Maryland has made the first coaching move of the 2026 season.
The Terrapins fired coach Mike Locksley on Wednesday, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, four days after his team lost 37-30 at home to Rutgers and fell to 2-5.
Maryland has parted ways with coach Mike Locksley, source tells @YahooSports. First coaching domino of the 2026 cycle.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 21, 2026
Locksley is in his eighth season of this tenure at Maryland and was retained for 2026 after back-to-back 4-8 seasons. After Maryland went 8-5 in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the program has stumbled in the expanded Big Ten.
The Terps have won just two Big Ten games since the start of the 2024 season, and each year has been defined by late-season swoons. Maryland started 3-1 in 2024 and 4-0 in 2025. After a 27-10 win at Wisconsin on Sept. 20, 2025, the Terrapins lost their last eight games of the season. And the final five of those games were all by at least 10 points.
After serving as Maryland's interim coach in 2015 following Randy Edsall's firing, Locksley returned before the 2019 season after a stint on Alabama's coaching staff. Locksley was the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator in 2018 and spent three years with Alabama between his times at Maryland.
The Washington, D.C. native was a Maryland assistant from 1997 through 2002 and was the head coach at New Mexico for two-plus seasons. After back-to-back 1-11 seasons in 2009 and 2010, Locksley was fired by New Mexico after an 0-4 start in 2011.
This story is being updated.