Staying home: how Mike Locksley rejuvenated a reeling program

When Mike Locksley took over as head coach of Maryland football in 2019, he inherited a program muddled in turmoil.

Just a year removed from the tragic death of Jordan McNair during the offseason — which preceded a 5-7 season and the firing of then-coach DJ Durkin — Locksley had to reshape the outlook on the program, before advancing it any further into the upper echelon of college football. In 2019, Maryland started 2-0, but dropped 9 of its final 10 games to finish 3-9. The COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 campaign, as the Terps played just five games, amassing a 2-3 record. 

2021 represented the first noticeable step in the right direction for Locksley’s Terps. Led by a dynamic signal caller in Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland won six games in the regular season for the first time since 2016, and added a seventh when it took down Virginia Tech 54-10 in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. 

“These guys have really bought in to what you have to do to have winning football,” Locksley said following the Pinstripe Bowl. “The culture, the way you have to work, the habits and behaviors you [have] to create. This season was a huge step for our program, but I still believe, again, that the best is ahead.”

The Terps carried their momentum from their first bowl win in 11 years into 2022, racking up seven wins in the regular season and a date with NC State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. With a win, Maryland will have won consecutive bowl games for the first time since 2003 — the Terps beat Tennessee in the 2002 Peach Bowl and topped West Virginia in the 2003 Gator Bowl — when it was still in the ACC and Ralph Friedgen was at the helm. 

A win on Friday would continue to build on the resume Locksley was hoping to build around the Maryland program when he took over. A native of Washington D.C., Locksley took pride in returning to lead his hometown program.

Part of the improvement in this period can be attributed to local recruiting. While the program was reeling from the 2018 season and fallout surrounding it, Locksley secured four local products to join his 2019 squad: Nick Cross, Isaiah Hazel, Deonte Banks and Mason Lunsford. While 2019 didn’t lead to immediate results in the win column, Maryland’s ability to keep local talent in town provided a glimmer of hope moving forward.

Locksley made a splash in his first full year back with the Terps, securing the commitment of five star prospect Rakim Jarrett — a D.C. product who flipped his commitment from LSU — to headline the 2020 class. Corey Dyches and Beau Brade, both three star recruits from Maryland, also put pen to paper to join the Terps in 2020. In 2021, Chop Robinson, Dante Trader Jr., Antwain Littleton, Tai Felton, Colby McDonald and Roman Hemby, among others, also joined the Terps and remained in the DMV to begin their college careers.

At least 10 more DMV recruits will join the Terps for 2023, as Maryland continues to try to keep local products in the area.

“We always talk about the DMV region, and really trying to do a great job of mining this area,” Locksley said regarding signing day Dec. 21. “We know that we won’t get them all and not even that we want to get them all. We try to recruit the right ones.”

Many of these players have played large roles in the Terps’ success over the past two seasons — aided by the addition of meaningful transfers and recruits from around the rest of the nation. Locksley’s prior connection to Tagovailoa — who played under Locksley at Alabama — brought the Ewa Beach native to College Park, where he meshed with the other talented players around him and has since etched his name amongst the best quarterbacks in the program’s history.

Regardless of the outcome on Friday, it is clear Locksley has brought significant change to a program desperately in need of it, while also attracting high profile recruits to stay home. Ultimately, the Terps appear headed in a bright direction, and if Locksley continues to stack strong recruiting classes and bowl appearances, the Terps could climb to new heights.

“Obviously really excited about this opportunity to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl,” Locksley said. “Most of all I’m happy for our players. They’ve earned the right, they’ve laid a tremendous foundation that we’re excited to build upon.