Who could replace Michael Locksley at Maryland? Here are 16 potential candidates.

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For the first time since 2019, Maryland needs a new football coach.

With the departure Wednesday of Michael Locksley, who went 39-54 in seven-plus seasons in College Park, Maryland became the first school in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season with a head coaching vacancy.

Athletic director Jim Smith said in a statement Wednesday that he and university President Darryll Pines are “fully aligned in our commitment to providing the investment, infrastructure and resources required for Maryland Football to succeed.” But where could that leave them in their search for Locksley’s successor?

Here are 16 potential candidates, sorted by background (and then alphabetically.) Team and unit rankings are based on ESPN’s Football Power Index.

Up-and-coming head coaches

Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert: Dickert has impressed at two resource-poor programs. He went 23-20 in four seasons at Washington State, including the program’s first two wins over in-state rival Washington since 2012. And Dickert, 43, is 15-5 in his two seasons at Wake Forest, including a five-win turnaround in 2025. The Demon Deacons are 6-1 this season, highlighted by a road win at then-No. 16 Louisville last month. Wake Forest was ranked outside the top 70 in overall efficiency in the two seasons before Dickert’s arrival; it finished No. 61 last season and is No. 13 this season. But Dickert also has ties to Wisconsin, having grown up near Milwaukee and playing in college at Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Badgers’ job could open this season, too.

New Mexico’s Jason Eck: Eck was born in Wisconsin, played offensive line at Wisconsin, and started his coaching career on the Badgers’ staff, making him an obvious replacement candidate if Luke Fickell is fired this season. In his first head coaching job, Eck went 26-13 at Football Championship Subdivision school Idaho, delivering three winning seasons to a program that had just two in the 22 seasons prior. In his first season at New Mexico, he led the Lobos to their first nine-win season in nearly a decade. New Mexico is 5-1 this season despite playing without its injured starting quarterback, and held then-No. 24 Oklahoma to 14 points in a road loss last season. The Lobos rank No. 23 in efficiency this season, up from No. 73 last year.

South Florida’s Brian Hartline: Hartline was regarded as one of the nation’s top recruiters and wide receivers coaches at Ohio State, helping to develop first-round picks like Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jameson Williams. Hartline, 39, also served as the Buckeyes’ lone offensive coordinator in 2023 and last year, when they had the No. 5 offense. He was hired as South Florida’s coach in December, and the Bulls are 5-2 this season. But their underlying numbers have fallen off dramatically since last year; they rank just No. 94 in offensive efficiency.

Memphis’ Charles Huff: Huff was born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, in Denton, grew up an Orioles fan and served as an assistant offensive line coach at Maryland in 2019. After two years as an associate head coach at Alabama, where he also coached star Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris, he was hired as Marshall’s head coach. The Thundering Herd went 32-20 from 2022 to 2024, capped by their first-ever Sun Belt Conference championship and their first league title of any kind in a decade. Huff, 43, jumped to Southern Miss in 2025 after contract negotiations broke down and led the Golden Eagles to a 7-5 record and their first bowl game since 2022. In his debut season at Memphis, the Tigers are 5-2 and No. 55 in efficiency, a slight improvement over last year (No. 62).”

Florida Atlantic’s Zach Kittley: Kittley became the youngest head coach in the FBS when FAU hired him in December at age 33. A Kliff Kingsbury protégé, Kittley has built explosive — if not particularly efficient — passing offenses around Air Raid principles. Bailey Zappe became a record-setting quarterback at Western Kentucky in his offense. Under Kittley, Texas Tech had the 12th-most passing yards in the FBS in 2022 and the ninth most in 2024. FAU ranked No. 1 last year but went just 4-8 and finished No. 86 in offensive efficiency. The Owls are 4-2 this season but rank No. 70 in offensive efficiency and No. 101 overall.

Oregon State’s JaMarcus Shephard: Shephard has been a head coach for just seven games, but what a start it’s been. The Beavers have won five straight games and are 5-2. Their offense, ranked No. 116 in the country in efficiency last year, is No. 6 this season. Shephard, like Locksley, comes from Alabama, where he served as Kalen DeBoer’s assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Shephard, 43, is an Indiana native who was a standout wideout at Division III DePauw. Oregon State’s star sophomore quarterback, Mercer transfer Braden Atkinson, and breakout freshman wide receiver, Baltimore’s Jesse Legree, could both follow him if he leaves Corvallis.

Western Michigan’s Lance Taylor: Taylor was on his way to one of this season’s best upsets — until Michigan somehow came away with a last-second Hail Mary win. A former Alabama wide receiver and special teams captain, Taylor, 45, took over at Western Michigan in 2023 after a year as Louisville’s offensive coordinator. The Broncos won 10 games last season for the first time in nearly a decade and are 5-2 overall under Taylor this year. Western Michigan is only No. 78 in overall efficiency.

