Head coach Mike Locksley to depart Maryland after 2-5 start to season
Head coach Mike Locksley is departing the University of Maryland after the team got off to a 2-5 start to the 2026 season.
The decision came four days after the Terrapins lost at home to Rutgers for their fifth straight defeat.
Locksley began as head coach at Maryland during the 2019 season.
"In a mutual decision, Maryland Athletics announced that Michael Locksley is stepping down as the head coach of the football program, effective immediately. Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has been named interim head coach," said a statement issued by the University of Maryland on Wednesday.
"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," said Jim Smith, Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics.
Locksley was seven games into his eighth season at the helm. He led the Terps to three straight bowl victories — a first for the program — from 2021-23, but since then Maryland is 10-21 in two-plus seasons.
Locksley already was under pressure to reverse that decline. Then he dropped back-to-back home games to teams with first-year coaches — Virginia Tech and UCLA — before falling to Nebraska and Ohio State on the road.
On Saturday, Maryland hosted the Scarlet Knights for homecoming — with plenty of empty seats — and blew a 10-point halftime lead in a 37-30 loss. It was Rutgers' first win of the season over an Football Bowl Subdivision team.
Locksley went 38-49 during this stint at Maryland and just 16-47 in Big Ten play. The Terps had a 20-game winning streak against nonconference opponents snapped when they lost to Virginia Tech.
Maryland hired Locksley in December 2018, about a month after coach DJ Durkin was fired in the aftermath of offensive lineman Jordan McNair's death of heatstroke in an offseason workout.
"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," Smith added. "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."
Locksley's replacement, Abdul-Rahim, is a Washington, D.C., native in his third season of his second stint with the Terrapins. He has served as co-defensive coordinator, associate head coach of the defense and the team's cornerbacks coach since 2024. He previously coached at Maryland from 2016-18. He played three seasons at San Diego State, graduating in 1998.