LAS VEGAS -- Maryland coach Mike Locksley admitted Tuesday that he "lost" the locker room in 2024 over which players to compensate, a factor that led to the Terrapins' worst season since Locksley's debut in 2019.
The Terrapins finished 4-8 and dropped all but one of their Big Ten contests last fall. Maryland had more players selected in the NFL draft (six) than wins, as it lost its final five games, all by 14 points or more. Locksley attributed part of the struggles to the changing financial landscape in college football, where Maryland had to make decisions on how to compensate players through NIL deals and ultimately created some divisions.
"I own the fact that I lost my locker room," Locksley told ESPN. "And this is Coach Locks, the locker room king, telling you this landscape, I had to choose between paying young players who were coming in or reward the older players that have been through the fire, three bowl wins, and I tried to do both with limited resources, and that's what you get, a locker room with the haves and have nots."
Locksley, who is entering his seventh season at Maryland and 10th overall as an FBS coach, called the experience "a valuable lesson" in how to manage players, relationships and expectations. Maryland won three consecutive bowl games under Locksley from 2021 to 2023.
"You go outside my locker room [now] and I have a sign that says: 'Leave your Louis belts, leave your financial statements and your car keys outside of this locker room, because in here we're all going to pay the same price for success or failure,'" he said. "If I've got to put my desk in that locker room, I will. A valuable lesson learned."
Locksley said the House settlement and the money Maryland distributes to its players have allowed him to focus more on the locker room rather than external fundraising. Maryland will enter the season with questions at quarterback -- where UCLA transfer Justyn Martin, redshirt freshman Khristian Martin and decorated incoming freshman Malik Washington, ESPN's No. 134 overall recruit, will compete -- and other positions.
"I call this a year of vulnerability for me, because I've been torn about what to say about our team when people ask, but I don't know what type of team we have yet," he said. "Some people, as a coach, it's like a bad thing to say, 'I don't know.' But it's a good thing that I don't know."
