Maryland is not entering the coaching market this offseason.
Athletic director Jim Smith said in an open letter to Maryland fans that Mike Locksley would return for a ninth season. Smith’s commitment to Locksley comes just days after he wouldn’t do the same in a previous interview and a day after Maryland lost to Illinois.
“But in the two short years since that run, the entire environment of college athletics has transformed,” Smith wrote. “To continue building on this foundation, Coach Locksley needs — and deserves — the full support of our department, our university, and all of Terp Nation. We are fully committed to giving him and our student-athletes the resources and investments necessary to succeed. I have worked closely with Coach Locksley to rapidly strengthen our NIL support for 2026 and beyond, with a clear and focused effort on roster retention, recruiting, and being highly competitive in the transfer portal.”
The 24-6 loss to the Illini was the team’s sixth straight. Maryland started the season 4-0 and beat Wisconsin 27-10 for that fourth win. Since then, the program lost three straight one-score games before being blown out by Indiana and Rutgers ahead of the Illinois game.
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Maryland is 37-46 in Locksley’s time with the school and is headed for a second consecutive losing season barring wins over Michigan and Michigan State to end the year. The Terps were 4-8 a season ago after back-to-back eight-win seasons.
Locksley’s buyout would have been approximately $13 million. His situation is similar to the one at Wisconsin, as the Badgers are retaining Luke Fickell despite another disappointing season. Wisconsin is increasing its football budget ahead of 2026 and Smith said Maryland will do the same.
But unlike Maryland, Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh had publicly stated his support for Fickell for weeks. Smith had not. When asked by the Baltimore Sun about Locksley’s future with the program ahead of Week 12, Smith said, “we’ll determine at the end of the year where we are” and that “we can’t make a decision right now. That’d be silly.”
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Clearly, something caused him to make that decision with two weeks to go in the regular season despite the loss.
