To say Maryland football hasn’t had it’s luck with head coaches recently would be an understatement.
After the departure of Legendary Coach Ralph Friedgen in 2011, who led them to 3 double-digit win seasons and bowl games such as the Orange Bowl and the Peach Bowl, everything went downhill from there.
Randy Edsall was the first head coach hired after Friedgen. He went a mere 22-35 with 0 bowl wins and reaching the top 25 just once in 5 years.
After Edsall, DJ Durkin was hired out of Michigan. He went just 10-15 in two years and was fired after the tragic death of offensive lineman Jordan Mcnair.
In 2018, Interim Head Coach Matt Canada had a little more success than the previous coaches, beating Texas and nearly upsetting number 10 Ohio State.
In the offseason heading into the 2019 season, Maryland was looking for a change. Not only a great coach and recruiter but looking for someone who could change the toxic culture. That man was Mike Locksley. Locksley is a DMV native and had played and coached for Maryland in the past. Locksley’s message was simple; he was building a family, not just a football team.
Locksley’s first year was nothing incredible. Not even a top 50 recruiting class, and just three wins. However, on December 18th, 2019, Locksley pulled off a commitment that would change Maryland football forever. 5-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett flipped his commitment from LSU to Maryland. Maryland had just landed their highest-ranked recruit since NFL superstar Stefon Diggs.
With the best player in the DMV committed to Maryland, and a few 4 stars from around the country, Maryland had one of their best recruiting classes in a while. It was just the second recruiting class in Locksley’s tenure, so although it was good, there was still plenty of work to do.
On January 26, 2020, there was another huge commitment. 4 star DT Taizse Johnson from Saint Johns in Washington DC committed to the Terrapins. At the time he was the highest-ranked recruit in Maryland’s recruiting class.
Then, on March 26th, Mike Locksley landed yet another phenomenal DMV recruit. 4-star WDE Demeioun Robinson committed to the Terps. Robinson’s commitment shot UMD up into the top 10 for the 2021 recruiting class.
Locksley has stayed totally true to his promise of keeping the local talent. So far 19 players from the DMV in the class of 2021 have committed, 9 of them are to Maryland.
With many talented recruits with Maryland still on their board, this great class is sure to get better and is a great step in the right direction for rebuilding the program. A few more solid recruiting classes and the Terps will be competing for the Big 10 in no time
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