Nov. 28, 2001

College Park, Md. - The following are comments which Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen made to the press today in order to update them on the status of the team.

(On the state of the Maryland football team)
"We are real excited with how the season turned out and with our opportunity to play in the BCS. Our kids are lifting and running, trying to keep in shape. We will do that the remainder of this week and next week. We will start practice next Saturday afternoon. Our kids have exams starting on the 14th, we will practice intermittently throughout the exams when we have a chance. Practices won't be long--only an hour and fifteen minutes or an hour and a half. When exams end, we will have two-a-day practices where we work the travelling team for an hour and a quarter in the morning and then an hour and a quarter in the afternoon. Then we will try to work the younger kids for an hour. Depending on what bowl we go to, we will have one or two practices the next Saturday, then let the kids go home for Christmas."

"Our kids are very excited, especially with the awards some of them have won. I am very pleased for them, especially with the All-ACC selections because we do not even get to nominate any of our players. We vote on the other teams and they vote on us. To have seven players picked for the first team is quite an honor and a sign of respect from our conference opponents."

(On winning Coach of the Year)
"I am very pleased with that, but I don't look at it as an individual accomplishment. The award is a great tribute to our whole organization from our administration to our coaches to our players, our whole staff whether it be academic support or the strength program. It takes all of that to be successful. I am just the focal point, I am only as good as the people I work with. I am very proud of those people and of the accomplishment because I think it represents everybody."

(On plans for recruitment)
"I am looking forward to going recruiting. I feel like I need one of those ear-pieces so I can just sit in my office and let the phone ring. That is about what happens. I have my cell phone and my regular phone ringing like crazy. I can't get much work done in my office-- I haven't even finished opening yesterday's mail. Sunday, I am speaking at a banquet in Florida at a high school where we are recruiting. We will be going to some homes and visiting prospects. Then we fly to Atlanta on Monday, I visit a home on Tuesday, and we fly back to Orlando on Wednesday where I stay until I come home on the weekend. It is starting to get nuts, but it beats the alternative."

"We have nine kids [visiting] Maryland this weekend."

(On the difference in recruiting this season)
"Hearing the word 'big-time.' I said that I do not want to hear that word without Maryland being referred to. We are big-time, we are in the BCS, we are in the top 10. I don't think that can be used against us anymore. We showed that we could get the job done this year and that should be proof enough. Last year there were times when kids really liked our school and liked our coaches and felt very comfortable here, but couldn't bring themselves to pull the trigger because of our past history. I'm hoping that we will get those kids this year."

(On quarterback Shaun Hill's selection to the All-ACC second team over Georgia Tech QB George Godsey)
"Shaun Hill and Godsey are character kids. They are gutsy kids who play with their hearts. George was in the same offense for longer than Shaun was, so there were some things in which he was more proficient. I think Shaun might be ahead of where George was at the same time though. I would love to have Shaun for a couple more years. I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to coach both of them."

(On Maryland's no.11 BCS ranking)
"I keep to a saying my father taught me a long time ago: 'Don't worry about things you can't control.' There are enough things you can worry about that you have control over. I don't have any control over our ranking. I started trying to lobby for us moving up, but I was told that a computer determines where you are. So I figured it would be tough to lobby that computer and I gave up."

(On Terrapin fan support)
"We need to get the support of the Maryland people wherever we go. It could be [the Orange Bowl in] Miami, it could be [the Sugar Bowl in] New Orleans. Every bowl is looking to see how we will travel. It is probably best to go through the Terrapin Club in order to get the best seats. I have a feeling that we will travel well, but our fans need to know that it is extremely important that we attend this bowl game because it is a BCS bowl and if we do not travel to this, it will hurt us in the future."