Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum
During his tenure at Maryland, Tatum became one of the most successful head football coaches in school history. In nine seasons, he led the Terrapins to two national championships, three conference championships, and five bowl game appearances. His teams compiled a 73–15–4 record without a single losing season. To date, he remains the winningest Maryland football coach of the modern era with a winning percentage of 0.819.
Lu Gambino
Gambino was selected in the 1945 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears in the 26th round as the 271st overall pick. In 1946, he was discharged from the Army and enrolled at the University of Maryland. He considered Indiana to be a far superior football program and called Maryland a "cow school," but it was located relatively close to his mother, who was widowed and living alone in Baltimore. During the 1946 season, Gambino saw limited playing time for a mediocre Terrapins football team directed by head coach Clark Shaughnessy. The following year, head coach Jim Tatum was hired, and he engineered a reversal of the team's fortunes. Tatum took the mentorship of Gambino as a personal project and aimed to develop him into the team's featured back.