As the rain came down on the dozens of sadistic Maryland fans still inside SECU Stadium watching a 51-point beatdown, it felt like the end of an era.
There are some results that are so utterly disastrous you just can't survive them. Even when there isn't immediate action, the loss is so ugly it becomes impossible to forget.
And that's what a thoroughly embarrassing 54-3 home loss to UCLA felt like for Mike Locksley.
There's no eagerness from Maryland to fire Locksley early on in the season. The hope from the beginning was that offseason changes, both in staffing and in increased roster spending, would be enough to get Maryland back to a bowl game. But after back-to-back bad home losses, it increasingly feels more like a matter of when, not if, Maryland moves on from Locksley rather than let him return for another year in 2027. If Maryland lets Locksley go before the end of the season, it'll owe him more than $9 million in buyout money.
Just four games into his tenure in Los Angeles, UCLA coach Bob Chesney's team looked more disciplined, faster and better-coached than what Locksley trotted out there in his eighth season guiding the Terrapins' program. It's Locksley's second consecutive home loss to a first-year coach after James Franklin and Virginia Tech left College Park with a win a week ago.
When Locksley is no longer racking up wins in September, it sure feels like the program needs a new voice.
When he arrived in December 2018, Maryland's football program was in shambles. It was still reeling from the tragic death of football player Jordan McNair which led to an investigation and the eventual resignation of previous head coach D.J. Durkin. There was no one better equipped than Locksley to restore trust in the DMV area and convince parents it was safe to send their sons to play for him in College Park. As a D.C. native who played college football at Towson, Locksley genuinely loves Maryland and arrived on the job with the belief he could be the man to finally awake a program considered a sleeping giant.
It was clear that when Locksley, who had assistant stints under Ralph Friedgen and Randy Edsall, came back to Maryland, he had learned from his time working under legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban. As Locksley put it, he knew the chocolate chip cookie recipe to win big in college football, he just had to tweak it to work at Maryland. It was tough sledding in those early transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness days as Maryland's financial firepower was a water gun compared to the bazookas of many of its Big Ten rivals.
Locksley found ways to maximize the money he did have. With quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa running the offense, Maryland broke through in 2021. Maryland won seven games, including the Pinstripe Bowl, starting a three-year run of at least seven wins and a bowl win from 2021-23. The 2023 season had all the makings of a special Maryland year as the Terrapins started out 5-0 headed into a road game against No. 4 Ohio State. But then Maryland lost its next four games, including two it should have won over Illinois and Northwestern, and all the hope and hype around the program seemed to dissipate.
Locksley's never been able to get it back.
Maryland went 4-8 in 2024 and 2025, setting up a crucial 2026 season where the program needed to show improvement. Locksley brought in a new offensive coordinator, Clint Trickett, added top-five recruit Zion Elee and retained rising quarterback Malik Washington. Maryland was no longer one of the lowest football roster spenders in the Big Ten, either. The schedule seemed manageable enough that Maryland supporters were hoping for seven or more wins.
Already 2-2, that feels all but impossible based on what the Terps have shown on the field this season. Washington, who looked like a potential star a year ago, threw two pick-sixes in the third quarter and four interceptions overall against the Bruins. With their running back depth depleted by injuries, the Terrapins managed only 39 total rushing yards. The defense was an outright disaster for the second consecutive game, too, giving up 475 yards and showing no heart once Maryland fell down multiple scores.
The team that seemed to quit against UCLA isn't going to beat Ohio State, USC and Penn State. That's obvious. But it doesn't look like a team that could beat Nebraska, Rutgers and Illinois right now, either. That's how horrific Maryland looked against the Bruins at home when UCLA had to travel cross-country for an early game. Maryland hasn't beaten a Power Four opponent in more than a year since a Sept. 20, 2025 win over Wisconsin.
Locksley, of course, doesn't want to relinquish his perch atop the football program.
"I still have a lot of confidence in myself and the staff to get this thing fixed," Locksley said Saturday. "That will have to be earned, I won't be able to claim it. I understand why people have to sit and question it. I'm going to have to earn it."
The time for earning it, unfortunately, feels over.
Locksley achieved real success at times with Maryland and restored it to a place of respectability after a major national scandal. He's likable, candid and a great recruiter. There are a lot of people around Maryland athletics and fans across the state who truly wanted it to work out.
But, eventually, there comes a time where one man has taken a program as far as he can take it, and it's time to see what a new voice with a new perspective can do.
That moment has arrived for Maryland.
