Turner Decides to Stay at Maryland

After weighing his options for two days, quarterback Chris Turner decided yesterday to remain at Maryland, where he will start the season as the backup to fifth-year senior Jordan Steffy.

"My whole life is here right now," Turner said.

Turner, a junior, considered transferring after Terrapins Coach Ralph Friedgen named Steffy the team's starter Monday morning. Turner started the final eight games of last season and helped Maryland beat two top 10 teams, Rutgers and Boston College, in two of Maryland's most impressive victories in recent memory.

The quarterback decision -- widely viewed as an unpopular one among Terrapins fans -- prompted a maddening 48 hours around the Gossett Football Team House because Turner seriously was considering transferring. Turner talked extensively with his family in California late Tuesday night, when the situation was considered to be at a critical juncture.

Turner practiced yesterday morning, an encouraging sign for the Maryland fans who would like to see him stay, but Friedgen said after practice that he still did not know for sure whether Turner would remain at Maryland. Minutes later, Turner addressed reporters for the first time since Friedgen made the quarterback decision and said he was "leaning" toward returning and would have a definitive answer a few hours later. Later in the afternoon, Friedgen talked on the phone with Turner's father, John Turner, who described Friedgen as "kind and understanding."

A few hours later, Turner was the first quarterback to arrive at the late-afternoon practice. By that point, the drama had ended. When asked how close Turner had come to transferring, John Turner said, "All the pieces were in the right place if he wanted to."

John Turner, who had a desire for his son to return closer to home, said a deciding factor in the decision was Chris Turner's desire to be with his "buddies. He has a lot of friends at Maryland. He wants to graduate from Maryland."

One of the reasons Turner chose Maryland was his interest in politics and the school's proximity to Washington. Friedgen talked at length yesterday about his attempts to get Turner a politics-related internship.

"I think the world of the kid," said Friedgen, who has talked with Turner a handful of times since Monday's decision. "Since the [quarterback] decision, he has had his best practices, which has shown me something about the kid. If he was going to go in the tank, he would have. He has not. He has turned his game up big time."

Friedgen expects Steffy, Turner and third-stringer Josh Portis to all play at some point this season. Turner said he was initially "bummed" about the decision but that his spirits have been mostly upbeat. He added that in a 13-game season, the chances of a backup seeing action are "pretty high."

"If you talk to anyone who knows me, I love going here more than anything else," Turner said. Teammates "know that. I owe it to everyone to go out and give it my best effort on the practice field."

Terrapins Notes: Friedgen canceled the scrimmage that was scheduled for today and will hold a practice instead. . . . Injured running back Morgan Green (quadriceps) returned to practice.