Maryland football has its signed portal additions on campus while the rest of the signed 2024 class will arrive in mid-June as head coach Mike Locksley looks to guide the program to its fourth consecutive bowl game for the first time since 1982-85. While Maryland returns eleven starters on both sides of the ball, the Terps also have questions to answer after watching a handful of key veterans exhaust their eligibility. On Tuesday, anonymous coaches around the new-look Big Ten sounded off on their thoughts on Maryland heading into the 2024 season. Via Athlon: “The biggest need is finding a replacement for Taulia , and it doesn’t look like they had one guy really step up and do that in the spring." "They have a lot of talented individual pieces on both sides of the ball because Mike is an elite recruiter, but the knock on the program is that they’re missing something to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts." "I wouldn’t bet against that staff and their experience when it comes to personnel, though. I don’t think Maryland is going to top the nation in NIL, but that entire staff knows how to recruit, even if they’re losing a third of the roster every year.” While Maryland was never expected to name a starting quarterback coming out of spring ball, head coach Mike Locksley has been back in the quarterback room through the spring where he's been able to evaluate MJ Morris, Billy Edwards Jr. and Cam Edge among others as they take a patient approach with the competition heading into fall camp. Maryland also turned to the transfer portal to restock its offensive line as former Buffalo lineman Isaiah Wright has already arrived on campus, joining Aliou Bah (Georgia), Alan Herron (Shorter) and Josh Kaltenberger (Purdue) as offensive line coach Brian Braswell works to integrate his new starting five. While a pair of Terps went on to hear their names called during the 2024 NFL Draft with DJ Glaze headed to Las Vegas , Maryland lost a handful of players during the first transfer window with Jaishawn Barham (Michigan) and Corey Dyches (Cal) among the departures, but the Terps stuck out among its Power Four peers last month. Maryland became the only Power Four program not to have one outgoing transfer during the spring portal window, while the program announced the additions of both Wright and former Notre Dame punter Bryce McFerson. While familiar names like Tai Felton, Kaden Prather, Ruben Hyppolite and Dante Trader Jr. will lead the team into the season, fans will see new names step into larger roles including third-year receivers Octavian Smith and Shaleak Knotts and second-year running back Nolan Ray. Meanwhile, Maryland's defense returns ample production with three of the top five and six of the top nine tacklers returning in 2024 to give co-defensive coordinators Brian Williams and Aazaar Abdul Rahim. While the seven returning starters combined for 270 tackles, 18 TFLs, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and six interceptions in 2023, the defense also added former All-MAC CB Jalen Huskey while veteran safety Glen Miller fills the void left by Beau Brade. Maryland is set to open the 2024 season against UConn on Aug. 31 before kicking off conference play the following week vs. Michigan State in College Park. Maryland will host Villanova, Northwestern, USC, Rutgers and Iowa while traveling to Virginia, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon and Penn State in 2024. Maryland's matchup vs. Northwestern was announced as part of FOX's Friday night schedule with the home game now set for 8 PM on Oct. 11. Related Links
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