At Big Ten Media Days, Maryland coach Michael Locksley revealed he had lost his locker room during the 2024 season as frustrations mounted regarding NIL compensation.
Here’s what Locksley had to say on July 22:
“I can tell you last year was tough on me as a coach because for the first time those really strong relationships were questioned because I had to decide whether to pay a freshman coming in or take care of a veteran player that helped me go to three bowl games and have success and do something that hadn’t been done in 130 years in the history of Maryland football.
“It was hard to do both, so what I’ve decided now is if you come to Maryland and you look outside of our locker room there’s a sign. And that sign reads, ‘You can leave your Louis belts, your car keys and your financial statements outside of this locker room because when you enter those doors we’ll all pay the same price for success or failure.'”
Maryland is coming off a 4-8 season, a departure from the previous three seasons that ended in bowl victories. This year’s quarterback competition was a “real three-horse race” throughout the summer, according to Locksley. It’s unclear who will start at quarterback against Florida Atlantic on Aug. 30, but what is clear is that Locksley is dealing with the potential for more locker-room distractions than in years past.
“Everybody had the same scholarship check every year for 105 years and now I have to navigate teaching 18-year-olds to 22-year-olds just how real business works,” Locksley said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 20. “Not everybody gets equal. Not everybody gets the same. You can’t worry about what Little Billy is getting over here. You have to run your race and create the value. For a lot of years in college football, they all had the same value. That is what it means when I say I lost my team.”
Maryland redshirt junior safety Lavain Scruggs, who totaled 43 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery a year ago, says Locksley has done a good job re-establishing the priorities for players once they step inside the locker room.
“Locks has that sign outside of the locker room. Keep everything outside of the locker room because we win as a team, we lose as a team. I think it really starts there,” Scruggs said on GCR Aug. 20. “He’s bringing everybody along. We’re very family-oriented. We’re really becoming a brotherhood. It’s hard to become a brotherhood now with a lot of transferring going on, everybody being selfish, but I think this team is for each other and becoming a good brotherhood.”
Redshirt junior wide receiver Kaleb Webb, who transferred to Maryland from Tennessee in the offseason, wasn’t on last year’s team but knows every player must be pulling the same direction regardless of who’s getting paid what.
“I feel like all the time winning football games is not all about the talent aspect of it,” Webb said on GCR Aug. 20. “If you have people you can depend on and people who can play for one another without being selfish, I feel like that ultimately will beat talent any day of the week. Just the bond we have, seeing people get along outside of football, I feel like that brings us closer together and allows [us] to play for each other.”
Former Maryland cornerback Tarheeb Still, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, was part of the Terps teams that ended three consecutive seasons with bowl victories. He collected 165 tackles and six interceptions throughout his four-year career, leading to an opportunity with the Chargers, who took him in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He took advantage to the tune of 62 tackles and four interceptions in 14 games a year ago.
Still says Locksley tries to instill a common belief in his players, who are now often facing Big Ten teams with bigger payrolls.
“Guys really have to buy in and believe what he’s saying,” Still said on GCR Aug. 21. “A lot of [what] Coach Locks talks about is your mindset, fixing your mindset, believing that you can do it. ‘Why not us? Why can’t Maryland win the Big Ten?’ Once you put yourself in that mindset, once you understand that it’s an even playing field, everybody has the same thing they’re working with, it’s really just going out there and believing it and limiting errors.”
Locksley said he was willing to move his desk into the locker room if issues from last year bled over into 2025. He was joking about that part … right?
“I think he’s for sure kidding about that,” former Maryland defensive lineman Tommy Akingbesote said on GCR Aug. 12. “Because Locks definitely walks through the locker room, but having a desk in there is insane.”
For more from Locksley, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Lavain Scruggs, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Kaleb Webb, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Tarheeb Still, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Tommy Akingbesote, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox