Ranking the 10 college football head coaching vacancies

Oct 31, 2015; Iowa City, IA, USA; Maryland Terrapins quarterback Perry Hills (11) throws a pass against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the second half at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa won 31-15. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

After nearly 60 years as a member of the ACC, Maryland made what many believed to be a peculiar move to the Big Ten prior to the 2014 season. The Terrapins went 7-6 overall in their first season in the new conference, but following a 2-4 start to the 2015 season, decided to part with fifth-year head coach Randy Edsall (though reports of Edsall’s impending firing actually surfaced days before he led the Terps in a 49-28 loss to Ohio State in the sixth game of the season).

Edsall was 22-34 at Maryland and is 96-104 as a head coach overall including a nine-year stint at UConn.

The state of Maryland itself is small, and far from a recruiting hotbed, though there is talent in Baltimore and nearby Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, plus the school has had modest success in the past recruiting in southern states like Georgia and Florida. The current roster is young (only 14 seniors), but the schedule is brutal with defending national champion Ohio State, quickly rebuilding Michigan and Penn State all rivals in the Big Ten East.

Thanks in large part to its relationship with Under Armour, which has helped the program make a splash for its flashy uniforms and has also helped the school improve its athletic facilities, but also because the Big Ten has more to offer financially than the ACC did, Maryland has money to spend on a new head coach.

Edsall was paid more than $2.1 million last season, which isn’t chump change but did rank No. 11 in the 14-team Big Ten. Expect that number to go up significantly, and if it does, the Terps will attract high quality candidates.

Next: Minnesota