Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum
From 1947 to 1955, Jim Tatum served as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins football team, which represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football. Maryland hired Tatum to replace Clark Shaughnessy after the 1946 season. Tatum had created both success and controversy during his one season as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. During his nine-year tenure, Tatum became one of the most successful head football coaches in Maryland history, and the Terrapins compiled two national championships, three conference championships, and five bowl game appearances. His teams compiled a 73–15–4 record without a single losing season, and as of the end of 2016, he has the highest winning percentage of any Maryland football coach who coached at least seven games. In 1954, the University of Maryland appointed a new president, Dr. Wilson Elkins, who chose to de-emphasize football. Following the 1955 season, Tatum took a pay cut to coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, and he died four years later.
Maryland Terrapins
The University of Maryland currently offers 20 varsity teams: 8 men's and 12 women's.Burton Shipley was Maryland's first and longest serving basketball coach, but his lengthy tenure from 1923 to 1947 was described as "remarkably quiet". At that time, the sport was not widely popular in the mid-Atlantic region and football and boxing were much better drawing spectator sports on the Maryland campus. To capitalize on the popularity, basketball games at Ritchie Coliseum were held as doubleheaders with boxing matches for 26 years. Bud Millikan became head coach in 1950 and soon led Maryland to consistent respectability within the Southern Conference. Defensive point guard Gene Shue averaged 22 points per game and his scoring record stood for two decades. In 1955, the small Ritchie Coliseum was replaced by ; games were moved to the larger Cole Field House, centrally located on campus, and when Maryland became a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the fanbase rapidly expanded. Millikan's tenure culminated in 1958 when Maryland won its first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.