.m
Chick-fil-A Bowl – December 31, 7:30 pm
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl – January 1, 1 pm
Champs Sports Bowl – December 29, 8 pm
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl – December 27, 8:15 pm
Meineke Car Care Bowl – December 26, 4:30 pm
Emerald Bowl – December 26, 8 pm
EagleBank Bowl – December 29, 4:30 pm
GMAC Bowl – January 6, 7 pm

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May 6th, 2009 | 09:24 pm

Muhtadi Makes Moves

Dean Muhtadi’s Sunday night consisted of working on several projects and papers as he flew back to BWI from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

But don’t let the end of the former Terp defensive lineman’s weekend fool you.

Muhtadi, who is swamped with work here at the end of the semester as he works toward his MBA at the Smith School of Business, actually had one of the best weekends of his life.

The former D-III Christopher Newport transfer, along with former Terp tackle Dane Randolph, earned a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers at the conclusion of a three-day tryout.

“We both tried to be pretty professional about it, but I could barely hold it in,” Muhtadi said of the moment he and Randolph were privately told their fate by a Packers official. “It pretty much took all I had not to go nuts right then and there.”

For Muhtadi, who was not on scholarship before this season and didn’t crack the Terp starting lineup until midseason, it was the latest, greatest hurdle cleared in a career that has continued to exceed expectations.

He said he came into the tryout cautiously optimistic after running through the Packers’ positional needs in his head. The team, which drafted nose tackle B.J. Raji in the first round of April’s draft, ultimately signed four undrafted free agents from a participant pool of more than 20 players.

“I feel like I had an edge this weekend because I’ve been in this situation so many times,” said Muhtadi, who called it “a great weekend for Terp football.” “But I gotta say, it’s definitely more gratifying to go this route.”

Muhtadi, who was dealing with a hamstring injury during March’s Terp Pro Timing Day, said the team likes his ability to play multiple defensive line positions, but when he and Randolph were summoned from the dining room of the Packer training facility, they still thought it was “to sign some sort of release form.”

He’ll head back to Green Bay on May 17 after finals are over for what he called “rookie acclimation week” before “organized team activities,” a sort of NFL spring ball, start the next week.

Muhtadi’s still got his business career as a Plan B, but for now, he’s focusing on trying to stay in the pro game for as long as possible. That road takes him through Green Bay, a place known for its football at Lambeau Field, which the fun-loving lineman called “a shrine” that gives him chills to walk through, with his former teammate Randolph.

“It’s great,” Muhtadi said. “I’ve got my foot in the door right now. I prety much jump started my career with this weekend. We’ll see where it goes.”

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April 28th, 2009 | 10:32 am

The Senior Legacy

As the pro football futures of many former Terps fell into place throughout the weekend, former center Edwin Williams had his phone by his side to make sure his teammates knew he was thinking about them. 

“There’s a lot of texting,” said Williams, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Redskins. “They don’t want me calling them on the phone, just a little shout-out of congratulations or ‘how’s it going?’ That’s how it’s always been. We’re a tight group.”

After five Terps were drafted over the weekend tying a Ralph Friedgen-era high, eight more Terps have worked out arrangements with NFL teams.

From a senior class that featured 33 seniors that led to a Pro Timing Day with 24 participants, this year’s Terps will be well-represented when NFL training camps roll around this summer.

“Having five players drafted into the National Football League is a big stamp for our senior class,” new Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker Moise Fokou said Sunday night. “Plus with some other guys hopefully catching on places in the next few days, some way somehow, we’ll make our mark on the League.”

These former Terps join 25 others already on NFL rosters. They know the challenges ahead if they hope to make an opening week roster.

While last year’s seniors fell short of their major objective of winning an ACC Championship, linebacker Dave Philistin said they can still share a new goal of representing this university at the next level.

“It’s good to see that people are getting recognition and getting signed,” said Philistin, who signed with the Seattle Seahawks. “Now it’s what you do from it now. They cut drafted players and they cut free agents. I’m sure everybody who went to a team will do their thing.”

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April 22nd, 2009 | 09:41 am

Kevin Barnes Unleashed

Kevin Barnes probably doesn’t like me very much.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve probably asked him about everything he’s done between getting injured and the present as he’s tried to show NFL teams that he is healthy, short of what he had for breakfast at the NFL Combine.

It started with a short meeting at Terp Pro Day, continued with a wide-ranging 30-minute sitdown two weeks ago, and mercifully for him, concluded with a couple of follow-up phone calls since.

The result was this rather comprehensive piece in today’s paper.

But there were definitely some things from the quick-witted former Terp cornerback (he scored 41 on the Wonderlic test, you know) that fell through the cracks:

On his Wonderlic score, which was the top score reported: “If anybody doesn’t believe my score, I’ll go back and do it again. I was mad actually that I got 41. I thought I had at least 49.”

On Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry, who he realized he was formerly elementary school classmates with while they were training in Arizona: “I vaguely remembered him, but he wasn’t that big back then.”

On the new Terp defense led by coordinator Don Brown: “It sounds exciting. I kinda wish I coulda experienced it a little bit. That’s what NFL teams love to see, so I just tell them to just go out there and play as hard as you can because that’s what they’re looking for.”

On the thin job market for people with sociology degrees (He graduated with one last May): “As hard as the economy is right now, [football] is probably the easiest job I can get, realistically

On his desire to be a first day (top 2 round pick): “I’ll probably be devastated if I’m not, but regardless, as long as I make it, I’m fine.”

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April 16th, 2009 | 03:34 pm

Spring Practice No. 10 – No Rest for the Hungry

This morning the Terp football team had the first of three successive days of workouts.

The rains this week washed out Tuesday’s practice. And coach Ralph Friedgen was forced to slide in a workout tomorrow afternoon before Saturday’s scrimmage to keep the team on schedule for its 15 spring practices, which will culminate in the Red-White game next weekend.

The ninth-year coach lamented the tough scheduling following the practice, saying his hands were tied given the weather and class schedules. With the compressed schedule, the team’s time in the film room will be cut short, according to Friedgen.

“I’m running out of days,” he said.

To make matters worse, Friedgen said he noticed his team tiring at the end of the workout for the first time this spring. He blamed the problem on not making sure the players finished breakfast, which may have contributed to low blood sugar and a lack of focus.

At a press conference to kick off the spring, Friedgen talked about making sure the players got a good breakfast, even with the early morning workouts and suggested he would add extra breakfast lines to streamline the process.

So Friedgen is mindful of the stress weeks like this cause on his players. He noted that it would’ve been easier for scheduling purposes to stick with a similar schedule that involved practicing on Friday, when there are fewer classes to plan around.

But Friedgen, apparently, isn’t that cruel.

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt those three-day weekends,” Friedgen said.

TERP NOTE: Best play of the day came courtesy Da’Rel Scott. The junior running back calmly lobbed a halfback pass to Torrey Smith during the full-team portion of practice that completely fooled the defense. It was reminiscent of his 9-yard touchdown pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey against Wake Forest and provided a reminder that he finished last season with more passing yards than former Terp quarterback Josh Portis.
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March 25th, 2009 | 10:48 am

Flacco whacko for DHB?

In case you didn’t peer around the construction surrounding Byrd Stadium on Monday and catch a glimpse of it, one of the strongest armed quarterbacks in the NFL was whipping passes to one of the fastest wide receivers in college football.

Soon they could be teammates.

According to this report on the Ravens’ team site, second-year quarterback Joe Flacco made the trek down I-95 on Monday to privately work out Darrius Heyward-Bey for team personnel, including director of player personnel Eric DeCosta.

The Ravens, who hold the 26th pick in April’s Draft, may be in the market for a bigger, explosive receiver like the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Heyward-Bey as their top two receivers from last season (Pro Bowl-alternate Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton) are both 5-foot-10.

It remains to be seen if Heyward-Bey, whose 4.3 40-yard dash was the fastest at the NFL Combine, will be around when the Ravens select, but by bringing their stud quarterback of the future down to College Park, it shows a major committment to being as familiar as possible with the local talent.

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March 12th, 2009 | 10:27 am

Philistin’s Shot

If you’ve wondered what Terp linebacker Dave Philistin has been doing since his senior season ended, you aren’t alone.

While many of his Terp teammates have trained together, whether it be in College Park, Arizona (Kevin Barnes and Darrius Heyward-Bay) or Atlanta (Edwin Williams, Jaimie Thomas, Moise Fokou and others), Philistin has been working out at Optimum Performance Training in Sarasota, Fla.

Philistin returned to College Park for yesterday’s Pro Timing Day.

“Everybody’s been asking me where I’ve been,” the New Hampshire native said. “It’s like I dropped off the face of the Earth.”

While many of the Terps’ highest profile players got opportunities to showcase their skills for scouts at senior all-star games or the NFL Combine, Philistin was a notable exception. He was left to bide his time in Sarasota at a facility he described as, “a small functional place; Pretty tight.”

“I just wanted to play anywhere,” said Philistin of not being invited to any postseason games. “I would’ve played special teams strictly. I just wanted to get in there and show them what I can do. That’s the cards I was dealt, and I’m trying to make the best of it now.”

For Philistin, that meant making the most of his one chance to impress scouts. It was his first time going through the workouts for NFL personnel after missing Junior Day workouts last year because of a shoulder injury.

