The Michael Locksley era of Maryland football is over.
Maryland fired Locksley on Wednesday, four days after a 37-30 home loss to Rutgers, according to The Baltimore Sun and ESPN's Pete Thamel. A Maryland athletic department spokesperson confirmed the move. The defeat was the Terps' fifth straight and their 12th consecutive loss to Big Ten competition, dropping them to 2-5 with five games remaining.
Maryland called a team meeting for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to tell players about the change. Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, a longtime assistant with deep roots in the region, will serve as interim head coach, Thamel reported.
A Collapse Against Rutgers Sealed It
Saturday's loss at SECU Stadium was among the most damaging of Locksley's tenure. Maryland entered as a slight favorite on homecoming weekend and carried a 23-13 lead into halftime, only to watch Rutgers — which arrived with one win — rattle off 24 straight points to take control.
Locksley's first response was to shake up his staff. On Sunday, he dismissed defensive coordinator Ted Monachino and gave defensive play-calling duties to Abdul-Rahim, a move widely read at the time as buying the head coach more runway. Maryland had surrendered close to 44 points per game during its five-game skid. Three days later, Abdul-Rahim inherited the entire program.
Locksley's Record in College Park
Locksley, 56, finishes with a 39-54 record at Maryland, a mark that includes his six-game interim stint in 2015 after Randy Edsall was fired. He was hired as the full-time head coach in 2019 following three seasons on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama, where he won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant in 2018.
His best stretch came early. Maryland won eight games in both 2021 and 2022 and went 3-0 in bowl games under Locksley, becoming the first Terps coach to win bowls in three straight seasons. But the program reached bowl eligibility in only three of his seven full seasons, and it has gone just 10-21 since the start of 2024.
What Maryland Owes Locksley
Firing Locksley without cause carries a significant price tag. Locksley was earning $6.4 million this season on a contract that ran through 2028, and Maryland owes him approximately $9.73 million. The deal calls for the university to pay 65% of the base salary and supplemental compensation remaining through Dec. 31, 2028. Half of the buyout must be paid within 60 days, with the balance spread across installments.
A Year After the Athletic Director's Vote of Confidence
The decision marks a reversal from where Maryland stood less than a year ago. Last November, with the Terps mired in another five-game losing streak, athletic director Jim Smith published a letter to fans standing behind Locksley despite the disappointing results.
In that letter, Smith argued the program needed more resources to compete in the Big Ten and promised stronger NIL backing heading into 2026. He said athletic department leadership would evaluate the program after the season and expressed confidence that Maryland had "the right foundation in place" with a coach capable of owning the DMV recruiting footprint.
Seven games into 2026, that foundation has produced a 2-5 record and no Big Ten wins.
What's Next for the Terps
The timing gives Abdul-Rahim a head start. Maryland is in its bye week and doesn't return to the field until Saturday, Oct. 31, when it hosts Illinois. The university has not outlined a timeline for its permanent search.
Maryland's remaining schedule includes Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, USC and Penn State — five games that now double as an audition for Abdul-Rahim and a stretch the next coach will be watching closely.