Roughly a week into his new role, Maryland interim head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has new contract details on the table - and a revised setup for how the program will operate the rest of the way.
Abdul-Rahim’s amended deal gives him a near-$400,000 raise, lifting his annualized compensation to $1.045 million for the remainder of the season on an annualized basis. The contract includes an additional $420,000 in annual supplemental income, while his base salary stays at $400,000. There’s also a $100,000 bonus tied to Maryland reaching a non-College Football Playoff bowl game.
Another $100,000 incentive is in play if Maryland wins at least three of its final five regular-season games. The schedule ahead includes Illinois at home this weekend, a trip to Purdue to begin November, and later matchups against Penn State, USC on the road, and No.
25 Wisconsin, which visits College Park on Nov. 14.
Abdul-Rahim, though, is just as focused on changing the day-to-day feel around the program as he is on the contract numbers. Maryland is shortening practices and trying to tighten the playbook on offense, defense and special teams.
“On base down calls I didn't want multiple -- eight to 10 base down calls on defense or offense. Why don't we just be really good at five or six?,” Abdul-Rahim said on Tuesday.
“So condensing I think is important. Plus it allows you in practice to rep that call a lot of times with a lot of different scenarios.
So some people call them one-offs. You don't really want a lot of one-offs on the offensive side of the ball.”
Abdul-Rahim returned to the program after the 2024 season and was first brought in as Maryland’s new defensive coordinator after the school announced the departure of Ted Monachino the day after the bye week. Days later, athletic director Jim Smith decided to move on from Mike Locksley on Oct. 21, and Abdul-Rahim suddenly found himself in his first career stint as an interim head coach.
There have been no offensive staff changes, but the defense has been reshaped. Inside linebackers coach Zac Spavital has been promoted to defensive coordinator and will handle play-calling for the rest of the season.
Safeties coach James Thomas, one of the program’s most respected and longest-tenured staffers, has been elevated to co-defensive coordinator. Two former players are also joining the on-field staff, with David Brownlee moving into the outside linebacker room and Will Likely taking over the cornerbacks room.
In Other News...
Marylands Coaching Search Already Has A Fit Problem Fans Will Debate
Marylands coaching search is moving quickly after the program cut ties with Mike Locksley following a five-game losing streak, but speed does not make the fit any easier. The opening has already prompted a wide range of names, and the discussion around them has highlighted the same problem every Power Four opening eventually runs into: not every candidate who sounds intriguing on paper makes sense once you weigh college experience, recent results, age, and the financial side of the hire.
One of the first names to draw skepticism is Frank Reich, a reminder that NFL credentials alone do not automatically translate to a clean fit in College Park. Maryland also has to sort through the optics of its interim situation, where Azaar Abdul-Rahim remains in the building but is not viewed as a real path to the permanent job despite the public messaging around him. That leaves the Terps with a search that is already as much about narrowing the field as it is about finding the right face for the next era. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Football Search Now Hinges On A Bigger Big Ten Commitment
Marylands football search is moving with a familiar Big Ten refrain: if the Terps are going to take the next step, the next coach will need more than a good board and a promising pitch. Athletic director Jim Smith spoke about the opening with appreciation for Mike Locksleys work, while also making clear that a search firm is helping guide the process and that the programs next leader will be expected to keep recruiting heavily in the DMV and beyond. The message around the job is less about a quick fix and more about finding someone who can help make the operation sturdier from top to bottom.
Smith also framed the opening as a chance to build something more sustainable in the league, which is where the stakes get interesting for Maryland. The Terps have long talked about being able to do more with the right leadership in place, and now the search is tied to how committed the athletic department is to giving the next coach what he needs to compete in the Big Ten over time. The school is looking for a fit that can grow the roster and the program at once, and the rest of this search will tell plenty about how serious Maryland is about that ambition. [Read more 🡒]