Locksley hears calls for change, remains unmoved amid losing streak as Maryland faces Rutgers

Mike Locksley has heard the criticism, including calls for his firing, as Maryland’s 4-0 start has backslid to 4-4 after a 55-10 drubbing by Indiana.

“We sucked last Saturday,” he said. “I would have probably chanted it too if I had a few beers and we played the way we played.”

Facing headwinds on multiple fronts, the seventh-year coach and his team are unmoved by fans’ increasingly louder calls for change as Maryland heads to Rutgers Saturday — at face value, one of the few remaining winnable opportunities on its schedule.

“That’s not gonna move me, man, I’ve done harder. I’ve been through worse,” Locksley said Tuesday of chants that came predominantly from the SECU Stadium student section. “As I’ve said, I didn’t hope my way to be the head coach here at Maryland, all right? We’re in the entertainment business. I get judged to win games.”

The Terrapins (4-4, 1-4 Big Ten) started 4-0 for the third time in the last five years — “September Maryland,” as it’s called by fans and the online college football community.

After the same start in 2021, Maryland lost three straight and six of seven.

After the same start in 2023, Maryland lost four straight and five of six.

In 2025, it has once again lost four straight. Yet, “I can tell you that it’s not your ‘same old Maryland,’” Locksley maintains.

“And I’ll continue to shout that, because I know what’s going on inside the building,” he said, “and the supporters and people that really know us got a pretty good understanding.”

His players, 64 of whom were new to College Park this year, also echoed those sentiments after Locksley admitted he lost the locker room in 2024.

“I’ve been just trying to keep everybody together, and to be quite honest with you, it’s not been hard to do that at all,” said defensive back Jalen Huskey. “I mean, we still come in with smiles on our faces. We’re grateful for what we get to do every single day, and we come in and work.”

“It’s frustrating, just because all the faith that you have in your coach, a tremendous amount of respect for him, and you definitely don’t want to see your coach go through anything like that,” said left guard Isaiah Wright. “So just sticking together as a family is the most important thing, and we’re going to do that.”

If there was ever such a “get-right game,” Rutgers (4-5, 1-5) provides it. Maryland has beaten its closest “rival” — the Big Ten’s term for the matchup — 13 times overall, four times in the last five years, and three-straight times in Piscataway.

“A win this weekend against Rutgers will give us five wins. Five wins is one more than we had a year ago, that’s called progress — a little slow progress,” Locksley said.

Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 238 yards passing and two touchdowns in a 31-17 win over the Terrapins last season. Running back Antwan Raymond, who has already rushed for 10 touchdowns this season, will also be a focus after Maryland allowed nearly 400 yards on the ground last week to Indiana.

“I think [Indiana] had 180 yards of explosive runs, and they usually happen from not being in the right gap or a missed tackle,” Locksley said. “We had 17 missed tackles again last week after cleaning it up the week before … And so the goal is to get it more consistent. And that’s where, for me, as the leader of this thing, I got to continue to push buttons, figure out how I can get the more consistent play out of us.”