Maryland’s nightmare season hit its lowest point Saturday night. No. 18 Michigan rolled into College Park and dismantled the Terrapins 45-20, handing them their seventh consecutive loss. The defeat officially eliminated Maryland from bowl contention for the second straight year and dropped Mike Locksley’s squad to 4-7 overall and 1-7 in Big Ten play. But maybe this isn’t entirely Locksley’s fault. Maybe Maryland is cursed.

“Curse of The Fridge: In Ralph Friedgen’s final home game in College Park, he beat No. 23 NC State,” journalist Rudy Gersten recalled on X. “He would finish 9-4, ranked, and won ACC COY. But was fired by his alma mater. Maryland’s record vs ranked conference teams since: 0-40.”

Calling Friedgen a good coach is an understatement. He was a Maryland legend who delivered (somewhat) consistent success throughout his ten-year tenure. In his first year at the helm, Friedgen took the team on a superior 10-2 run. This followed another 11-3 in 2001, where the team finished ranked 13th nationally in the AP Poll, along with winning the Peach Bowl.

His 2003 squad went 10-3 and won the Gator Bowl. Over 10 seasons, the coach went 75-50 and won five of seven bowl games. He also took Maryland to the Orange Bowl in 2001, though it ended in a loss. Additionally, Friedgen was named the ACC Coach of the Year in both 2001 and 2010. For a team that had not made a bowl game since 1990, Friedgen’s mantra was clearly working.

But when offensive coordinator James Franklin left for Vanderbilt and took four staff members with him after the 2010 season, athletic director Kevin Anderson used it as justification to fire Friedgen despite publicly stating just weeks earlier that he’d return for 2011.​

The dismissal was brutal. His voice had cracked during his final news conference before the Military Bowl. It was clear that the emotional toll of being dismissed by his alma mater after winning Coach of the Year was overwhelming. And Friedgen didn’t hide it. During an interview, when host Glenn Clark asked if he still watched Maryland football, the coach, an alum himself, responded, “I could care less about Maryland, I’ve burned my diploma. I’m flying a Georgia Tech flag right now.” 

However, when fellow alum Clark expressed he was hurt hearing Friedgen’s reaction, the latter fired back, “Well, they talk about Maryland pride. They didn’t show me a whole lot of Maryland pride, either getting the job or getting fired.”

Since that day, Maryland has been trapped in mediocrity. Saturday’s loss to Michigan was just another chapter in the same story that’s played out for seven consecutive weeks. The Terrapins were outscored, outplayed, and outcoached. Maybe Maryland is destined to wander the wilderness until someone finally acknowledges what Friedgen gave to that program and apologizes for how it ended. Until then, the curse endures, and the losses keep coming, one ranked conference opponent at a time.​

Taking the blame, week after week

Mike Locksley stood at the podium after the Michigan defeat, looking like a man who’s had this same press conference seven times in a row. Because he actually has. The talking points have become painfully familiar: Accountability, taking ownership, believing in his players, one more chance to finish right. 

“We have one more opportunity next week in Detroit to send our seniors out with a win and I know this team because the character they’ve shown the last seven weeks here, will continue to do that and send off and finish this thing the right way, as we travel up next week after Thanksgiving, to go play Michigan State,” Locksley said after watching his team fall. “We just weren’t good enough today. It starts with me as the leader, and we all take a look at this film and get things corrected and finish it up the right way.” 

When asked about the failures, Locksley didn’t point fingers at his players. “A coach’s job is to take players where they can’t take themselves, and that’s my job,” he said.

The self-flagellation has become routine, and it’s unclear whether it’s genuine accountability or just the verbal tics of a coach who knows his job security is hanging by a thread.​​