University of Virginia Library

the sports scene

Revolt At
Maryland

by bob cullen

BOB WARD, Maryland's peripatetic football coach, is under
fire again. This time, it isn't the references, the ACC, or the student
newspaper, all of whom Ward has accused of conspiring against
him in the past. This time, it's Ward's own players. 113 of them,
which must be a very high percentage, have signed a petition
calling for the sensitive coach's immediate dismissal from the
muddled football program at Maryland.

Apart from the damage to Ward's tender ego, the petition
places Maryland's new Athletic Director, Jim Kehoe, in an
unenviable position. Kehoe made his mark as the highly
successful coach of the Maryland track team; a great deal of his
success can be attributed to his no-nonsense theory of coaching.
He will be very reluctant to begin his term as top man by
acquiescing to demands from the hirelings that the boss be fired.

BUT THE PRESSURE on Kehoe to divest himself of Ward
will be intense, mainly because Ward is a demonstrably lousy
coach. The real issues in the players protest have been obscured
by Ward's position that the unrest has been caused by his
dormitory and academic policies. Ward has made an effort to
insure that his players think of little but football and grades. He
has cut off phone service from 7 to 10 each evening in the
football dorm. He wants his players in their rooms by midnight,
even during the off-season, and he has an assistant coach living in
the dorm to make sure they are.

Sources close to the players, however, maintain that there are
five real issues. Ward has a habit of physically abusing his players
and coaches. A kick in the ass from Ward is literally that. During
games, it seems that he cannot help but vent his feelings about a
player publicly, and his feelings are almost always derogatory.
The players doubt Ward's football knowledge, and point to his
2-17 record as proof. They say that communication with Ward
has been made impossible by the man's overbearing personality
and the fear tactics he uses to keep the players in line.

LOSERS ALWAYS GRUMBLE, and its probable that if
Maryland had a winning team, Ward's strange ways would be
accepted as the eccentricities of a successful man. But coalitions
and petitions are the style nowadays, and Kehoe is in a spot.
Many of the Terps' first-string ballplayers will simply refuse to
play next year unless Ward is replaced. Obviously, publicity such
as this is not the best thing for a recruiting program. As one
observer, the Maryland Diamondback's Dave Bourdon, noted, "If
they keep Ward, it will be a number of years before Maryland will
ever win a football game again." The Diamondback, which Ward
regards as a tool of the Communist conspiracy to destroy the
fibre of American youth, will jump on the dumpwagon with an
editorial this morning.

The affair may be settled tonight, when Kehoe presides over a
meeting with the players and Ward. It's sure to be a stormy
session. Ward has never been known as a tactful man, nor as one
who is capable of understanding too many people besides himself.
But if he can just remember to refrain from clicking his
ball-bearings in his fingers, its probable that Kehoe will back him
up. In the mind of the Athletic Director, a principle is at stake.
There is one factor, however, that could entice him to let the
students win, just this once.

OTTO GRAHAM, a renowned and respected football man, is
looking for a job. The ex-coach of the Washington Redskins has
expressed a desire to stay in the Washington area, and its a cinch
that Vince Lombardi isn't going to give him very much to do with
the 'Skins. Graham's son, Dewey, is a student at Maryland, having
transferred from Northwestern. Dewey, it is said, is a pretty good
football player. It would be a coup for the Terps if they could
sign a coach of Graham's prestige who could team up with his son
to lead Maryland back to the glory days of the early '50's.

The athletic program at Maryland has been a little weird in
past years. The Terrapins dominate the ACC in the minor sports,
but they are the doormats in football and basketball. Obviously,
the students at Maryland want more than a great wrestling team,
but here's hoping that Jim Kehoe stands up for principle. It's nice
to have a patsy on the schedule.