Maryland football is gearing up for the 2025 season after a four-win campaign in 2024, with new faces on the field and on the sidelines.
With the Terps losing quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., running back Roman Hemby and wide receivers Tai Felton and Kaden Prather following the 2024 season, there are plenty of questions about what the offense will look like in 2025 and how Maryland will improve its record.
Senior wide receiver Octavian Smith Jr. will be one of the players asked to step up. A native of Burtonsville, Md., Smith arrived at Maryland in 2022 after graduating from Paint Branch High School. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound receiver has caught 64 passes for 681 yards and five touchdowns during his three seasons in College Park.
Now, Smith is ready for an important season as the team’s top returning receiver with Felton and Prather hoping for NFL careers. Smith’s 315 receiving yards in 2024 were fourth on the team.
“I don’t have any more years of eligibility after this one,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of anxiety that can go into it, but I’m confident that as long as I put in the work I know what it takes to get there. … People say, ‘You do it right, you’re set for life.’ That’s my goal. I have NFL aspirations. I always have as a kid. Going into this season, it would be huge to be one step closer to that goal, to that dream.”
Smith showed flashes of NFL ability a year ago, particularly when he caught eight passes for 84 yards and a touchdown in a 28-27 win against USC. He has a chance to follow in the footsteps of former Terps Stefon Diggs and DJ Moore if he can prove himself as a senior.
“Personally, [I want to] put myself in a position to reach my dream, which is to play NFL football,” Smith said. “Having the support system that I do here at the University of Maryland and the team I have, the teammates that I have, being able to have them around me collectively to help me get there, I think it’ll increase my chances.”
Maryland finished 10th in scoring offense in the Big Ten in 2024. Head coach Michael Locksley took over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Josh Gattis about halfway through the season.
Maryland hired longtime NFL and college coach Pep Hamilton as its new offensive coordinator in February. Hamilton was previously the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts (2013-2015) and Houston Texans (2022).
“I love Coach Pep,” Smith said. “He came from the NFL, so the way he’s running things is … pro-style in terms of voluntary meetings and walkthroughs and things like that, but he always says it’s a grown-man business. If you love the game, then you’re going to do what it takes and you’re going to put in the time that it takes to be in a position that you say you want to be in. We all hold each other accountable. We’re all taking on that responsibility.”
Maryland ran for just 110.4 yards per game in 2024, 16th in the Big Ten. That will have to improve to put less pressure on the passing game.
“We’ve been putting emphasis on the run game. In the Big Ten when it gets cold, teams are going to run the ball,” Smith said. “… If teams have to respect the run, then when it comes to play actions and things like that, then that opens up the passing game for [big] plays, so I look forward to us being real explosive, real fundamentally sound and just playing together as a team.”
Locksley has trust in his new offensive coordinator.
“Pep’s going to call plays,” Locksley said at his March 25 news conference previewing spring ball. “… I like to hire guys to do their jobs. I have all the confidence in the world [in] Pep based on our relationship. The system is still the University of Maryland system.”
Smith has worked three years for the opportunity he has in 2025. He was intent on seeing the process through at Maryland rather than hitting the transfer portal to pursue other opportunities.
“I came here for a reason,” Smith said. “Coming out of high school, Coach Locks expressed his vision for what he had in store for Maryland football, and I was a thousand percent behind it because Coach Locks reminds me a lot of my high school head coach. … Aside from it being my hometown team, it’s really just wanting to do it with Coach Locks.”
Born and raised in Maryland, Smith wants to represent his home state well in College Park.
“God blessed me to be in the position that I am now,” Smith said. “My little cousins and people from my neighborhood, they look up to me. It all goes back to my support system. … Being able to play for the hometown, it’s a blessing.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Originally published April 16, 2025