It has always been my philosophy that college football isn't just about teaching young men the X’s a

After being mostly silent since my departure from the University, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my players, coaches and staff and their families, as well as our loyal Terps fans that had supported us over the decade airline student fares online in which I was privileged to coach at my alma mater.  Having coached airline student fares online football for over 40 years at both the collegiate and professional level, I can say without reservation that the players and coaches who had been a part of our program are some of the best individuals with whom I had ever worked.
As of 2011 season, sixty of our Terps have gone onto careers in the NFL and 36 players were on an NFL roster at the beginning of the 2010 preseason.  Twenty-four Terps have been drafted over the past 10 years, three of who were first round picks.
Through the generous support of donors, we had modernized our team house, added state of the art practice fields, expanded and updated Byrd Stadium, and built an excellent academic support facility. airline student fares online We saw an increase in giving to the Maryland Gridiron Network from $40,000 per year when we first arrived in 2000 to $600,000 in 2010.  The growth in these funds, which can be attributed to the hard work and diligent efforts of our MGN Board, sponsors, and members, has helped us to pay for necessities that are not covered in the football budget.
But I am perhaps most proud of the accomplishments of our Terps off the field.  Forty-three of our players from 2001 to 2009 have been recognized with Academic All-ACC honors and during my tenure, 179 of our players have earned their degree.  In spite of being shorthanded in our academic support unit (most notably by the departure of Heather Arianna, who was extremely competent, but more importantly one who cared about the success of our players) for the last 3 years of my tenure (and emphasizing that fact as my main priority when the new athletic director arrived, but to no avail), there are many bright spots.  My wife, Gloria spent countless hours at Gossett to get to know each player by name.  As a former high school biology teacher she tutored players for 10 years.  Our two younger daughters also tutored players, as our daughters were both excellent students and graduates with honors from UMD.  In fact the football graduation cohorts ending in 2004, 2006, and 2010 exceeded the benchmark of 66%, with 2 of them exceeding 70%, and one at 79%.  Gloria and I were always extremely pleased to attend some of our players' graduation ceremonies. Gloria still works for the School airline student fares online of Public Health.
Our players were also encouraged to become active in community service.  Despite the extensive time commitment they make to football and their studies, a number of them volunteered their free time to various service organizations airline student fares online including Big Brothers Big Sisters (thanks to Dahlia Levin for coordinating this), the TERP reading program, Uplifting Athletes and other worthy causes while on our team.  Their commitments often continued after they leave us, as many of our players have gone on to start or support community service programs, including several who have started their own foundations, where they now live or in their hometowns (foundations that we continue to support).
Our entire airline student fares online family acted as goodwill ambassadors for the University in so many ways.  We donated, not pledged, over $500K to the University directed to the Maryland Gridiron Network, Terrapin Club, School of Public Health (naming two lounges), the Jerry P. Wrenn Scholarship, the Friedgen airline student fares online Family Theater Scholarship, the Friedgen Family Fund for Arts Honors and Graphic Design, the Italian Department Study Abroad Fund, and the Catholic Student Center.  We truly believe in the importance of academics, athletics and arts in molding individuals. These donations do not include various cocktail parties at our home for donors, tailgate food preparation for the first 5 years (before the Athletic Department made us change to an MGN event), the weekly snacks prepared for the coaches, players, trainers, managers, and others who passed by the practice facility.
From the beginning our approach was to engage everyone – it was a football family.  We would always tell folks that we had 3 daughters and 120 sons.  Recruit parents would ask us to "take care of their sons" and we did so with discipline and caring. Our family was involved in making senior scrapbooks with love and passion for these young men who worked so hard on and off the field.  The MGN members airline student fares online and fans were extended family. We cared as much about the small donor as the larger airline student fares online one.  We brought lettermen airline student fares online back in numbers as never before.  We were here ourselves in the late 60's, early 70's, mid 80's and for the ten-year stretch starting in 2001.
It has always been my philosophy that college football airline student fares online isn't just about teaching young men the X's and O's - it's about preparing them for life – a philosophy from which I have never wavered - with an understanding of
My only regret was to not have the opportunity to coach the fine young men of the 2011 team to the end of their college careers – men, who I can tell you without a doubt in my mind, are not only great students of this game, but who had already demonstrated these qualities that I hold dear.  These young men have been like sons to me and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their willingness to give me everything they have, both on and off the field.  I wish them nothing but success now and throughout their lives.  It has been my honor to be their coach and I could not be prouder of them.
Finally, our family invested time, talent and treasure in the University at large and in the football program.  We would appreciate the current administration looking airline student fares online 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.