Maryland fired head football coach Mike Locksley on Oct. 21, 2026, after the Terrapins started the season 2-5 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play. Locksley departs with a 39-54 overall record and a 17-52 mark in conference games. The program has won only two Big Ten games since the start of the 2024 season.
Interim head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim lost his debut 20-17 to Illinois on a 26-yard walk-off field goal, leaving him 0-1 in the role.
Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert has emerged as a leading candidate for the vacancy. Dickert, who left Washington State for Wake Forest after the 2024 season, is 15-5 (8-5 ACC) in his second year with the Demon Deacons. His team has won its last four ACC opponents by a combined score of 187-31. He previously went 8-4 in his final season at Washington State.
Jack Sheehan, a reporter covering the Terrapins, noted that Dickert's defensive background and experience building competitive rosters without elite recruiting classes make him an attractive fit. The bigger question, Sheehan said, is whether Maryland can persuade him to leave a power-conference job where he has already found early success.
The search is expected to include several other candidates, with a decision anticipated in the coming weeks.
