After a 2-5 start this season, Maryland made the move to fire head coach Mike Locksley. The Terrapins went 4-8 in the last two seasons, and it was obvious that Locksley wasn’t going to get the job done at Maryland.
The Terrapins promoted long-time assistant coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim as the Terrapins’ interim man. But he’s likely not going to earn the head coaching job.
Maryland has a lot to think about when hiring its next head coach. And for the Terrapins, they can go down the Indiana path. There aren’t many Curt Cignetti’s out there, but he did prove that it’s possible to turn a middling program into a world beater.
With that in mind, here are four coaches Maryland should consider.
MORE: 4 Maryland players who could be poached after Mike Locksley’s firing
Charles Huff: Memphis head coach
The Memphis head coach is a hot name surrounding the Terrapins at the moment. He was born in Denton (MD) and served as an assistant coach back in 2009 with Maryland. Huff has had multiple stops since then, but he knows the area and grew up around the Terrapins.
He has been the head coach of Marshall, Southern Miss and Memphis. While none of those are major schools, Huff has been a good coach, recording an overall record of 44-27 since the 2021 season. Huff was at some bigger schools as an assistant coach, like Penn State, Mississippi State and Alabama, so he understands what it’s like to coach a Power Four school.
Maryland needs some stability right now and Huff could provide that. The biggest challenge might be recruiting, and he would need to get some buy-in.
Brian Kelly: CBS Sports analyst, former head coach
After a disastrous tenure at LSU, Brian Kelly is currently at CBS Sports as a college football analyst. It’s not shocking to hear that Kelly wants to get back into the coaching world, but he will clearly need the right job to do so.
Maryland isn’t the biggest brand, but it does have passionate fans. And it’s not like Kelly lit the world on fire from 2022-25 at LSU, where he will be having major programs begging for him to take over the job. He has also coached in the Midwest plenty of times.
Kelly coached at Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame before leaving for LSU. He has been a great recruiter, and the Terrapins haven’t had issues recruiting under Locksley — it’s been development. This could be a stepping stone for Kelly to get back into the coaching world and turn Maryland around.
Mike Shanahan OR Bryant Haines: Indiana coordinators
Curt Cignetti has built a powerhouse at Indiana, which still feels weird to say. Cignetti isn’t the only reason the Hoosiers are so good, though. He brought both Mike Shananan and Bryant Haines as coordinators from James Madison and they’ve done a great job.
It’s hard to imagine that both will stay at Indiana for the long haul. Colleges are going to be wanting to give them a head coaching opportunity, and while both are coaching in the Big Ten, they know the landscape. If Indiana was able to get turned into a powerhouse, there are few reasons Maryland can’t do the same.
Both Shananan and Haines saw how Cignetti morphed IU into a Big Ten power and both coaches could do the same at their first head coaching venture.
Billy Napier: James Madison head coach
Billy Napier was coaching one of the biggest college football brands out there: the Florida Gators. He was the head coach down there from 2022-25, landing the job because of how well he did at Louisiana.
Napier was fired from Florida and took over at James Madison once Bob Chesney left. Once again, Napier is proving he can coach at a lower level. He has the Dukes undefeated. Napier will be chomping at the bit to get back into the Power Four.
Napier is a southern guy and has only coached in the South, but there is an opportunity here. Napier has been a good recruiter, and while he would like to parlay James Madison into a bigger job, the fit could make some sense.
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