Mike Locksley will stay in place as Maryland’s soccer coach in 2026, and the varsity plans to considerably enhance monetary help for this system, athletic director Jim Smith instructed ESPN.
Locksley is in his eighth season with the Terps (4-6), who’ve misplaced six straight video games. Maryland went 4-8 final season after successful bowl video games in three consecutive seasons, which marked the longest such streak in program historical past.
Smith instructed ESPN that prioritizing retaining key gamers, together with a star-studded freshman class, is a giant a part of the technique. Smith additionally mentioned Maryland must catch up financially to be aggressive with the highest groups within the Large Ten.
“We’re working to strengthen our NIL help for 2026 and past and have already seen success for subsequent yr,” Smith instructed ESPN. “We’re prioritizing roster retention, recruiting and competing within the switch portal.”
Smith mentioned he knowledgeable Locksley and the crew on Sunday. He later shared an open letter to Terp Nation.
Locksley is 37-47 in his eight seasons at Maryland. He went 1-8 in league play final season and is 1-6 this yr. It could have value greater than $13 million to fireside Locksley, in accordance with his contract.
Together with the spectacular run of bowl wins, Locksley has compiled a robust younger nucleus on this crew. That features promising freshman quarterback Malik Washington (13 passing TDs, 4 speeding) and two productive freshman defensive ends Sidney Stewart (8.5 TFLs) and Zahir Mathis (7.0 TFLs).
These gamers have been a key a part of a 2025 recruiting class that included seven ESPN 300 commits and was ranked No. 24 within the nation by ESPN.
“We’re optimistic in regards to the younger expertise in our program and the place we’re in recruiting,” Smith instructed ESPN.
Smith mentioned the obtainable NIL cash for Maryland can be considerably greater than Locksley needed to work with in 2025.
“Everybody concerned with the soccer program is concentrated on giving Coach Locksley the assets to reach the Large Ten,” Smith mentioned.
Maryland’s choice comes quickly after Wisconsin made an identical announcement about coach Luke Fickell, whose crew is struggling by way of a second straight shedding season.
Maryland began the yr 4-0, together with a dominating 27-10 win at Wisconsin to open the Large Ten schedule. From there, the Terrapins misplaced three consecutive one-score video games, together with squandering a 20-0 third-quarter lead in opposition to Washington. Maryland misplaced to Indiana, Rutgers and Illinois in its previous three video games.
Maryland performs seven residence video games in 2026, together with 5 Large Ten video games at residence and a nonconference schedule of Hampton and Virginia Tech at residence and UConn on the street.
