Story By: Andrew Lang
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
There comes a time when you have to own up to what your team is capable of doing.. this year Terps Head Coach says the time has come and his players know that as well. The question is, with all of the Terps drafted in 2023 NFL Draft and the veterans and transfers finally the right group of players that Locksley has been looking forward to since becoming the Head Coach at Maryland? In a few weeks, we will have a better answer and so will fans.
“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.
“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.”
Most of Locksley has put in the minds of his players starts with the leadership of QB1, that’s Taulia Tagovailoa. He like other players present for the Media Day on campus this week knows he is not finished with his goals that he came here with.
” This is why I came back this year. These guys and the coaches here are committed to getting us to where we need to be. I think I have also grown to understand the mistakes that I made late in games last season and know that I can make the difference for all of these guys this season by being the best leader on and off the field,” said Tagovailoa.
The Terps have plenty of chances to get things right in the first three weeks of September as their first real challenge should be the game against Virginia. Would like to say this is the first challenge, but we also said that about several other opening non-conference games over the past few seasons.
Based on Locksley’s statements, there are no real chances to play games at any time this season. They have one goal.. win the Big Ten championship and compete strong in games against Ohio State and Michigan late in the season. This is going to help them get that championship, sooner than later.
Newcomers Ja’Quan Sheppard (Cincinnati) and Avantae Williams (Miami), both defensive backs, are promising transfers. Locksley brought in both of them to fortify a unit that had two players selected in the NFL draft.
