Maryland is a 5-touchdown underdog at No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday (4:15 p.m. ET, BTN), but a blowout loss to the Buckeyes is not expected to end Mike Locksley's 8-year coaching tenure.
That's according to Jeff Erdman of Inside MD Sports and John Talty of CBS Sports, who both report this week that Maryland is expected to hang on to Locksley through the game. The game to watch is Maryland's Oct. 17 home date with Rutgers who, like Maryland, enters this weekend at 0-2 in Big Ten play.
Maryland is off Oct. 24 before hosting Illinois on Oct. 31.
After beating UConn and Hampton to open the season, the Terrapins have lost to Virginia Tech and one-time-coach-in-waiting James Franklin, were blasted at home by UCLA and first-year head coach, East Coast native Bob Chesney, and then lost 48-23 at Nebraska last weekend. In a way, the Nebraska loss may have been most disheartening of all; the Terps led 23-14 in the second quarter and gained 301 yards of offense in the first half, but were shutout in the second half and surrendered the game's final 34 points.
Obviously, stating a coach won't be fired after an upcoming game is a comment of its own on his (lack of) job security.
After leading Maryland to three straight bowl wins from 2021-23, Locksley and Maryland are just 2-18 and counting in Big Ten play since the beginning of the 2024 season.
Maryland hired Locksley because of his recruiting connections and his time under Nick Saban, and Locksley has delivered on the recruiting front. Maryland signed high 4-star quarterback Malik Washington out of Archbishop Spalding near Baltimore in the class of 2025 and Zion Elee, a 5-star Baltimore native and the No. 3 defensive end in the class out of 2026. However, Locksley and his staff have failed to develop Washington or failed to build a conducive offense around him thus far. Washington is outside the national top 100 in passer rating with seven touchdowns against six interceptions thus far this season. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton was moved to an advisory role after the 2025 season, and Clint Trickett was brought in to replace Hamilton and, in the process, install a new system. Elee has recorded 1.5 sacks thus far in his true freshman season.
Locksley admitted he lost the locker room during the 2024 season as NIL concerns overtook the team and vowed to move his desk into the locker room if need be ahead of the 2025 campaign.
"You go outside my locker room and I have a sign that says: 'Leave your Louis belts, leave your financial statements and your car keys outside of this locker room, because in here we're all going to pay the same price for success or failure,'" he said at Big Ten media days. "If I've got to put my desk in that locker room, I will. A valuable lesson learned."
Thus far, a threatened change in location for Locksley's work space and a change in emphasis on Maryland's roster haven't resulted in a change of outcomes.