I get the desire to stay close to home, play in front of family and friends, etc., as that is something that we always sell to the local South Florida recruits, and is something that people on this board expect to be a big factor when it's something that we're trying to use in our favor. However, despite the fact that we've been mediocre for 10+ years, we've still produced NFL talent that today's recruits know and still have a name brand in football, so when a kid decides to leave South Florida and go somewhere else, he is leaving that behind.
Maryland, on the other hand, cannot sell that in football. They don't have the history of success and certainly don't have the history of producing NFL running backs. Could McFarland establish his own legacy at Maryland? Sure, but what does that even mean? The bar for being the best RB to come out of Maryland is ridiculously low. Instead, he could join a legacy of running backs that is hard to match, play for an RB coach and head coach that he has a great relationship, and establish his legacy as a member of an elite group of players that football fans, both in college and the NFL, truly appreciate. Do you want to be mentioned in the same breath as Edge, Portis, McGahee, Gore, Lamar Miller and Duke Johnson, or with Bruce Perry, Da'Rel Scott and ...? And yes, I had to google Maryland NFL running backs, because, come on, who knows those guys offhand.
