Maryland

2-0

Big Ten · Mike Locksley, year 8 (38-44) · SECU Stadium · 51,802 · 43,421 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#65 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #37 (+9.1) · FPI #45
The marketVirginia Tech by 3vs Virginia Tech · our model 50% Maryland · a number, not a pick

LastW 38–14 at UConn · Sat Sep 12 · Derrick LeBlanc 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 2 tackles

Nextvs Virginia Tech · Sat Sep 19 · 7:30 pm ET · SECU Stadium · Virginia Tech by 3 · series 17-15, won the last 2 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 60-81 12 seasons
Best season 8-5 2023
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive

Maryland's 2014–2025 record is 60-81. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Program outlook

Maryland has the most recognizable uniform in college football — the state flag stitched into every jersey, black and gold and red and white in the boldest quadrant pattern in the sport. The team underneath went 4-8 last year. Freshman quarterback Malik Washington threw for 2,963 yards, broke the program's freshman passing record, and decided to stay. That's the whole offseason.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The DMV is one of the richest recruiting territories in the Big Ten footprint. Maryland sits in the middle of it — a land-grant flagship in College Park, forty minutes from Washington, drawing off the same Mid-Atlantic skill talent that Ohio State and Penn State and Michigan pull into their pipelines. The visual identity has been studied as a design landmark by people who don't follow the team. Fear the Turtle. The look is real. The program the look is attached to has spent most of the last decade near the bottom of the league it moved to in 2014.

Mike Locksley's seventh season ended at 4-8, 1-8 in the Big Ten — the kind of record that ends tenures at most programs. Locksley returns for year eight. The case for patience rests almost entirely on Washington: a true freshman who broke the program passing record, absorbed the offense, and announced he's coming back for 2026 rather than entering the portal. The case against is the same record it's always been — four mostly losing seasons in the Big Ten and a talent base that keeps producing better players for other schools than for Maryland.

The 2026 question in College Park is whether a young quarterback and a program identity that genuinely outruns its results can produce a winning Big Ten record for the first time since Locksley's first year. The schedule is not forgiving. Washington has to make a second-year leap in a league where second-year leaps are the difference between a bowl team and another winter at home. The DMV fanbase is watching; the recruits are watching. The look has never been the problem.

On the field

Maryland's offense under Locksley is built on Mid-Atlantic speed — wide-receiver and running-back talent from the DMV pipeline run through a spread base with pro-style elements. Washington's arm talent and mobility give the offense a dual-threat dimension it hasn't had in years. The defense has been inconsistent; the 2026 line corps rebuild is the unit to watch. SECU Stadium in College Park has genuine atmosphere for marquee Big Ten visitors. The visual identity — the state flag uniforms — remains the program's most distinctive asset and its most loaded promise.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Maryland

Maryland has won 50% of its games since 1902 — 61% at home, 39% on the road.

596-561-30 all-time · 120 seasons · 1902–2026

Home 359-221-12
Away 221-323-16
Neutral 16-17-2
9 g 1900s
54% 1910s
48% 1920s
53% 1930s
51% 1940s
66% 1950s
40% 1960s
59% 1970s
55% 1980s
34% 1990s
58% 2000s
40% 2010s
50% 2020s

Coaching Era · Maryland

Mike Locksley

Mike Locksley into year 8 — a multi-decade era by modern CFB standards.

Era Mike Locksley · 2019–presentPrev: Matt Canada (2018)OC: Clint TrickettPrev OC: Pep Hamilton (2025)DC: co-Aazaar Abdul-Rahim / Ted MonachinoPrev DC: co-Aazaar Abdul-Rahim / Brian Williams (2024)
8 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

The 1953 national championship

Maryland's lone national title under Jim Tatum

The 2002 Orange Bowl run

Friedgen's first year delivers an ACC title and a BCS bowl berth

2014

The Big Ten move

Maryland leaves the ACC for the Big Ten — financial security, but severed rivalries and a tougher ceiling

Heartbreak

Moment of the season — so far · Maryland · 2026

Won 62-0 vs Hampton

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight. It turned on one snap in Q1 — DeJuan Williams, a 35-point win-probability swing.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

Maryland has sent 16 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — one of them in the first round.

Strong. 1 first-round picks. Recruits with NFL ambitions notice.

16 picks · 1 in round 1
#24 Deonte Banks Cornerback · 2023 · New York · #136/322 final season
#77 Delmar Glaze Offensive Tackle · 2024 · Las Vegas
#96 Nick Cross Safety · 2022 · Indianapolis · #10/509 final season
#39 all-time · 18 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 2-0

Maryland is 2-0 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Mike Locksley2019
  • Hired Matt Canada2018
  • Matt Canada departs5-7, 1 season
  • D.J. Durkin departs10-15, 2 seasons
  • Hired D.J. Durkin2016
  • Randy Edsall departs22-34, 5 seasons
  • Hired Randy Edsall2011
  • Ralph Friedgen departs75-50, 10 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Maryland’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Mike Locksley2016–2017 · Walt Bell2018 · Matt Canada2019–2020 · Scottie Montgomery2021 · Dan Enos2022 · Dan Enos / co-Mike Miller2023–2024 · co-Kevin Sumlin / Josh Gattis2025 · Pep Hamilton2026 · Clint Trickett
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Brian Stewart2015 · Keith Dudzinski2016–2018 · Andy Buh2019–2020 · Jon Hoke2021 · Brian Stewart2022–2023 · Brian Williams2024 · co-Aazaar Abdul-Rahim / Brian Williams2025–2026 · co-Aazaar Abdul-Rahim / Ted Monachino
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

State Flag Uniforms

since 2011

more

Maryland football has worn the most variations of state-flag-themed uniforms in CFB. The Maryland state flag's heraldic checkerboard pattern translates to football jerseys, helmets, and pants in ways no other state's flag could. The uniforms are the program's most-photographed asset; Twitter screenshot ratio favors the uniforms over the actual football.

Testudo Statue

since 1933

more

Testudo, the bronze terrapin statue (1933), sits in front of McKeldin Library. Students rub his nose for finals luck. The statue has been stolen by rivals and reclaimed; he wears a helmet during game weeks. Cultural anchor that predates the football program's modern peaks.

The Fear the Turtle Slogan

since 1990s

more

Origin: 1990s lacrosse program (lax is Maryland's actual dynasty sport). Football adopted it; basketball adopted it. The slogan is the spiritual umbrella for every Terrapin athletic program. Easier to say than 'Terrapins'; meaner than the actual animal is.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2023): 3-2

Most recent: 2023 — win 31-13 (home). Last 5 postseason: 3-2.

20232022202120162014
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

1.2k
[Postgame Thread] Maryland Defeats Howard 79-0
Aug 2019 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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