Maryland’s president seems to want to hire Chip Kelly

Maryland president Wallace Loh gave an interview to the editorial board of the Baltimore Sun describing the football head coaching job, and he gave some not-so-subtle hints about who he wants. In a question about salary, Loh name-dropped Chip Kelly unprovoked, and insinuated that Kelly might be looking for a job this offseason.

Harbaugh and Urban make seven million dollars a year. And Chip Kelly, who is not doing all that well with the Philadelphia Eagles, made far, far less than that at Oregon.

Loh is selling the job as tailor-made for Kelly, it seems.

I mean, this is not going into a school with an established reputation like Michigan and Ohio State, but the potential for growth, the potential to be another Oregon.

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We can have a decrepit Byrd Stadium, but you only use Byrd Stadium five times a year or so. Those kids use the indoor facility every day. What draws kids in is the indoor facility, not Byrd Stadium. With the Big Ten Network and its exposure, and of course the connection with Under Armour, I would say this is one of the most attractive jobs in the country, for somebody who’s ambitious and willing to take risks.

And even though Maryland is expected by many experts to have the best basketball team in the country, Loh wants you to know that the Big Ten don’t give a damn about basketball, so don’t worry about Maryland being a basketball school.

My sense is when people see we’re in the Big Ten, we’re in the big league now -- it’s about football. The Big Ten is not about basketball, it’s about football.

The only problem with Kelly? He was known for hating having to deal with boosters, and he didn’t like recruiting. That’s pretty much the exact opposite of what Loh wants.

The personality to project themself well, vis a vis the boosters, vis a vis the media. You have to have an outsized personality here. It’s not just knowing the X’s and O’s. That’s why you have the Jim Harbaughs, the Urban Meyers.