Fans split: Who should stay? Who should go?

COLLEGE PARK he Maryland football team took the field Saturday afternoon under threatening skies, which seemed appropriate for a team and a fan base still waiting for something to chase away the dark cloud hanging over the university and its athletic department.

The long-awaited independent report on the football program’s allegedly “toxic” culture that was leaked to the media Thursday stopped short of using that term, but acknowledged serious dysfunction throughout the athletic department.

What the eight-person commission did not do was settle the question of who should be held responsible for that, perhaps reflecting the same variety of opinion on the subject displayed by fans who saw the Terps defeat Illinois on Saturday at Maryland Stadium to keep their bowl hopes alive.

If there is unanimity among the fans on anything, it would appear to be the desire for the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents to do the rest of its due diligence and do it quickly. The program has been shrouded in uncertainty for five months since the tragic death of Jordan McNair from heatstroke and there are just a few weeks remaining in the football season.

“I think getting on with it would be nice,” said Wayne Wiley of Denton. “I feel like they’re handling it. They’re taking it seriously. At this point, there are changes that have to be made. I don’t see how they can go back to where they were.” See SCHMUCK, page 9

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