Maryland winning the Big Ten? Michael Locksley says it’s time.

Updated August 3, 2023 at 6:40 p.m.
Published August 3, 2023 at 6:00 a.m.
Over the previous several seasons, as Maryland Coach Michael Locksley reinforced habits on and off the football field that would help the program win consecutive bowl games for the first time in 20 years, players approached him to discuss the prospects of a Big Ten championship.
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His response was grounded more in reality than pandering. His charges weren’t quite ready to contend for supremacy in a conference featuring traditional national powers Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State.
“Sometimes when you come in as a new leader, whether it’s a football coach or in business, that you tend to bite off a little more than you can chew initially,” said Locksley, who is entering his fifth season leading the Terrapins. “For us, we always want to be honest and transparent with our team and ourselves. . . .
“For the last three or four years, I’ve had a ton of players come to me and say, ‘Coach, we want to talk about championships.’ And I said, ‘Men, until we can worry about taking care of the things we can control, we can’t talk about championships.’”
The time has arrived for the Terrapins, at least according to Locksley, his coaching staff and his players, to insert themselves into the conversation for the Big Ten title and the program’s first conference crown since 2001, when Maryland won the ACC.
That optimism is rooted in having a culture reliant first on unity and discipline. Combine those components with skill and execution, and the Terrapins have a blueprint, Locksley said, to accomplish far more than the past two seasons, when they went a combined 15-11.
Locksley even made it a point to open his remarks at Big Ten media days last week in Indianapolis by saying Maryland has progressed enough that it should consider winning the conference well within reach. He doubled down on those comments Wednesday in College Park.
“The player-driven culture that we’ve been trying to instill, I think, now has shown itself to me,” Locksley said shortly before the Terrapins’ first practice of fall camp. “We’ve got a great coaching staff that will get these guys in the best possible positions to make plays, but what we need to see to compete for championships are the right kinds of habits and behaviors, and those are the things that led me to say what I said.”
Factoring significantly into Locksley’s rosy forecast was quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the Terrapins’ starter the past three seasons, announcing in the spring he would be coming back for a fourth year after exploring a potential transfer.
Tagovailoa holds virtually every meaningful passing record in program history, including career passing yards (7,879), touchdowns (51), completion percentage (67.4) and 300-yard games (12). In 2021, he set Maryland single-season marks for passing yards (3,860) and touchdowns (26).
This year, the redshirt senior aims to build upon a 2022 season in which he was voted second-team all-Big Ten thanks in part to performances against the likes of then-No. 2 Ohio State, against whom he completed 25 of 36 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another in a 43-30 loss.
That Locksley has placed enough faith in his players to suggest a Big Ten championship is possible — even though Maryland remains a long shot according to oddsmakers and has gone a combined 3-22 against Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State since it joined the league in 2014 — swayed Tagovailoa into recommitting to Maryland when he was presented opportunities to win titles elsewhere, including in the SEC.
“That was the biggest goal,” he said. “The past couple years we were in the process of it. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves and look at reality, and now we’re at that point where we can compete for championships, and we can win a Big Ten championship.”
Underscoring Maryland’s ascending reputation as a Big Ten challenger has been the arrival via the transfer portal of a handful of notable additions, including defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. The 6-foot-3, 311-pound redshirt freshman played at Tennessee last season, helping the Volunteers go 11-2 on the way to a victory in the Orange Bowl.
Newcomers Ja’Quan Sheppard (Cincinnati) and Avantae Williams (Miami), both defensive backs, are promising transfers as well, brought in to fortify a unit that had two players selected in the NFL draft.
Familiarity with how to assemble a Big Ten champion in part compelled Locksley to add Josh Gattis this past offseason as his offensive coordinator. Gattis comes to Maryland with two Big Ten championship rings, both as an assistant. His first was with Penn State in 2016 and the second in 2021 with Michigan.
Locksley and Gattis also worked together at Alabama in 2018.
Gattis is set to be the primary play caller this season, with input not just from Locksley but also Kevin Sumlin, Maryland’s co-offensive coordinator and associate head coach.
“The time is now for this program,” Gattis said. “When you look at what Coach Locksley has built here, you look at last season and the success that was had, you look at the skill players returning, I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to accept the challenge and really not settle for just having success but pushing the bar even further and further.”