Maryland’s Michael Locksley enters pivotal year: ‘Coaching for his job’
Seven years ago, newly appointed Maryland athletic director Damon Evans mingled with prominent boosters before a Terps vs. Rutgers football game. Among them was Thomas McCausland, a renowned supporter of the team.
The two discussed the program’s future. Evans promised McCausland he’d hire “a good football coach” to replace interim coach Matt Canada. The team desperately needed someone to stabilize a program mired in turmoil after former coach DJ Durkin was fired after offensive lineman Jordan McNair’s tragic death. McCausland offered a suggestion.
“Are you going to give Mike [Locksley] a chance?”
Two months later, Locksley was hired as the Terps’ coach. McCausland and other boosters were pleased — and after several winning seasons, it looked as if Maryland and Locksley were headed toward a prolonged partnership.
But things can change quickly.
Locksley’s job status is in question entering his seventh season as coach. While prominent figures around the Terps’ program say they hope he succeeds, they echo the same sentiment: The results just haven’t been there.
Former Maryland basketball player and prominent alumnus Len Elmore said he thinks that Locksley is “coaching for his job” this year.
“It hasn’t worked out so far. The expectations were much higher,” Elmore said. “I do think that he’s coaching for his job.”
Returning to a bowl game would be a significant step, and with a softer schedule, six wins is within reach. Locksley’s $6.1 million salary ranks 14th in the Big Ten and increases by $100,000 if he reaches seven wins — though the automatic year extension for winning seven games in his contract has expired. His buyout also looms large: because of his deal running through 2028, the university would owe him at least $12 million if it fired Locksley after the season.
But Locksley’s 47% winning rate is the second-worst among active Power Four coaches who have been at a school for at least seven seasons. California’s Justin Wilcox is the only coach with a worse record. Locksley is 0-16 against ranked Big Ten opponents, and he’s 15-35 against the conference.
The Terps finished 4-8 in 2024, winning just one conference game while suffering a few losses to first-year coaches. They looked uncompetitive in several contests despite having a roster with the program’s most NFL draft picks since 1986. Locksley said that he “lost the locker room,” which he attributed to jealousy over NIL earnings bubbling to the surface.
“Last year was rough,” said former running back Bruce Perry, a Maryland graduate who played under Locksley (who was then the running backs coach) and was the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
Locksley and McCausland spoke after the season about the coach’s shortcomings, McCausland said. The coach has publicly discussed establishing a more professional approach within the program, referring to his players as “professionals” since they began receiving compensation.
“Mike Locksley is astutely aware of what went wrong last year,” McCausland said. “There’s not anything that can bring you back down to the earth like a losing season.”
That message contrasts with the program’s new slogan: “Leave your bank statements, car keys and Louis [Vuitton] belts at the door, because in here we all pay the same price for success or failure,” a bold sign says outside of Maryland’s locker room.
Asked how he can expect his young players to take a professional approach while setting aside their NIL earnings, Locksley compared it with the workforce.
“When you walk in, [are you] discussing your salary with your counterparts? Probably not,” Locksley said. “So those are the life lessons that I have to start teaching, that I didn’t have to teach a year ago, that I didn’t anticipate teaching.
“When you start paying people, they become pros. … My players are pros because they are being paid. The difference is, I have a moral compass, I know my boss has the same moral compass that we’re in the business of educating while teaching them how to be pros, and handling that part is easy for me because I didn’t get to be a pro. There’s the moral compass that we have as coaches, as teachers, as administrators that, yeah, they’re pros in their respective sport, but we still have some development to do as people, and that’s where my energy and the experiences I have, I have to lead from the front with those things.”
Players might be “pros” now, but the Terps are projected by most outlets to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten again. They return just four starters, the second-fewest in the conference, and only two Power Four teams have less returning production.
New athletic director Jim Smith, who previously worked at Ohio State, is expected to try and restructure the department’s budget to keep pace with other top programs. Although the football team brings in the most revenue for the athletic department, it has consistently ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten in recent years.
“The evaluation will be done at the end of the season, and we have a new athletic director,” Maryland booster Barry P. Gossett said. “[Smith’s] expectations [are] that there would be improvement in the program.”
The surrounding context is critical in regards to Locksley’s tenure, though. He inherited a program in disarray after Durkin was fired after the death of McNair and the subsequent investigation that revealed “a culture where problems festered because too many players feared speaking out.”
Looking for stability, Evans hired Locksley from Alabama. It was widely praised as a strong move: he was from the area, coached at Maryland as the running backs coach from 1997 to 2002 and led top offenses as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Elmore said that he thought it was the right hire at the time, and McCausland was overjoyed.
The DMV native won three straight bowl games from 2021 to 2023 and has produced 22 NFL draft picks during his tenure. Only nine Big Ten programs have produced more draft picks in that span — though UCLA, Oregon, Washington and Southern California are among them, they were not original members of the conference.
That’s why last season was so damning for Locksley. And this year, Maryland doesn’t have a projected 2026 draft pick on its roster and is replacing at least eight starters on both offense and defense.
Highly touted freshman Malik Washington is expected to start this year at quarterback — the second-straight year with a new signal caller. The Spalding product has all the intangibles to succeed but is stepping into an offense with a weak offensive line and a receiving unit that seems likely to regress from last season’s duo of Tai Felton and Kaden Prather.
Locksley did add six four-star recruits this offseason, including Washington. Edge rusher Zion Elee, the St. Frances star who is the top 2026 recruit in the country, has doubled down on his commitment and told reporters that he wanted to “stay in Baltimore.” Maryland’s classes have consistently ranked in the top half of the Big Ten under Locksley, and Smith said that it’s a priority to help keep homegrown talent such as Washington and Elee in-state.
The new athletic director voiced confidence in Locksley in an interview with The Baltimore Sun, and boosters say the two have had productive conversations since Smith took over in May.
“I’ve been through the coaching carousel too many times where if you fire the coach every four or five years, you start all over again, and it takes time to build the program for a coach,” Gossett said.
But Smith has no previous ties to Locksley. He also didn’t hire men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams and could want to place his imprint on the athletic department.
“Jim Smith isn’t going to be tied to Mike Locksley,” Elmore said.
Most experts predict Maryland to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten this season. Locksley has conveyed publicly and privately that he’s confident in the roster. A strong year could reinstall confidence, while a losing season will raise more questions.
When asked about what a disappointing year might mean for Locksley’s future at Maryland, Perry paused for a long moment.
“That’s a very good question,” Perry said. “The bottom line is we need to win.”
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