37 replies to this topic

[BSLZackKiesel]

Maryland is reportedly set to fire offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Josh Gattis. This move was expected after Mike Locksley took over play-calling duties during the season.

[BaltBird 24]

Didn't the offense get worse after Locksley took over play calling duties? Maybe the quality of opponent just got better.

[Ravens2006]

Locksley needs to figure out a way to field a competent defense...

[BSLMikeLowe]

By most statistical measures the Terps defense was better than the offense. Not by a lot, and neither were very good obviously, but the offense was worse. And while the QB play seemed to get worse as the season wore on, the biggest issue by far was the offensive line. That unit got eaten alive too often

[BaltBird 24]

Has a Maryland OL ever not been eaten alive in B10 play? I feel like Maryland is consistently poor in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Skill wise, they can compete with anyone. In the two most important areas, not so much.

[BSLMikeLowe]

They’ve had some good individual OL talent. Guys that made it to the NFL. But that’s a unit where one weak link is hard to hide, and you can really be exposed. And this year there was definitely more than one weak link, especially after Roye was injured.

[BSLZackKiesel]

They’ve had some good individual OL talent. Guys that made it to the NFL. But that’s a unit where one weak link is hard to hide and you can really be exposed. And this year there was definitely more than one weak link, especially after Roye was injured.

Don't forget Isaiah Wright, who was supposed to be the starting LT before he suffered that season-ending injury in summer camp. They were running their 3rd and 4th-string left tackles most of the year. There's a reason why Brian Braswell was fired during the season, and their best lineman (Kaltenberger) won't be back next year.

 

They had a very good offensive line in 2022, since then it's been more of a struggle. Outside of Kaltenberger, the transfer portal additions weren't up to snuff this season.

[Ravens2006]

I don't care so much about statistical whatever. The Terps defense under Locklsey can NEVER make important stops (or even many stops) against good competition. Never. They turn in to a sieve. Take the field against a good opponent, and either from kickoff til the end, or if it's a close game in the second half... someone is going to wind up running 15 yards free of the nearest defender for a TD. As sure as death and taxes...

[BSLZackKiesel]

Maryland's full schedule for next season has been released. They'll make one trip out west in October to face UCLA, I'm planning on heading out to Pasadena for that one.

 

[BaltBird 24]

At least they should get off to another quick 3-0 start and have us all excited for the inevitable disappointment against Wisconsin.

[makoman]

0 games against Oregon, Penn St, Ohio St, top 5 QB recruit, NIL money supposedly coming in...if you're ever going to do anything, 2025 seems like the time to do it. Don't be hoping for a win at MSU to get bowl eligible

[BSLMikeLowe]

Year-over-year results can be hard to predict in CFB, especially in the portal era. But outside of Michigan there's no traditional powers. That's about as friendly a schedule as you'll get in the Big Ten nowadays.

[BSLChrisStoner]

0 games against Oregon, Penn St, Ohio St, top 5 QB recruit, NIL money supposedly coming in...if you're ever going to do anything, 2025 seems like the time to do it. Don't be hoping for a win at MSU to get bowl eligible

 

 

Year-over-year results can be hard to predict in CFB, especially in the portal era. But outside of Michigan there's no traditional powers. That's about as friendly a schedule as you'll get in the Big Ten nowadays.

 

Every game except maybe Michigan, MD will have a 40-60% chance of winning according to ESPN's Match-up Predictor. 

 

Legitimately every game outside of Towson could go either way.   (That includes Florida Atlantic and Northern Illinois... games MD should win, but could theoretically lose.) 

[TwentyThirtyFive]

0 games against Oregon, Penn St, Ohio St, top 5 QB recruit, NIL money supposedly coming in...if you're ever going to do anything, 2025 seems like the time to do it. Don't be hoping for a win at MSU to get bowl eligible

Locksley will return to a bowl game at like 7-5 and have some some fans prasing him for it. The bar can never be too low for this guy.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Locksley will return to a bowl game at like 7-5 and have some some fans prasing him for it. The bar can never be too low for this guy.

 

First impressions, 7-5 looks about right. 

 

I'd appreciate bouncing back to respectability.   

And as someone that likes and appreciates Lox... I'd feel good for him. 