He added that scouts probably were disappointed that he weighed in at 236 pounds, about five pounds lower than his playing weight, but the 6-foot-2 linebacker feels he can overcome his size deficiences, if given the chance.

“I just want to show scouts that I’m here, I trained, I worked hard,” Philistin said.

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February 9th, 2009 | 12:42 pm

The Family Man

As I led off with in today’s Diamondback story, “James Franklin was a wanted man.”

He could’ve picked up and left after his one season in College Park for some good jobs around the country, but towards the top of the list of things that kept Franklin around (in addition to the fact that he was named ‘coach in waiting’ Friday) was the desire to keep his young family in one place.

Franklin has bounced around the country since he landed his first NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision job as tight ends coach at Washington State in 1998. His travels have taken him to full-time gigs in Idaho, Maryland, Wisconsin, Kansas and NFL internships in Miami and Philadelphia before he returned to the Terps in December 2007.

Franklin’s wife, Fumi, who brought young daughters Ava and Addison to Friday’s press conference wearing Terp attire, spoke of this opportunity as “stability” for her family.

Franklin is from the Philadelphia-area, and his aunt used to work in admissions at this university, so he’s very familiar with the area, part of the reason he is such a great recruiter in the region.

Athletic Director Debbie Yow talked about how excited Franklin was to return to the Terps, and all the way back in August, Franklin told me he looked at this job as a long term opportunity. After the press conference concluded, Franklin expanded on his desire to be a Terp for the long haul.

“If you look at my resume, I haven’t had the opportunity to stay places a long time,” Franklin said. “So being able to be here and have deep roots in this community and not have to move my family, and hopefully I can come in and be head coach and what I’d like to do is retire here and be able to retire as one of the winningest coaches in college football and never have to move my family.”

That’s a pretty ambitious list of career goals, but Friday’s announcement was the first step toward achieving it.

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January 8th, 2009 | 06:36 pm

Portis transferring

Terp backup quarterback Josh Portis will not return to Maryland, the 21-year old confirmed when reached by phone this afternoon.

As first reported by ESPN’s Heather Dinich, Portis said he is leaning towards enrolling at Division II California (Pa.).

“It’s about 85 percent right now,” Portis said.

The Woodland Hills, Calif.-product said there is no timetable for finalizing his decision. Portis is currently in Florida with his mother, but he is unsure if he will enroll anywhere for the spring semester. He said California (Pa.) was one of about 15 schools to contact him after he was granted his release from Maryland.

“I just know I’m not going to be in Maryland in the spring,” Portis added.

Terp coach Ralph Friedgen declined comment through a university spokesperson until Portis’ decision is finalized. Portis’ decision comes a day after junior wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey announced he will enter the NFL Draft, meaning the Terps will lose two of their most athletic players heading into next season.

Portis transferred to Maryland after seeing snaps under center as a freshman at Florida in 2005. He sat out the 2006 season following NCAA transfer guidelines and was ineligible last season after he was caught cheating on a pop quiz.

This season the Terps hoped to use him as a change of pace option at quarterback in first-year offensive coordinator James Franklin’s offense. He got regular snaps in several non-league games, notably against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 20 when he scored his first career touchdown. But he attempted just three passes this season and did not play in five of the Terps’ last six contests.

“I did what I could do with the time I was in there,” Portis said this afernoon. “I wasn’t understanding how things went, but they did what they wanted to do with their football program.”

Portis’ major problem with the Terps was learning the playbook and commanding the offense, and he fell out of favor after many of his plays resulted in false starts and pre-snap penalties. Portis, who is the cousin of Redskin running back Clinton Portis, was second on the depth chart after Jordan Steffy was injured in the season-opener against Delaware, but Steffy returned to take the back-up spot late in the season. With starter Chris Turner set to return for his senior season, Portis started to consider other options that could allow him to play right away next season and maintain his eligibility.

“I learned a lot, and I wish them the best next year,” Portis said.

Portis said he will have two years of eligibility remaining if he ultimately signs with California (Pa.) or another Division II school.

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October 16th, 2008 | 08:08 pm

The Million Dollar Question

A lot of people are wondering which Terp team will show up to Byrd Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It could be the team that has won four straight games against ranked opponents. It also might be the team that lost at Middle Tennessee and was embarassed two weeks ago at Virginia.

Coach Ralph Friedgen generally likes to go with the “you play how you practice” addage. If you believe that then you might be in luck. After a lackluster session Monday, Friedgen said the team looked good the last three days and called today’s practice “sharp.”

But it’s also important to remember Friedgen was happy with his team’s practice performance leading up to the blowout loss in Charlottesville, Va.

So what does that all mean for the game against No. 21 Wake Forest?

“It’s anybody’s guess,” Friedgen said. “That’s why we pay our tickets to find out.”

That’s the answer Terp fans were afraid of.

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