Ralph Friedgen and Ken Niumatalolo --- the coaches at the two major-college football programs in Maryland --- said earlier this week Maryland and Navy should play more often.
Maryland interim AD Randy Eaton and Navy AD Chet Gladchuk happen to agree.
Now it's a matter of seeing if it can happen.
Gladchuk reached out to Eaton to gauge Maryland's interest in a more frequent renewal of the once-heated in-state showdown.
"I said 'Hey, Randy, let's do it at least every other year or so?'" Gladchuk said. "I don't know if he can make that decision or not, but I'd be willing to do it every other year at a minimum and see if we can get a little bit more regularity to the rivalry."
Maryland and Navy, who open the season against each other Sept. 6 in Baltimore, have played once since a 1965 meeting. The Terrapins escaped with a 23-20 victory in 2005 in the much-anticipated Crab Bowl at M&T Bank Stadium.
It took a while to hammer out another meeting, and a possible postseason collision in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl didn't unfold because Maryland was selected for the more prestigious Champs Sports Bowl. But the two schools reached an agreement in the fall of 2007 to lock up the 2010 season opener.
Eaton said Maryland's schedule is booked through 2013, but acknowledged he was open to more frequent (if not necessarily annual) meetings with the Midshipmen.
"It's not a bad idea. Don't know if it's a great idea," Eaton said of an every-year engagement "I don't know if it has the sizzle of a West Virginia-Maryland or a Navy-Army because of the way the factions are, but I think it's a great in-state. Do I think it needs to be every year necessarily? People might wear on it and it might get old."
Gladchuk negotiated both the 2005 and 2010 games with former Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow, and he was pleased with the reception the latter meeting generated in the state. He said he sees similar excitement building for this year's game.
While he acknowledged he is "open-minded" about the series, he wasn't willing to commit to a regular season-opener against the Terps ever season.
However, it's clear he would like to have an even shorter wait than five years for the next Maryland-Navy game.
"I'd have to think about every year, but at a minimum if we could bring more regularity to it, there'd be that sizzle to it, that snap," Gladchuk said. "It's a big-time event. It goes up to Ravens Stadium. We'll have a great crowd. It's national TV. It's big-time football."
the "sizzle" of WVU-Maryland?!?! Different planet, I guess...
Posted by: Matt | 08/06/2010 at 01:44 PM