Mike Locksley out as Maryland football coach after 8-plus seasons

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The Mike Locksley era of Maryland football is over.

The university announced Wednesday that the ninth-year coach is stepping down immediately in a “mutual decision” after Saturday’s 37-30 loss to Rutgers. That setback was the Terps’ fifth straight and 12th in a row against Big Ten competition, dropping them to 2-5 with five games remaining. The 56-year-old compiled a 39-54 overall record in College Park and a 16-47 mark in the Big Ten Conference.

Under Locksley’s contract, which ran through next season, Maryland owes him about $9.73 million. The agreement requires the university to pay 65% of his remaining base salary and supplemental income through Dec. 31, 2028. Half of that buyout is due within 60 days, with the rest paid in installments.

The contract stated that Maryland would not pay any of the remaining money to Locksley if he stepped down, which Maryland says he did, but athletic department spokesperson Jason Yellin told The Baltimore Sun that Locksley will be paid the full amount owed.

Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, in the third season of his second stint with Maryland, has been named interim coach for the final five games. The 49-year-old Washington, D.C. native, previously Maryland’s co-defensive coordinator, associate head coach for defense, and cornerbacks coach, was promoted to defensive coordinator Sunday after Locksley fired Ted Monachino. Inside linebackers coach Zac Spavital also became co-defensive coordinator with Wednesday’s move.

“Following thoughtful conversations with Coach Locksley, we agreed that a coaching change was in the best interest of Coach Locksley and the Maryland football program,” athletic director Jim Smith said in a statement. “On behalf of the University of Maryland, I want to thank Michael for his dedication to our football program and the genuine care he showed our student-athletes. Michael represented Maryland with pride, strengthened our connection throughout the state and the region, and made a lasting impact on the young men he coached. We are grateful to Michael, Kia, and his family for everything they have contributed to our university.”

In a letter to fans last November, Smith backed Locksley with Maryland on a five-game losing streak. Smith said Locksley needed greater investment to compete in the Big Ten and pledged stronger NIL support for 2026. Smith said that he and other athletic department leaders would review the program after the season, adding that he was confident Maryland had “the right foundation in place” and “a coach who can truly own the DMV.”

Then, in a statement to The Baltimore Sun after the Terps’ 54-3 loss to UCLA, Smith said he and Locksley are “aligned on the work in front of us.” Maryland went on to lose by a combined 61 points over its next three games to Nebraska, Ohio State and Rutgers, prompting the change. The loss to Rutgers came against a team considered among the worst in Power Four football, with its lone win entering Saturday coming against Howard, a Football Championship Subdivision team, and one of its losses to a team that went 0-12 a year ago.

In a shift from last season’s chaotic coaching carousel, the Maryland vacancy is the first among Power Four schools this year. There were seven openings at this point of the calendar in 2025, including Penn State and UCLA.

“Maryland football and this community mean a great deal to me,” Locksley said in a statement. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this program for so many years, and for the relationships I have built with our players, staff, alumni and supporters.

“I am proud of the work we have done together and remain deeply invested in the success and well-being of the young men in this program. They deserve our continued support, and I will always want the best for them and Maryland football.”

Locksley, a former safety at Towson University who served as the Terps’ interim coach for six games in 2015, finishes his Maryland career with a losing record. His .419 winning percentage ranks 11th all-time among Maryland’s 22 coaches. Locksley fared well against nonconference competition, going 23-7 in August and September. But when the calendar turned, he could not sustain that success, falling to 7-19 in October and 5-22 in November.

Locksley never led Maryland to a winning Big Ten record. The Terps finished 1-8 in conference play in both 2024 and 2025, tying their 2019 mark for their worst conference winning percentage since going 0-6 in the ACC in 1967. Last season, Maryland won its first four games before losing its final eight. The Terps also went 0-11 in games immediately following a bye week during Locksley’s tenure.

But Locksley shepherded the Terps from the shambles of the DJ Durkin tenure that included the heat-related death of freshman offensive lineman Jordan McNair. Locksley also made significant gains in recruiting, drawing a top-25 recruiting class in 2025 headlined by quarterback Malik Washington, meant to be the program’s next great core and to lead a turnaround.

“My faith in Coach is unwavering,” Washington said after Maryland’s 54-3 loss to UCLA on Sept. 26, in which he threw four interceptions. “I came here to play for Coach. I stayed here to play for Coach.”

Washington’s tone shifted after the loss to Rutgers.

“If the scenario arises, the scenario arises. We’ll deal with it,” the quarterback said when asked how he’d handle a potential coaching change. “If it doesn’t arise, it doesn’t arise, and we’ll deal with it either way.”

Locksley is the only coach in school history to lead the program to three consecutive bowl victories: the 2021 New Era Pinstripe Bowl, the 2022 Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and the 2023 TransPerfect Music City Bowl. Those latter two seasons were Locksley’s best, with 7-5 regular-season records in both. Former quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who transferred to Maryland after one year at Alabama, led those teams and became the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer under Locksley’s guidance.

But even during that run, some might look back on what the coach didn’t do. Before the 2023 campaign, he boldly declared Maryland was ready to compete for Big Ten championships. Tagovailoa echoed that, saying anything short of a conference title would be a failure. The Terps never came close. Locksley said the 2024 season’s 4-8 finish was because he “lost the locker room,” and he vowed to correct it. Maryland posted an identical record the next year.

The coach’s termination comes with risks. Members of that highly regarded 2025 class, along with five-star freshman Zion Elee, might enter the transfer portal at season’s end now that the man who brought them to College Park is gone.

More immediately, the search for Locksley’s successor begins. It’ll be Smith’s first major coaching hire and a chance for the athletic director to truly mold the department, which he’s already overhauled financially, in his image.

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