Mike Locksley began the seventh year of his Maryland coaching tenure as the Terrapins opened training camp Wednesday, perhaps with the most question marks since his return to College Park in 2019.
“I grew up in change,” Locksley said. “I grew up in the south side of D.C., and change was every single day for me. I’ve lived in that wheelhouse. It’s something I’m used to.”
Change for Locksley this year is both micro and macro. Gone from his program are transfers in starting quarterback Billy Edwards (to Wisconsin) and running back Roman Hemby (to Indiana), plus a slew of departures to the NFL, making the Terrapins light on experience at skill positions.
“Our message has been simple … anything and everything that took place a year ago, we’ve ripped off the rear view mirror,” Locksley said.
The culture of the locker room is also under intense scrutiny after Locksley admitted at the Big Ten’s media days last week that he had lost the room for the first time in his career. Maryland won only one game after September in limping to a 4-8 record in 2024, including just a single conference win.
“If I were to take a lesson from this … I didn’t anticipate it,” Locksley said. “Now that I know about it … we’ve done things and put people in positions to where I don’t feel like we’ll have to deal with those types of issues.”
Who will start at quarterback for Maryland is also still unknown. Junior Justyn Martin transfers in from UCLA, having only three games of experience — the most in that room.
Most of the attention heading into camp surrounds true freshman and Archbishop Spaulding grad Malik Washington, who will have a chance to win the job along with fellow freshman Khristian Martin, the MVP of Maryland’s spring game.
Locksley, as was the case before Edwards was named the starter last season, didn’t hedge a favorite.
“We will know who our quarterback is on Sunday before we start preparation for game one,” he said.
On the macro level, the sands of college athletics continue to shift under Locksley’s feet. He now has access to some of the $20.5 million in revenue sharing Maryland will receive under the settlement terms of the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit that allows institutions to directly pay their players.
“Imagine an 18-year-old whose scholarship has been the same as everybody else’s for the last 100 years. And now all of a sudden there’s a difference in those scholarship checks … this is the new landscape,” Locksley said. “When you start paying people, they become pros.”
To help bridge that gap, Maryland’s staff has taken on more of a pro flavor. Locksley’s third offensive coordinator in four years is Pep Hamilton, a familiar face to area fans from his time as quarterback at Howard in the 1990s and his coaching stint with the XFL’s D.C. Defenders in 2020, whose experience includes being on the offensive staffs of seven different NFL teams.
“If you were to just take his picture and name off the resume and put it in front of executives that hire head coaches,” Locksley said, “you’d have a hard time not hiring Pep Hamilton.”
On defense, Ted Monachino brings the same blend of NFL and local ties in replacing three-year defensive coordinator Brian Williams. His tenures with five different NFL teams included five years as the Baltimore Ravens’ outside linebackers coach, a unit that included Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil.
“His experience at the NFL level in a system that is very complementary to what we’ve done … [has] some added value that he brings,” Locksley said.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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