With the departure of four-year starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland will likely be a team spearheaded by its defense. Redshirt senior defensive end Quashon Fuller is one of the Terps’ cornerstones on defense and is ready to usher in a new era of Maryland football.
But Fuller’s impact is felt just as much off the field — because he’s a damn good cook.
“I invite the guys to my house … because I do like to cook,” Fuller said. “I’ll cook and basically invite the guys over for some food, and we just go and talk about the opponents, or we’ll talk about life or whatever the case may be. So, I kind of just open up my living space to the guys, so then we can kind of have a come to Jesus.”
Fuller, who often cooks for his teammates on the defensive side of the ball, was one of the main chefs at a big team barbecue this summer. Although he prefers pasta, the rest of the team loves his ribs.
Now in his sixth year of college football, Fuller is one of the oldest and most experienced players on Maryland’s roster. Still, he is full of surprises.
“If they give me an opportunity, you might see me long snapping,” Fuller said. “Right now, I’m the second-string long snapper, and they might let me get a chance to rip it.”
First and foremost, the Terps need Fuller on the defensive line. He is one of seven starters returning from last year’s defense. The 6-foot-3, 264-pound defensive end appeared in all 13 games a year ago and racked up 25 tackles (18 solo), five tackles for loss, three sacks — tied for the third most on the team — and a forced fumble. He also developed into a vocal leader, as his gatherings suggest.
“I used to be that guy that was a really good technician, but now I can add so much more to that,” Fuller said. “Now, I’m able to look around and not only say things to myself, but I talk to the whole defensive front and, at times, the linebackers as well.”
Maryland defensive coordinator Brian Williams’ scheme asks a lot of defensive ends. Fuller, who has even dropped into coverage at times, says his versatility is similar to that of Houston Texans pass rusher Will Anderson Jr., who won the Chuck Bednarik Award at Alabama in 2022 as the best defensive player in the country.
“The defensive end position in our particular defense calls for a lot,” Fuller said. “… I want to be that guy that does nothing but give you great examples, and if you need to see something done the right way, you just watch me.”
Fuller is one of the Terps’ biggest playmakers, leaders and personalities, but it wasn’t always that way. It took five years of college to get to that point, but he has always been one of the biggest and best players on the field.
“I was 6 years old,” Fuller said. “I was kind of like that big kid growing up, and everyone wants a big kid to play football. So, [the coaches] were trying to persuade my mom to let me play, and I guess it ended up working out for the best.”
As a four-star prospect and 247Sports’ No. 22-ranked player from Florida, Fuller was one of the most sought-after prospects in the country in the Class of 2019. Alabama, Georgia, Florida and many more wanted the young defensive end.
Fuller committed to Florida State to stay close to his Fort Myers, Fla., home. His family members were all Seminoles fans, and he wanted to make them proud more than anything.
Fuller’s coach at Lehigh Senior High School was James Chaney, a defensive lineman at Florida State from 1988-1991 and a former teammate of Florida State defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins.
“They’ve been coaching that little Seminole way in me for a long time,” Fuller said. “Florida State was my dream school. … I felt like it was the right fit for me when it was my time to go.”
Fuller redshirted as a freshman in 2019 after appearing in just one game, but his hopes remained high as he trusted the process.
“I had so much love for the school already before I got there,” Fuller said. “It was really hard for me to complain and stuff like that. I was literally living a dream.”
Fuller played in four games during the 2020 COVID season and 11 of 12 games the following year in 2021, totaling 11 tackles (five solo), three tackles for loss and a sack during that span.
Constrained by limited playing time, Fuller was ready for a change of scenery.
“I just ended up having to transfer because I just felt like I needed a new place to not only start over but a place that the coaching staff believed in me,” Fuller said. “I don’t really feel like the coaches at Florida State really had much faith in me, and I didn’t really have much opportunity to show them what I had.”
After he announced his decision to enter the transfer portal in April 2022, one of the first people to reach out was the same man who tried to lure him to Alabama several years prior: former Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and current Maryland head coach Michael Locksley. Williams assisted in the recruiting efforts and eventually helped pry Fuller away from LSU, Tennessee and Auburn.
Fuller was fully embraced by those in the program as soon as he got to campus. However, his first year at Maryland was the hardest of his life. He could not be with his family as easily as he could before, made especially difficult by multiple deaths in his family. It was the first time he ever experienced homesickness.
His mental fortitude was tested, but Fuller did not break. He appeared in 10 of 13 games in 2022, posting seven tackles (five solo), two tackles for loss and a sack.
As time went on, Fuller adjusted and life on and off the field became easier. He was much more comfortable and confident heading into his second year with the Terps, and it showed. Now, he and his teammates are looking to build on an 8-5 season that included a bowl win for a third consecutive year.
“With [the] defense, we played a bunch of players over the last two, three years that maybe have failed in some critical situations where they didn’t make the plays,” Locksley said at Maryland’s media day. “Well, these guys now have that tool in the toolbox, so that when we face that this year, I think you’ll see a different result.”
Photo Credits: Kenya Allen/PressBox and Courtesy of Maryland Athletics
Issue 288: August/September 2024
Originally published Aug. 14, 2024