For all of the uncomfortableness and uncertainty that has surrounded Maryland for the better part of the past week, the Terrapins found an unexpected source of optimism on Sunday afternoon.
It had nothing to do with the wording of the official announcement that the program would be firing head coach Randy Edsall or the uncomfortable press conference that took place moments after Maryland's 49-28 defeat to Ohio State on Saturday, but rather a tweet from a high school prospect who still hasn't finished his senior season.
Dwayne Haskins is a 4-star quarterback, ranked by 247Sports as the nation's sixth overall pro-style passer and No. 64 overall prospect in the 2016 class. A native of Potomac, Maryland, Haskins has been committed to the Terrapins since May, choosing Maryland over the likes of Ohio State, Florida and Penn State.
With a coaching change taking place mid-season, one would think that Haskins reconsidering his options at this point would be possible, if not inevitable. But his tweet on Sunday afternoon seemed to indicate otherwise, sending a message that the Terrapins faithful had been hoping to hear.
Haskins is committed to the program, not its now former head coach. And that's a mindset that could bode well for Maryland in its quest to find its next head coach.
While the first half of the 2015 season has been nothing short of disappointing for a 2-4 Terrapins team hoping to build on a 7-6 debut campaign in the Big Ten a year ago, there's still a lot to like about this Maryland program. Most notably, there's no shortage of sources of income to be found in College Park, where the Terrapins signed a 10-year, $33 million deal with Under Armour a year ago and are in the process of constructing a $155 million athletic facility.
And given the timing of Edsall's firing—after an expected loss to the nation's No. 1 team and defending national champion—Maryland doesn't seem to be willing to settle for a second-rate football program.
That could very well show in the Terrapins now ongoing coaching search, which could see the program target a number of high-profile candidates. With so much of the football season left—both in college and the NFL—it may be too early to speculate which names might eventually come up in the conversation, but Maryland will undoubtedly look to make a splash with its next head coaching hire.
After all, that's what the Terrapins tried to do in 2011 when they hired Edsall, who was viewed as one of the rising coaches in the college football ranks after leading Connecticut to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010.
"This was a good football team, and I believe it can be great," Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson said before hiring Edsall, per the Washington Post. "So we're going to bring the best person in here to get to that greatness and to sustain it."
That person didn't turn out to be Edsall, who accumulated a 22-33 record in his four-plus seasons in College Park. But even with a move from the ACC to the more competitive Big Ten having taken place, that doesn't mean that Anderson's vision will have changed, as evidenced by Edsall's in-season firing.
With the Big Ten East possessing Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, Mark Dantonio and James Franklin, it seems clear that Maryland didn't see Edsall as a coach capable of keeping up with the Big Ten's best. Perhaps more importantly, Anderson saw what was becoming of his program, which could very well be headed for a last-place finish in its suddenly loaded division.
That's something that clearly didn't sit well within the Maryland administration nor should it given the fertile recruiting ground in its region. But despite being home to some of the nation's top prospects, the Terrapins never had a recruiting class that ranked higher than 38th nationally under Edsall, with their 2015 class ranking 48th.
As it currently stands, Maryland's 2016 class ranks 40th with its biggest piece—Haskins—still seemingly on board. The Terrapins will hope for a boost from their new head coach as well as an increased ability in the development of their homegrown talents.
With the resources in place, there's no reason Maryland shouldn't be able to make a strong hire. Reaching their ceiling as a Big Ten contender and avoiding their floor as a perennial conference walkover will depend on the Terrapins doing just that.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
Read more Big Ten Football news on BleacherReport.com