Maryland opened 2026 looking strong with easy wins over Hampton and UConn. But everything fell apart quickly. Three embarrassing losses in a row, ending with a 54-3 beatdown by UCLA and a 48-23 loss at Nebraska, have put head coach Mike Locksley on a scorching hot seat. Inside Maryland Sports publisher Jeff Ermann and national analysts now confirm that the university has quietly begun laying the groundwork for a coaching search behind the scenes.

Sitting at 0-2 in Big Ten play, Maryland is heading toward its third straight losing year. The team has failed to defeat a Power Four opponent since last September. With fan anger reaching a boiling point, school decision-makers are no longer just monitoring the situation. They are actively gathering candidate lists and working through roster retention plans before making the change official.

“So Mike Locksley at Maryland, he’s done,” college football analyst Josh Pate said in a clip of his football show shared by Inside Maryland Sports on X. “That search has begun behind the scenes. A matter of when, not if. How appealing is that job? What does the pool of candidates look like? Could Maryland go and get one of these coordinators? How many other jobs open that bump Maryland down the ladder? These are all very important.”

Starting this search early is a necessary survival tactic in today’s college football market. With programs across the Big Ten and SEC facing potential vacancies this cycle, Maryland cannot afford to wait until late November. Popular coordinator candidates like Indiana’s Bryant Haines or Florida’s Buster Faulkner will be targeted by multiple schools. By moving now, Maryland’s athletic department gives itself a head start before high-profile openings crowd the market.

The main reason Locksley has not been fired today comes down to plain dollars and cents. If Maryland releases him right now during the 2026 season, they owe him a massive buyout between $9.2 million and $9.94 million, with half of that cash due in just 60 days.

But if the decision-makers wait until the final whistle of the regular season, that buyout price tag drops down to $8.9 million. With his contract paying him $6.4 million this year alone, the administration is carefully calculating whether firing him today is worth the extra financial punishment.

Locksley has been running this program since 2019, after a brief interim stint back in 2015, making 2026 his eighth season with the program. He is 39-51 overall and a low 17-49 in Big Ten play. The program looked promising under him, with three straight bowl wins from 2021 through 2023.

But Maryland has since been going downhill, going 4-8 in both 2024 and 2025 before this season’s collapse. Maryland hasn’t beaten a Power Four opponent since September 2025, making the coaching search urgent rather than speculative.

“I still have a lot of confidence in myself and the staff to get this thing fixed,” Locksley said after the UCLA blowout. “Again, that’ll have to be earned. I won’t be able to claim it, and I understand why people have to sit and question it. It’s gonna be earned. I’m out to earn it. I’m not gonna be able to claim it.”

After the Nebraska loss, he leaned into accountability again, pointing to “too many self-inflicted wounds” and taking the blame as the head coach for this team’s execution issues.

What comes next for Maryland?

With coaching changes underway, all eyes are set on how Maryland actually executes the move, especially with a brutal schedule ahead of the season.

Maryland’s next test comes against No. 5 Ohio State on the road, which nobody expects the Terrapins to win, followed by Rutgers and a bye week on October 24.

Locksley continues to insist that the fix starts with better execution, expressing confidence that he can rebuild the program from the ground up even in the middle of the season. But now, the bigger question is whether Maryland will actually move on from Locksley and if so, when.