I think we owe much of FHCRE's departure to Hathaway. Remember how he begged and publicly lobbied for raises for his coaching staff? Edsall was smart enough to know his weaknesses - he knew he needed some high level recruiters, serious snake oil salesmen. Hathaway didn't want to stress the budget, but instead of thinking outside the box (grow profit or tap your donor base) he focused on simple math. Edsall had been reported to interview for several jobs before Maryland, so he likely had one foot out the door either way. Maryland gave him better recruiting territory, a more stable conference and a bank account to bring in the recruiter he needed (Locksley). You can't blame Edsall for making the move. The irony was that 7 games in during the 2010 season, we were 3-4 coming off a shutout loss to UL and 97% of this board wanted him gone.
I still don't think he's a next-level guy, but if he was still here I think we would have bowled 3 of the last 4 seasons. Of course, if he was still here he would annually be rumored for every low-level P5 coaching gig east of the Mississippi.