Maryland football’s season and Michael Locksley’s tenure are in a tenuous spot

At one point during Tuesday’s press conference at SECU Stadium, Maryland wide receiver Chris Durr Jr. and safety Lavain Scruggs pushed back separately at the phrasing of a question.

“We have seven more games left,” Durr said. “I don’t know if y’all think the season is over with, but still, there’s seven more games left to prove why we are a good team.”

“I feel like you’re asking the question as if our season is over,” added Scruggs later. “Our season isn’t over. A loss, we learn from those.”

Those two team leaders are correct. The Terrapins have only played five games. But Maryland (2-3) is also in a limbo period of sorts, with a matchup against No. 5 Ohio State arriving Saturday and the future of coach Michael Locksley in doubt.

So, yes, there are plenty of games remaining. But the reality around College Park is much more fluid, with a three-game losing streak preceding a matchup against the Buckeyes — in which the Terps will attempt to do something they’ve never done since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Maryland has never won a game against a ranked conference foe since becoming a member, going 0-39. And while that ignominious record is not Locksley’s alone, he has been at the helm since 2019.

His seat is now warm, if not hot. According to a report from college football insider Josh Pate, Maryland has already begun the search for Locksley’s eventual replacement, even as he attempts to steer his players toward The Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.

For his part, Locksley approached Tuesday without showing that he is feeling the heat from his perilous position. He recounted the good and the bad from last week’s loss to Nebraska, and he emphasized that the three straight losses aren’t “the standard we need to have for our program.”

“Our players know it. We as coaches know it. Obviously, I know it,” Locksley said. “But nobody is hanging their heads, and we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re going to keep working through it.”

The position in which the Terps find themselves is far from what they hoped in December 2018, when Locksley returned home as a savior of sorts. The death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair from a heat-related illness suffered at practice and allegations of a toxic culture surrounding coach DJ Durkin’s program thrust the Terps into a spiral. Interim coach Matt Canada at least guided Maryland through the 2018 season, but the Terps needed rescuing.

Locksley, as a former Terps assistant coach who at the time led Alabama’s offense to great heights, was billed as a homecoming hero.

“This is the job I’ve coveted since the day I put a whistle around my neck as a coach,” Locksley said at his introductory press conference. “Some people grow up wanting to be the head coach of the University of Alabama, Michigan, all the storied programs. For Locks, this was it.”

Reality has been far less kind.

In eight seasons at the helm, the Terps have only been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll once, when they were No. 21 entering the third game of Locksley’s first season (Maryland promptly lost to unranked Temple). The Terps are 38-47 overall since Locksley’s return, and while they’ve won three bowl games, they haven’t been eligible since 2023, when Maryland won eight games for a second straight season.

The Terps won eight games combined in 2024 and 2025, however, and the Terps could be fortunate to reach four wins this year, too.

After beating Hampton and UConn to begin the season, the Terps lost to Virginia Tech, UCLA and Nebraska. In the latest defeat, Maryland looked competitive. Then quarterback Malik Washington threw his third pick six in two games while the Terps were blanked in the second half en route to a blowout.

“For the first time against a really talented team, I saw us look like a team I thought we could be, but only for about a half,” Locksley said. “I thought once we threw the pick six, the energy went out of our team. For me, that’s a coaching detail, being able to overcome negative things that happen in the game. We’ve got to be able to get that fixed, and the standard has to be the consistency of playing that way, not just for a half against a really good team on the road.”

In the meantime, as Locksley seeks consistency, it’s worth studying the terms of his contract. Maryland extended Locksley’s stay in College Park through the end of the 2028 season.

He is earning $6.4 million this season, according to a copy of Locksley’s contract obtained through a public records request ($600,000 base salary, plus $5.8 million in supplemental income). Locksley is due $6.7 million in 2027 and $7 million in 2028. If Maryland were to fire Locksley prior to the end of his contract, the university will owe him 65% of his remaining salary.

So, if the Terps fire Locksley at the end of this season (let’s say Nov. 29, the day after Maryland ends the season with a matchup against Penn State), Locksley will be owed about $8.9 million for 2027 and 2028, plus 65% of however much salary is remaining in 2026. The exact amount is hard to know without knowing his exact pay periods, which are not spelled out in the contract, but it would be at least a few hundred thousand dollars more.

Firing him midseason raises that price by another several hundred thousand dollars. The question, then, becomes whether Maryland has the booster base to eat that amount, be it now or later (although the Terps set a record fundraising tally in 2026 at $43.7 million).

All of that is swirling around the edges of the program. For the moment, Locksley and his players set their sights on Ohio State, not how much the buyout might set back Maryland’s most influential athletic boosters. Locksley spoke of the third-down drill he planned to run his first-team offense and defense through Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to mirror a game-like situation that has caused problems.

But that is far from the lone problem. Washington, the high-potential quarterback who has thrown six interceptions in his last two games, is dealing with the reality of a running game that has been lacking.

Maryland averages 146.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks 88th nationally. The Terps are passing more, and Washington, a Glen Burnie native, is learning on the fly. The results, as may be expected, haven’t been clean.

“He’s our quarterback, and there’s no doubt,” Locksley said. He later added that there is undue pressure on Washington because of the Terps’ “inability to run the football, which, going into this year, that was the focal point of the offense, how to take some pressure off of him.”

There is pressure on all of these players, in truth. They are not immune to the noise that is mounting against Locksley, and has been mounting for some time. They realize that they are stepping into a massive challenge Saturday, and despite Durr’s attempts to lessen the magnitude, the wide receiver’s sentiment was somewhat forced.

“The grass is green, the end zone is the end zone, the turf is the turf,” said Durr, who’s tied for second in the country with 42 receptions. “It’s going to be a regular game, and it’s a good opportunity to go out there and prove why Maryland belongs in the Big Ten.”

Maryland has tried to prove that since 2014. The Terps have yet to win a conference game against a ranked opponent.

And as they prepare for what could be Locksley’s final act as head coach at the only school he ever wanted to lead — any of these games could be the last — it’s impossible to think that this reality is lost on any of those playing for him.

“Staying in-house, staying where our feet are,” Durr said. “Being there for our coach. He’s our leader, and we’re always going to look for him to help us going into these games, going into practice. I don’t want Coach to leave, and I know we’re going to do what we can to make sure he stays.”