Does Maryland go after a young gun or a big-name coach to their next head coach? – Sean Cole
This is a question that is going to be hard to answer because it is a very high-profile job. Maryland is going to be a job that a lot of big names are at least going to inquire about. The Terrapins play in one of the premier conferences in the country and being in the DMV area they should have access to some of the best talent in the country. Even with all of that Maryland has a chance to be selective and while the administration has some names on their list the list is likely not going to come together until after the NCAA tournament.
Some names that have been floating out there are Juan Dixon who is the coach of Coppin State, Bruce Pearl from Auburn, Mark Schmidt from Saint Bonaventure, and Mike Brey from Notre Dame. The list is just preliminary obviously and in my opinion, outside of Pearl none of these guys move the needle much for Maryland. Dixon is a guy who is going to be a last resort as he has not won much in the MEAC but he did play at Maryland and did win a National Title playing for Gary Williams. I don’t think Dixon even gets a call.
Schmidt has done a tremendous job at Saint Bonaventure but something tells me that if he were offered the job at Maryland he wouldn’t take it. He is in no hurry to leave the Bonnies and even if he did it remains to be seen if he could win enough in the Big Ten. Brey is a name that I have seen thrown around by a lot of the college basketball media elite and the name makes no sense. Brey 10 years ago yes, but now? He doesn’t have much anymore and his teams have not been great recently and would not move the needle at all in College Park.
Pearl is the name to watch here as he would leave Auburn for the right job and Maryland may be the right job. He would have a ton of access to the nation’s elite talent, he did play for coach Williams at Boston College and is familiar with the Maryland program. He is also currently the coach responsible for getting Auburn put on probation with the NCAA.
Pearl is the whole package. He wins a ton of games and you have to take the good with the bad. He will likely be the first call for the Maryland athletic director and if he does take the job the Terrapins will be great quickly.