Mike Locksley’s run at Maryland is finished after seven-plus seasons, but the next stop for the veteran coach may not be hard to find.
At 59, Locksley brings a résumé that should keep him on the radar for programs looking to add an experienced offensive mind. He has spent more than three decades around college football, built a reputation as a recruiter, and spent time on staffs across the country. That combination alone makes him a natural candidate to land somewhere else sooner rather than later.
His track record on offense is the real selling point. Locksley started climbing the coaching ladder as a defensive backs coach at Towson State in 1992, then moved through a series of assistant roles, often working with running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.
His first chance to run an offense came in 2005 at Illinois under Ron Zook, where the early results were bumpy before the attack took off. The Fighting Illini averaged 19.6 points per game in 2006, then jumped to 27.8 in 2007 as Rashard Mendenhall blossomed at running back.
Illinois improved again in 2008, finishing at 28.7 points per game.
After a short stint at New Mexico, Locksley returned to Maryland as offensive coordinator and put up solid numbers with talent like Stefon Diggs and D.J. Moore on the roster.
His career reached another level in 2016, when he joined Alabama as an offensive analyst. A year later, after Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian moved on, Locksley became co-offensive coordinator with Brian Daboll and was then the primary offensive coordinator in 2018.
The Alabama numbers tell the story. In 2017, the Crimson Tide averaged 37.1 points per game and 444.1 yards per game.
The next season, those figures climbed to 45.6 points and 522.0 yards. The passing game surged from 193.4 yards per game to 323.6, even as the rushing total dipped from 250.6 to 198.4.
Locksley took the Maryland job after that season and later guided some productive offenses in College Park. With Taulia Tagovailoa at quarterback from 2021-23, the Terrapins averaged just a tick below 30 points per game each year.
That kind of offensive background, paired with his long list of relationships around the sport, makes him an obvious fit for staffs in need of help on that side of the ball. Locksley has worked with a wide range of coaches over the years, and plenty of those connections could matter in what comes next.
Among the names linked to him through past stops are James Franklin, Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, Pete Golding, Tosh Lupoi, Brent Key, Billy Napier and Mario Cristobal. He crossed paths with Sarkisian and Jeff Banks during his time at Alabama, and those shared experiences could open doors again.
There is also the Malik Washington factor. Locksley landed the four-star quarterback and No. 54 overall player in the 2025 signing class, according to 247Sports, one of the biggest recruiting wins of his second Maryland stint. In today’s college football landscape, it would not be a shock if Washington followed him elsewhere, even though that usually happens when a coach takes a bigger job.
Washington has struggled this fall along with the rest of Maryland, but the talent is still there. And even if he does not move with Locksley, he figures to be a name other programs will chase because of the coaching change.
Locksley also signed other blue-chip Terrapins, including five-star EDGE Zion Elee and four-star running back DeJuan Williams, which only adds to the appeal for any program weighing him as a hire.
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