Michael Locksley: Bowl Game Allows Terps To Send Seniors Out ‘The Right Way’

Maryland head coach Michael Locksley says a bowl berth is the right way to send seniors off and offers an opportunity to build upon the foundation of the program during December practices.

Locksley is in his third season as head coach at Maryland. Before his head coaching gig for the Terps, Locksley was on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama (2016-2019). Locksley was also the head coach at New Mexico (2009-2011) and served as Maryland’s interim head coach after the firing of Randy Edsall during the 2015 season.

Locksley has Maryland headed in the right direction in his third season. After posting a 2-3 record during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, the Terps were looking to expand upon that during the 2021 season. However, injuries and a tough Big Ten schedule plagued Maryland in the latter half of the season.

Maryland toughed it out to and finished 6-6 in the regular season, giving the program an automatic berth to a bowl game after a five-year hiatus. Locksley believes this is a chance to honor the seniors who have been through the hardships that the program has faced throughout the past half-decade.

Maryland will face Virginia Tech, an old ACC rival, in the Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 29.

“To be able to send [the seniors] out doing something they’ve never accomplished before here is the special part that we will celebrate,” Locksley said on Glenn Clark Radio Dec. 2. “We’re getting to send them out the right way while also still having the opportunity for our team to develop in the future.”

Locksley believes earning bowl-game appearances year in and year out will be part of the “foundation” of the program. Locksley credits his seniors for the leadership that they have set for the younger players and future players alike.

Even though Maryland finished fifth in the Big Ten East and ninth among the entire 14-team conference, Locksley says the season had many positives. Locksley believes that his players made a name for themselves with their play on the football field.

“We didn’t always play smart, we didn’t always do things exactly how we needed them to be done, but to get the culture right first is the first step,” Locksley said. “Really was happy that we’ve established that type of identity of being a team that will play with great effort [and] will be competitive.”

During Maryland’s 2021 season, multiple starters went down with season-ending injuries, like star senior wideout Dontay Demus Jr., who suffered a gruesome leg injury against Iowa Oct. 1. However, Locksley credits the depth Maryland had built from recruiting to combat the “injury bug” in the program.

Locksley also credited the team’s leader, redshirt sophomore quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, for helping the team rebound from injuries. Tagovailoa led the Big Ten in passing yards (3,595) while tallying 26 total touchdowns (24 through the air and two rushing) against just 11 interceptions. Tagovailoa, though, was criticized for doing too much when Maryland was behind in games this season.

For example, down 24-14 late in the fourth quarter against Penn State Nov. 6, Tagovailoa and the offense drove down the field to the Nittany Lions’ red zone and had a chance to cut into Penn State’s lead. On second-and-3 from the 13-yard line, Tagovailoa threw an interception that was returned 87 yards for a touchdown by Penn State senior safety Ji’Ayir Brown.

Locksley says the criticism is not deserved, though.

“We haven’t had a quarterback like him in a long, long time, maybe since Scott McBrien,” Locksley said. “I’m really happy with where he is as a redshirt sophomore that has two, maybe three years left of eligibility that just basically finished really his first full season as a starter, and we will win with this kid as our quarterback.”

With the end of the college football regular season here, coaches will dive into recruiting. Locksley believes the new one-time transfer rule is a positive, but he also understands that it has become harder for coaches to have players stay. He explained he will lose roughly 10 percent of this year’s roster to the transfer portal.

Linebackers Branden Jennings and Terrence Lewis are among those who have hit the portal already.

“It helps our program because if a kid doesn’t want to be here, it allows us to get guys that want to be here, so it’s a win-win,” Locksley said. “The portal gives and the portal taketh away and we have plans for all of this.”

For more from Locksley, listen to the full interview here:

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox