Maryland football already hit a low point last season — but 2025 could push Mike Locksley even closer to the hot seat if things unravel the way some expect.
The Terps are coming off their worst finish since 2019, and roster turnover has only made things worse.
Maryland lost 32 players to the transfer portal this offseason — including starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. and star wideout Tai Felton, who finished second in the Big Ten in receiving before getting drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
In total, just 16 transfers arrived to help plug the holes, and expectations in College Park have nosedived heading into a critical year for Locksley and his staff.
At least one national analyst believes things could spiral quickly — and laid out a nightmare scenario for the Terps.
“One of the worst defenses in the Big Ten last season only gets worse and allows nearly 35 points per game, far too many for its young, overmatched offense to keep up with,” Fornelli wrote. “After starting the year 3-0 in non conference play, a Big Ten schedule that doesn’t include Ohio State, Penn State or Oregon smacks the Terps in the face repeatedly, and fans are enraged when the school gives Mike Locksley one more year.”
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It’s the kind of season that could crank up the pressure on Locksley fast — especially after Maryland followed three straight winning seasons from 2021 to 2023 with last year’s collapse. Another year stuck in neutral, or worse, sliding backward in a Big Ten that’s only getting tougher?
That’s the kind of setback programs struggle to bounce back from.The Terps’ soft non-conference schedule might provide a quick 3-0 start, but the real test comes when Big Ten play begins.
If the defense can’t improve and the offense struggles to adjust to all the new faces, Maryland could find itself back at square one — and Locksley’s future could be hanging by a thread.
