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A surprise announcement, especially considering the timing. Mark Turgeon, now in his 11th year as the head coach at Maryland, has agreed to step down and leave his job immediately. Assistant coach Danny Manning will take over as an interim head coach. Their AD said they will begin a national search for a new head coach.-
https://umterps.com/news/2021/12/3/m...ead-coach.aspx
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...0-plus-seasons
The announcement by the University of Maryland uses nice language like "part ways", "stepping down", "agreed that a coaching change was the best move", "departure will enable a new voice to guide the team moving forward". But they never give any information explaining the sudden and oddly-timed departure. Maryland is 5-3 on the season. Maryland was expected to be very good this season, and were ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 at #21. But they have been a bit disappointing to fans, losing 3 of their last 5 games to George Mason, Louisville, and Virginia Tech. This doesn't seem like a big enough reason to voluntarily agree to step down and forfeit millions.
Turgeon took Maryland to the NCAA tournament five of the last six seasons and the Terrapins tied for Big Ten regular season title two years ago. But the best he has been able to do in the NCAA Tournament is one trip to the Sweet 16, and fans wanted more. Still, the timing and the fact Turgeon agreed to step down, likely loosing millions in contract money is peculiar. There was no mention of a possible buyout. It seems there must be more to this story.
Their next game is their first Big Ten game Sunday at Northwestern.
Danny Manning was previously the head coach at Tulsa from 2012-2014 where he was 67-38, and Wake Forest from 2014-2020 where he was 78-111 in 6 seasons before being fired. He was just hired by Turgeon as an assistant barely 7 months ago (April 26, 2021). They were teammates at Kansas in the mid-1980's where they played for Larry Brown.
Mark Turgeon is just 56 years old. He had just signed a 3-year extension in April that would have kept him at Maryland through 2024, and which would have paid him about $17 million more had he stayed or been outrightly fired.
https://umterps.com/news/2021/12/3/m...ead-coach.aspx
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...0-plus-seasons
The announcement by the University of Maryland uses nice language like "part ways", "stepping down", "agreed that a coaching change was the best move", "departure will enable a new voice to guide the team moving forward". But they never give any information explaining the sudden and oddly-timed departure. Maryland is 5-3 on the season. Maryland was expected to be very good this season, and were ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 at #21. But they have been a bit disappointing to fans, losing 3 of their last 5 games to George Mason, Louisville, and Virginia Tech. This doesn't seem like a big enough reason to voluntarily agree to step down and forfeit millions.
Turgeon took Maryland to the NCAA tournament five of the last six seasons and the Terrapins tied for Big Ten regular season title two years ago. But the best he has been able to do in the NCAA Tournament is one trip to the Sweet 16, and fans wanted more. Still, the timing and the fact Turgeon agreed to step down, likely loosing millions in contract money is peculiar. There was no mention of a possible buyout. It seems there must be more to this story.
Their next game is their first Big Ten game Sunday at Northwestern.
Danny Manning was previously the head coach at Tulsa from 2012-2014 where he was 67-38, and Wake Forest from 2014-2020 where he was 78-111 in 6 seasons before being fired. He was just hired by Turgeon as an assistant barely 7 months ago (April 26, 2021). They were teammates at Kansas in the mid-1980's where they played for Larry Brown.
Mark Turgeon is just 56 years old. He had just signed a 3-year extension in April that would have kept him at Maryland through 2024, and which would have paid him about $17 million more had he stayed or been outrightly fired.