Montana State’s Brent Vigen: Vigen has spent his entire playing and coaching career in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. He helped recruit, coach and develop Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen at Wyoming and was named Montana State’s coach in 2021. Vigen, 51, won the school’s second Football Championship Subdivision national championship last year and is 67-31 overall at Montana State, with four seasons of 12-plus wins. The Bobcats are 6-1 this season.

Retread head coaches

Duke coach Manny Diaz: Diaz lasted just three years as Miami’s coach, going 21-15 from 2019 to 2021. But after three seasons as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, he landed at Duke and has kept the Blue Devils near the top of the ACC. Duke won nine games in 2024 and won another nine in 2025, including its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1989. Even after losing transfer quarterback Darian Mensah to the transfer portal this past offseason, the Blue Devils are 4-2 and No. 46 in overall efficiency. Diaz, 52, reportedly earned $4.3 million in 2025, far less than Locksley’s compensation at Maryland.

UNLV coach Dan Mullen: For a program looking to get the most out of Malik Washington, Mullen’s track record with quarterbacks should be enticing. He was Alex Smith’s quarterbacks coach at Utah, Tim Tebow’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Florida, and Dak Prescott’s coach at Mississippi State. Mullen, 54, started strong at Florida, winning 21 games in 2018 and 2019, but he was dismissed after going 13-10 over the next two years, hampered by a porous defense. Mullen, a Pennsylvania native, returned to coaching in 2025 and sustained Barry Odom’s success in his first year at UNLV, going 10-4 with a win over UCLA. But the Rebels are just 4-3 this season and have fallen to No. 89 in overall efficiency — one spot ahead of Maryland.

James Madison coach Billy Napier: JMU’s recent coaching exports could make Napier, 47, a tempting reclamation project. Curt Cignetti went 52-9 at JMU from 2019 to 2023, then won a College Football Playoff national title in his second year at Indiana. Bob Chesney, Cignetti’s successor, went 21-6 in his two years at JMU, and now has UCLA 4-0 in his first year. JMU is 7-0 under Napier, who had just one winning season and went 22-23 overall in his four years at Florida. The Dukes are No. 32 in overall efficiency despite significant offseason attrition — exactly where they finished under Chesney last year. But Napier’s offensive play-calling was criticized at Florida, and he’d never coached in the Mid-Atlantic until arriving at JMU.

College coordinators

Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson: The Hurricanes have had top-30 offenses the past three seasons under Dawson, and each came with a different quarterback leading the attack. Cam Ward developed into a No. 1 overall pick in his one season at Miami, and Carson Beck helped lead the Hurricanes to the CFP final. This season, Miami ranks second in offense and Mensah is first in the nation in QBR. Dawson, 49, has spent most of his coaching career in the South and Southwest.

Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner: Faulkner’s next job might be in the NFL. After three seasons as Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator, where he built a productive, innovative rushing attack, Faulkner has mostly dazzled in his first two months as the Gators’ play-caller. Florida ranks 14th in efficiency there. The 45-year-old is a Georgia native and has spent his entire coaching career in the South.

Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines: Haines has worked under Cignetti for nearly the past decade, following him from Elon to James Madison to Indiana. In the year before his arrival, the Hoosiers had the No. 98 defense in the FBS. In Haines’ first year, they improved to No. 20 in efficiency. Last year, en route to a CFP national title, they finished second, dominating with a stout, well-organized defensive front. This year, they’re ninth. Haines, 40, is already one of the nation’s highest-paid coordinators. But Cignetti has hinted that Haines could be eyeing an NFL job for his next move.

Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann: Schumann never played college football, instead starting his coaching career as a student assistant at Alabama under Nick Saban. He was Kirby Smart’s first hire at Georgia in 2016, hired as an inside linebackers coach. Schumann, 36, was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2019 and to defensive coordinator in 2022. The Bulldogs have had a top-15 defense each of the past four seasons, though they’ve slipped to 20th in efficiency this year.

Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan: Like Haines, Shanahan is a Cignetti loyalist, having worked for him since 2016. Shanahan, who’s not related to the NFL’s Shanahans, is a Pennsylvania native who played wide receiver at Pittsburgh. As the Hoosiers’ play-caller, he lifted an offense that ranked No. 72 nationally the year before he arrived to fourth in efficiency in 2024 and third in 2025. They’re third again this year despite losing plenty of talent to the draft. His wide receiver coaching is also notable, helping turn Elijah Sarratt from an FCS transfer at JMU into a fourth-round pick of the Ravens. Omar Cooper was a homegrown star who was drafted in the first round, and Charlie Becker is expected to follow suit next year. Shanahan, 36, is not as highly paid as Haines but signed a contract extension last season.