Defense is still an issue
For those who don’t know, the head defensive coach (the defensive coordinator or DC for short) left the Maryland football program a few weeks ago. Chris Cosh, a bit of a vagabond, is now the associate head coach – defense at Kansas State University.
Some say he left the big city for the little apple. The joke there is that Kansas State is in Manhattan. Manhattan, Kansas that is.
Chris had his detractors even as he was hired some 2+ years ago. You see, he left the Terps high and dry a few years back. He skipped town on Ron Vanderlinden, the predecessor to current coach Ralph Freidgen.
He has been under a lot of pressure as a Terp because his defensive scheme was to read and react. Terp fans wanted a more attacking style of defense. Chris wanted to make the other team run a lot of plays to score. Stay back and wait for a mistake. It was not a popular philosophy in Terpland.
Chris has been known as a fantastic recruiter of football talent. That singular quality was enought to overlook the shortcomings as a coach. For a while. Once an offer came from an old friend, Bill Snyder of K State, Chris was gone.
For the past few weeks, Al Seamonson, current inside linebackers coach, has been the DC. He promised an attacking style that leveraged the speed and talent of the Terps linebackers. On Tuesday afternoon the Terps blitzed the Nevada Wolfpack time and again. It was the most pressure on the quaterback Terp fans could remember in a number of years.
In the end, the Terrapins defensive backfield, cornerbacks and safties alike, had trouble covering the Nevada receivers. Maryland gave up 35 points. It was not a ringing endorsement of Seamonson to keep the job as Defensive Coordinator.