Maryland will now have a big void to fill on the defensive side of the ball.
Safeties coach Wes Neighbors has accepted the same position at Ole Miss, first reported by On3 and confirmed by Inside the Black and Gold. Neighbors leaves Maryland after one season and was well regarded inside the building for his player development. Neighbors becomes the second assistant to leave the program after Mike Miller became the offensive coordinator at Charlotte under first-year head coach Biff Poggi.
Neighbors was part of five national championship teams at Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017) as both a player and staff member. Neighbors arrived in College Park after serving as the safeties coach at Louisiana with stops along the way at South Florida and Florida Atlantic.
Neighbors was an integral part of Louisiana’s defensive success in 2021 and carried that into College Park where he led the development of first-year starters Beau Brade and Dante Trader Jr. The starting tandem finished as the top two tacklers on Maryland’s defense with Brade finishing with a team-high 85 tackles to Trader’s 62. The duo also reeled in over a third of Maryland’s interceptions as Neighbors’ impact was evident in just one season.
Maryland head coach Mike Locksley is now tasked with replenishing a room that added Avantae Williams, Tamarcus Cooley, Alex Moore and Tayvon Nelson through the portal and high school ranks this offseason.
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