Craig Has The Scout - Maryland 2025
Coming Up
Who: Maryland Terrapins
When: 2:30 pm – November 15th, 2025
Where: Home Sweet Home
How: FS1
Opponent Primer:
Head Coach: Mike Locksley
Mike Locksley, a name that harkens back to the good old days for the Illini. Locksley is a coach who’s absolutely elite at half the job. As a recruiter and play-caller, he’s electric. As a head coach, let’s just say Locksley is a case study in why not every great coordinator should become a head coach.
He started out on defense, coaching DBs at Towson State, his alma mater. A few stops later, he flipped to offense at Army, coaching wideouts. Then came Maryland, the first chapter in a long, complicated relationship. He joined Ron Vanderlinden’s staff as RB coach and added recruiting coordinator to the title. That staff, by the way, featured Mike Gundy and James Franklin—three future P4 head coaches, all of whom might get pink-slipped in the same cycle.
Locksley followed Ron Zook to Florida in 2003, then to Illinois, where he took over as OC after Larry Fedora bolted for Oklahoma State. And that’s when things started to hum. Locksley tweaked the scheme, hit the recruiting trail, and brought in guys who could actually run the thing. Suddenly, the offense worked. The stadium had a pulse. And somehow, Illinois ended up in Pasadena. That Rose Bowl run was Locksley in his element, displaying a dynamic offense, relentless recruiting, and pure energy. He didn’t just call plays, he sold the whole vision. And for a minute, it worked.
Then came New Mexico. Two wins. Twenty-six losses. A disaster in every measurable way. Locksley retreated to Maryland under Randy Edsall, then entered coaching rehab under Nick Saban. And there, back in his natural habitat, he thrived. He helped build an offense that was borderline unfair, worked with a Heisman winner, won a national title, and took home the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant. So when Maryland called again, naturally, he said yes. Because that’s Locksley. That’s who he is. Still recruiting. Still scheming. Still believing he’s cut out for the big chair. He’s still brilliant in flashes, but like the leaves things begin to fall after September.
Offensive Style: No Coast Offense.
Maryland’s offense under Mike Locksley and Pep Hamilton is built on rhythm and spacing. It leans into its West Coast DNA with short throws, timing routes, and quick decisions. The run game complements that flow using downhill concepts mixed with play-action wrinkles. All designed for balance, not fireworks. When it clicks, the offense feels like a steady drip of completions, occasionally punctuated by a dagger. At its best, it stacks efficient gains and forces defenses to defend the whole field. Since the calendar flipped to October, the magic has gone.
As for Hamilton, his coaching journey reads like Bilbo Baggins: there and back again. A Howard alum, he started coaching QBs at his alma mater before bouncing through NFL stops with the Jets, 49ers, and Bears. His college breakthrough came at Stanford, where he helped mold Andrew Luck under Harbaugh and Shaw. That led to a stint as OC for the Colts, again with Luck, and for a moment, Hamilton’s name floated in head coaching circles. Then came the slide: Browns, Michigan, the XFL’s DC Defenders, and the Texans. After three years out of the game, he landed in College Park this offseason, hoping to tap back into the spark.
Defensive Style: 3-4 with disguised pressures.
In the offseason, Mike Locksley made a shift on defense. Out went Brian Williams, last year’s mentor to his young play-caller. In came Ted Monachino, the scheme brain with an NFL pedigree, especially with edge rushers. Monachino brought structure and disguise. Maryland now leans on multiple fronts and pressure packages that blur the picture pre-snap. The result is sacks, turnovers, and a defense built on collective aggression. They collapse the pocket and play tight zone-match behind it, trusting the rush to land before receivers shake loose.
The other half of the equation is Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, the DMV connector. His career is steeped in local football, with deep ties to the DC/Maryland/Virginia high school scene. He’s coached at Alabama and UMass, but his value here is relational, he’s the recruiting architect. Maryland found something but their youth hasn’t allowed them to sustain it.
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