I’ve been hearing rumors all week that Maryland football is getting a new field that’s just as unexpected as last year’s uniforms.
Possibly black (or pewter?), maybe with that terrapin shell design added in.
It looks like sort of a cool concept, but as BeyondU Sports pointed out, it’s going to be anything but cool, temperature-wise, for at least the first month of the season.
I feel like this is yet another case of Maryland’s athletics administrators not knowing what the hell they’re doing. It’s different and flashy but it’s a gimmick and it’s not going to distract anyone from the fact that Randy Edsall sucked in his first year and probably never should’ve been hired at Maryland in the first place.
Changing the color of the turf doesn’t change the complexion of the program (unless it turns into a Mojave-style death trap and heat stroke wipes out the entire roster). If the Terps don’t start winning, nontraditional turf is not going to win over any recruits.
Boise State gets a lot of attention for pioneering the trend toward colored turf with its blue field - but contrary to what the Broncos’ conference opponents have argued, Boise State has not turned into a perennial top 15 program because the field is blue. They’re good because they’re able to recruit solid players and they have one of the best coaches in college football in Chris Petersen.
Putting in a black field is not going to turn Randy Edsall into Chris Petersen.
Then again, Eastern Washington installed red turf in 2010 and won 11 straight games en route to winning the FCS National Championship.
If jazzing up the turf is all it takes, I’d head down to College Park and help them install it, but since the EWU Eagles were back to 6-5 again last year, I’m really thinking that’s not going to solve Maryland’s problems.
It’ll just give the college football world something else to mock focus on until they get things figured out.
Terps fans: What do you think? Another genius, news-generating move, or another football fashion faux pas?
