Nov. 28, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen, who guided the Terps to their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 1985, today was named the ACC's Coach of the Year.

Friedgen was a unanimous choice on the 69 ballots cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association. He is the first Terp coach since Bobby Ross in 1982 to earn the award.

"This is a tremendous honor, and an honor for our entire program - the administration, the coaches, the players," said Friedgen. "To me, it's indicative of a team effort and not one individual. It's special because Maryland is my school."

Friedgen and the Terps have posted the school's best record since 1976, posting a 10-1 regular season record and earning a berth in the Bowl Championship Series. The Terps' current ranking (No. 7) is the highest by a Maryland team since 1985.

Maryland, which captured the ACC title outright with a 7-1 conference record, is the first school other than Florida State to win the ACC championship outright since the Seminoles joined the league in 1992.

Friedgen, 54, is a 1969 graduate of the University of Maryland. He is in his first season as a head coach after 32 seasons as an assistant at either the college or professional levels.

Four Terp coaches - Jim Tatum (1953, 1955), Jerry Claiborne (1973, 1975, 1976), Bobby Ross (1982) and Friedgen (2001) - have combined to win seven ACC Coach of the Year honors.