Maryland didn't wait long once the bye week arrived.
The Terrapins have dismissed head coach Mike Locksley, according to multiple reports Wednesday morning. ESPN was first with the news, and CBS Sports reported shortly after that the two sides were set to part ways.
The move comes four days after a 37-30 homecoming loss to Rutgers dropped Maryland to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. The Terps led 23-13 at halftime, then gave up 24 straight points. Malik Washington hit DeJuan Williams for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:45 left to make it a one-score game, and Maryland got the ball back one more time, but couldn't find the tying score.
It was the fifth straight loss for Maryland, which opened the season with wins over Hampton (62-0) and UConn (38-14). Since then, the Terps lost to Virginia Tech 35-26, UCLA 54-3, Nebraska 48-23, #5 Ohio State 45-16, and Rutgers. That's an average of 43.8 points allowed per game during the skid, and Maryland has been outscored 92-13 in the second half of its four Big Ten games, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Over the weekend, we shared that Locksley relieved defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino of his duties the day after the Rutgers loss. "As I evaluate our program, I believe this change is necessary," Locksley said in a statement at the time.
Three days later, the same evaluation landed on him.
Locksley finishes 39-54 at Maryland, including a 1-5 interim stint in 2015 after Randy Edsall was let go. Athletic director Jim Smith publicly backed him on September 30, and the Terps lost three more games after that.
His contract calls for him to be paid $9.75 million and there is no language for offset or mitigation on that deal, meaning the Terps will pay all if it even in the event Locks lands another coaching job.
The Locksley era had a real high point. After a 3-9 debut in 2019 and a 2-3 COVID season, Maryland went 7-6, 8-5 and 8-5 from 2021 through 2023 and won three straight bowl games: the Pinstripe Bowl over Virginia Tech (54-10), the Duke's Mayo Bowl over NC State (16-12) and the Music City Bowl over Auburn (31-13). Those Taulia Tagovailoa teams were the best Maryland had put on the field since joining the Big Ten.
The bottom fell out after that. Maryland went 4-8 in both 2024 and 2025, finishing 1-8 in conference play both years. Last fall the Terps started 4-0 and then dropped their final eight games. Counting this season, Maryland has lost 13 straight games against power conference opponents and is 2-20 in Big Ten play since the start of 2024.
Locksley, a Washington, DC native, was one of the most respected recruiters and offensive minds in the region long before he got the Maryland job. He spent 1997-2002 in College Park as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, then made stops at Florida (running backs and recruiting coordinator) and Illinois (offensive coordinator, 2005-2008). His first head coaching job at New Mexico went 2-26 from 2009 until he was fired four games into the 2011 season.
He came back to Maryland as offensive coordinator from 2012-2015, then rebuilt his reputation at Alabama, working his way from analyst in 2016 to co-offensive coordinator and eventually offensive coordinator under Nick Saban. He won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant in 2018 before Maryland hired him in December of that year.
Maryland is off this week before hosting Illinois on October 31, which gives whoever takes over on an interim basis a full week with the team before kickoff. ESPN notes that longtime assistant Aazaar Abdul-Rahim will be the choice as interim head coach.
It marks the first FBS head coaching change of the cycle. At this point last year, a total of nine different schools had decided to make a change during a record-setting off season of coaching changes.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for all the latest.