Maryland fires Locksley - Candidates and roster priorities - ESPN

The frustrating part about Mike Locksley's tenure at Maryland is that he undeniably possessed two qualities Terrapins coaches typically need to succeed.

He loved the school and viewed it as a destination, after growing up in nearby Washington, playing college ball in the state and twice working as a Terrapins assistant before landing the top job in late 2018. Locksley also could attract top-end talent. Maryland produced five NFL draft picks in 2023 and six in 2025. Maryland's 2025 recruiting class featured seven SC Next 300 prospects. Zion Elee, the nation's No. 2 prospect and a Baltimore native, headlines the team's 2026 class.

But Locksley's connection to Maryland and success with talent acquisition simply didn't lead to enough wins. Seasons began to follow similar patterns: promising starts in nonleague games, followed by a crash in Big Ten play. After back-to-back eight-win seasons in 2022 and 2023, Maryland has lost 20 of its last 22 conference games.

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Maryland could have fired Locksley last year, but brought him back with a pledge for increased financial investment in the roster. The Terrapins returned quarterback Malik Washington after a record-setting freshman season and had linebacker Daniel Wingate and other veteran defenders to surround Elee.

But things began to unravel after a Week 3 loss to Virginia Tech and James Franklin, the former Maryland coach-in-waiting who tormented the program while at Penn State. Then there was a stomach-turning 54-3 home loss to UCLA. Maryland