New Maryland coach makes intriguing first move after replacing Mike Locksley appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Maryland football placed a stop to the Mike Locksley era, firing the Terrapins coach Wednesday morning. Aazaar Abdul-Rahim takes the coaching reins moving forward. But he immediately delivered an intriguing defensive coordinator move.
CBS Sports college football insiders Matt Zenitz and John Talty revealed Abdul-Rahim’s first act on Thursday.
“Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has promoted Zac Spavital to defensive coordinator, sources told Matt Zenitz and I,” Talty posted on the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter. “Abdul-Rahim had been promoted to DC himself on Sunday before taking over for Mike Locksley.”
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Spavital joined Locksley’s staff in 2023 after serving as defensive coordinator for Texas State from 2019 to 2022. He started coaching the Maryland safeties for two seasons before leading the inside linebackers. He’ll continue to work with the ILB’s in his elevation to defensive coordinator. He’s the brother of former Texas State head coach and current offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Baylor Jake Spavital.
Locksley, meanwhile, leaves College Park with a 39-54 record. But went undefeated in bowl games with posting a 3-0 mark there, taking the Terps to three straight postseason games from 2021 to 2023. However, his Maryland teams never won more than eight games in a single season. The Terps posted back-to-back 4-8 seasons before their 2-5 start this season.
Locksley established himself as a stout recruiter, including landing five-star edge rusher Zion Elee through the 2026 College Football Recruiting class. But Maryland will need someone who can pile the wins and not just limited to the recruiting trail.
Names like Brian Kelly and Chip Kelly are floating as popular possibilities per national media. The former previously led LSU while also winning at Notre Dame and Cincinnati. The latter is leading Northwestern’s offense, but previously led Oregon and UCLA at the college level.
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