Maryland coach Mike Locksley, admittedly, doesn’t like to make comparisons. But he couldn’t avoid making one this week between the star currently at the center of his Terrapins defense and one of the program’s legends.
“Daniel Wingate’s a warrior. We’re very fortunate to have that guy around here,” Locksley said. “I hate comparisons, but I was around here for a guy that wore No. 42 and played heavy-handed and physical in E.J. Henderson, one of our most decorated players. And I would say he is in that category.”
The Bowie native’s rise has been steady. As a freshman in 2023, Wingate appeared in 11 of 13 games, with three of his seven tackles that season coming in Maryland’s Music City Bowl win over Auburn. The linebacker would back that up with 50 tackles in his 2024 sophomore campaign, third best on the team behind then-UMD seniors and current NFL’ers Ruben Hyppolite and Dante Trader.
“He plays tough, he plays hard, he plays smart. He has a positive impact on our team in all three phases,” Locksley said. “He’s running down covering kicks as a starter. We’re really fortunate to have Daniel as a true junior. I think he’s only going to get better.”
A College Football Hall of Fame enshrinee, Henderson was a two-time All-American linebacker at Maryland his junior and senior years. He won the Bednarik Award in 2002 as the best defensive player in the county in his final Terrapins season before going on to play nine years and become a Pro Bowler with the Minnesota Vikings.
“I was here during EJ’s years, very similar to E.J,” Locksley said. “He’s not a man of a lot of words. Just goes about doing his business. The players on in that locker room really respect him, and with some of the subtractions of guys that have left this program, it’s allowed him to become the leader.”
Living up to that high of a bar can be challenging, but Wingate now has one thing in common, at least statistically, with Henderson: a first-quarter defensive touchdown in his junior season. Henderson took back a fumble 36 yards for a touchdown in an Oct. 11, 2001, game against Georgia Tech for Maryland’s first score in an eventual win.
In Maryland’s Week 1 win over Florida Atlantic, Wingate took his first career interception 20 yards to the house for a touchdown. He’ll get another chance to make an impact Friday night when the Terrapins host Northern Illinois (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).
“Might have been [since] my peewee days,” Wingate said of his score. “It’s been a while since I scored a touchdown, but it felt great to get it back.”
In addition to the TD, Wingate picked up where he left off to start his junior year, racking up a team-high 10 total tackles. Though there’s a long way to go to reach the level of Henderson, who is the Terrapins’ single-season leader in tackles for loss and second all-time in career tackles, Locksley believes it can be attainable for Wingate.
“It’s limitless of the heights he can reach. And he’s one of those guys that’s been that guy as a young player,” Locksley said. “I mean, even when he wasn’t playing very much, he was a guy that was on our leadership council, because he kind of — not kind of — he’s made up of the right stuff.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.