The Terps continued pre-season practices Tuesday evening, a day after coach Ralph Friedgen named senior Jordan Steffy as the starting quarterback for the team’s season opener against Delaware on August 30. Selecting Steffy, who struggled in games last season, over junior incumbent Chris Turner was a big surprise, even a dissapointment for some.
And the way Friedgen and new offensive coordinator James Franklin were reacting to questions about the decision after practice makes one think they fully realize Steffy was a controversial pick.
Before Friedgen even started his chat with members of the media inside his office he made it clear he wasn’t really that interested in all things Steffy, Turner and junior Josh Portis, who was also in the mix for the starting gig.
“I’m not saying anything more on the quarterback situation,” Friedgen said. “That’s over with. I’m not talking about the quarterback situation anymore.”
It was an understandable reaction. All he and Franklin did Monday was talk about it, but a quarterback controversy is big news so even Friedgen did some reflecting on the process later on, calling it the toughest football decision he’s ever made.
Turner was a no-show for the media for the second straight day. Asked if Turner was considering transferring out of the program after his demotion, Franklin gave the following tight-lipped response.
“What I can tell you is, I’m really excited about the University of Maryland’s football program, the direction we’re headed, our offense and that’s what we’re focused on.”
As for Steffy, he seemed confident in his ability and ready to move on from the big decision.
“I think we’ve really sort of, all of us as a group, moved forward from that,” Steffy said. “Coach Franklin said in a meeting, this is the decision and we’re going to go with it, and everybody sort of bought into it. The most important thing is that everyday we get better.”
So in summary, Friedgen didn’t want to talk about it, Franklin talked about it but avoided the question of Turner transferring and Steffy said the quarterback group is ready to move on. Obviously this dilemma isn’t going away. It’s time to hear what Turner has to say.
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