On Wednesday, Maryland finally stopped waiting for “eventually.” Cutting bait with Mike Locksley in the middle of his eighth season ends an era that promised a hometown renaissance and mostly delivered December trips to mid-tier bowls.
Nobody ever questioned Mike Locksley’s ability to work a living room in Prince George’s County or Baltimore. He pulled elite prospects out of St. Frances Academy and DeMatha Catholic who never would have glanced at the Terrapins a decade ago.
But that was about it, since on the field those results rarely showed up. After five consecutive losses, the Terrapins pulled the plug on Mike Locksley’s $6.4 million per year contract.
What the athletic department needs now isn’t another recruiting coordinator with a head coach’s whistle. It needs someone who can actually win a football game in November. Here are three names who fit where Maryland needs to go next.
Brian Kelly
If Maryland wants to rip the steering wheel in the complete opposite direction from Mike Locksley, hiring Brian Kelly is the move.
After his high-profile breakup with LSU opened the door for Lane Kiffin to take over in Baton Rouge, the 64-year-old Kelly is the biggest proven winner sitting on the open market.
No one in College Park is going to confuse the Massachusetts native for a cozy, back-slapping DMV insider, and his awkward southern accent clips from his first week in Louisiana will follow him for the rest of his life.
None of that matters if he wins nine games a year. Maryland already tried hiring the ultimate player-friendly local guy, and it produced a lopsided conference record and half-empty stands by Halloween. Kelly is a cold, bottom-line CEO.
Across three decades at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and LSU, his teams rarely beat themselves, almost always develop top-tier offensive and defensive lines, and win the games they are favored to win.
Even at LSU, Kelly consistently churned out 9-10 win seasons, but never crossed the playoff line. At Maryland, that line doesn’t exist, at least for now. That would give Kelly enough wiggle room to turn around Maryland and his own coaching career, too.
Landing him might not be cheap, though, since he was on a 10-year, $95 million contract at LSU. Never mind, he still pockets that $54 million buyout money.
Manny Diaz
Hiring a sitting ACC head coach isn’t cheap either, but Maryland has the Big Ten television check worth $76 million to make Manny Diaz listen.
Before taking the Duke job in 2024 after Mike Elko left for Texas A&M, Diaz spent two seasons at Penn State under James Franklin running the nastiest defense in the Big Ten.
During those two years in State College (2022 and 2023), Diaz learned the exact recruiting map Maryland lives on: pulling in defensive talent from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey while scheming every week against Ohio State and Michigan.
Diaz has rebuilt his reputation since his first head coaching job at Miami. At Duke, he has shown he can get results without the resources, crowds, or football-first culture found at the sport’s biggest programs.
According to a detailed report, Duke spends roughly $12-$15 million on its roster. That ranks it 16th out of 17 teams in the conference. Maryland is in a similar situation, and Diaz will be no stranger to it, unlike Brian Kelly.
His defenses are also built to pressure QBs and disrupt plays behind the line of scrimmage. Maryland has often struggled against the Big Ten’s stronger offensive lines, and Diaz would give the Terrapins a defense that attacks rather than sits back and reacts.
Diaz has the resume at Duke, as he led the program to consecutive 9-win seasons and an ACC title last year. However, he signed a long-term contract through the 2031 season. Still, his buyout won’t be substantial relative to prominent Big 10 and SEC coaches.
Jamey Chadwell
If you line up in standard pro-style sets and try to play straight-up power football against the top tier of the Big Ten, you are going to get mauled. Maryland also doesn’t have the resources and the roster to counter heavyweights like Ohio State, Oregon, USC, and Michigan.
Jamey Chadwell at Liberty would be an intriguing option for Maryland. The 49-year-old head coach has built his offense around a spread-option system that mixes triple-option principles with run-pass options.
His team operates just across the state line in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the scheme gives defenses plenty to account for before the snap. It can also help an offense compete against bigger defensive fronts without having to win every matchup through size and strength.
Between his stops at Coastal Carolina and Liberty, Chadwell already knows how to recruit the Mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas, and he would give Maryland a weird, dangerous offensive identity that Big Ten teams would hate playing in late November.
Of course, Chadwell is 25-13 in his Liberty career and went 4-8 last year. But this year, the Flames are bouncing back and are undefeated since their Week 1 loss against James Madison.
Chadwell’s rushing offense also ranks 15th nationally right now. Never mind that his defense sits 18th nationally, giving up just 291.7 yards per game.
Currently, Chadwell is on a $4 million-per-year deal at Liberty and has a reported $15 million buyout. That makes him one of the thriftiest options, at least in terms of his annual salary.