That (7-5 with that schedule) wouldn't have me wanting to extend his deal (believe it currently goes through at-least '27) though.

You'd be one year closer to the end of his deal.
Maybe people / boosters would be more inclined to make a move after next year, maybe not. 

 

Maybe 7-5 would have him return for '26.
I might be on-board with that, but definitely would not be enough for me to add on to his current deal. 

 

 

And since it seems clear that Lox is back for '25, I'm going to root for him. I know many will not. 
Believe the next HS signing day is in early Feb. 
Hopefully he can add a bit more to the current class, and hits the portal hard. 

And then hopefully he takes advantage of this very workable schedule, and at this point next year it seems clear the program has taken a step forward. 

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I give Lox crap because I genuinely think hes that bad but I dont root for him to fail. He can recruit. Maryland is never gonna be anywhere close to a football power obviously. If he was just a better coach he's about as good as you can expect here. But hes not even close to being a good coach. You'd ideally want an Indiana type season once in awhile. If Indiana can find a year every now and then to jump up and do what they did then there is no reason it cant happen at MD.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I give Lox crap because I genuinely think hes that bad but I dont root for him to fail. He can recruit. Maryland is never gonna be anywhere close to a football power obviously. If he was just a better coach he's about as good as you can expect here. But hes not even close to being a good coach. You'd ideally want an Indiana type season once in awhile. If Indiana can find a year every now and then to jump up and do what they did then there is no reason it cant happen at MD.

I like Lox the person, and respect that MD is his dream job. I like that he made real efforts to build relationships with his players, and programs across the DMV.  Felt he had built a pretty decent staff as well.

 

He seems like a good guy.

 

The 3 prior years, I appreciated the incremental growth... but at some point you have to take another leap forward.
The regression this year was unfortunate, and not something MD should be living with again.

He didn't get enough out of the talent he had this year.
The talent was better than the results.

That obviously falls on him. 

 

I'm glad it seems like some boosters are ponying up some $. 
Good, put it to use. 

One of the unfortunate things for Lox is that his best attribute (relationships, recruiting) has in-part really changed with the NIL. 

The portal now takes away from program development. 

Every year is 1 of 1.  

 

As far as MD never being a consistent power.... that might be accurate. 
But there is enough talent within 2 hours of College Park, for MD to become a Top 25 team with some consistency... but they have to break through. 

 

 

Indiana's success this year certainly shows that it can happen.

They've got a high quality coach, he brought 1/3 of his team from JMU, they were aggressive in the portal otherwise, and they put together a fantastic season. 

We will see how sustainable it is, but regardless...  they had a great year, and showed that a massive turnaround is possible. 

 

 

Back to MD, and 2025....as I said in the other thread... my focus if I was Lox and the checkbook is open: 

 

 

 

1) Try and retain who you want to keep.

2) Review the guys you pursued out of HS who went elsewhere... who isn't happy and could be lured based of the existing relationship?

3) Who from the DMV is having success elsewhere, but could be looking to come home?
4) O-Line, D-Line, Secondary. 

5) I'm going to be looking at the AAC, Mountain West, MAC, Sun Belt, CUSA  All-Conference Teams, and those are the guys I'm keying on. They've had collegiate success. They're looking for an opportunity to play in a better conference, and have that much more exposure.

 

[BSLZackKiesel]

Just one point of clarification to your post above Chris, Locksley is currently signed through the 2028 season. His deal was automatically extended by one year after he won 7+ games in 2023.

Maryland hasn’t earned bowl berths in 4 out of 5 seasons since 2006-10, so being bowl eligible next year would certainly be viewed as successful by the powers that be.

[Ravens2006]

At a glance it looks like a schedule they could MAYBE post a decent record against. Which raises the fool's gold concern. Locks will never field a credible defense here (that can slow/stop top tier teams, not just stat build against the also rans, small schools, and mediocres) based on a LONG coaching resume...

[BSLChrisStoner]

At a glance it looks like a schedule they could MAYBE post a decent record against. Which raises the fool's gold concern. Locks will never field a credible defense here (that can slow/stop top tier teams, not just stat build against the also rans, small schools, and mediocres) based on a LONG coaching resume...

There are maybe 5 teams in college football who play defense.