Maryland AD Jim Smith on Maryland football, resources for roster retention, booster control, Midnight Mile

Ahmed Ghafir
8 hours ago
3 min read

The freshman class for Maryland football was expected to become an integral part of the program's foundation for the future, but with the 2025 regular season wrapping up in roughly one month, the next question becomes whether Maryland can retain them all. For athletic director Jim Smith, he’s putting a premium on providing the coaching staff with the necessary resources to avoid other teams from being able to pluck the talent across the Terps’ roster.

“That is the job. I think that's my job, right? I think that to find the resources to make sure we can retain all our top talent and that they - as long as they want to be here, we're going to get a deal done,” Smith said on 105.7 The Fan on Thursday. “I mean, this is about keeping our best talent in the state of Maryland that grows up here and then the best talent on our roster. And we're committed to getting those resources to make sure that happens. We're not going to get outbid by anybody. I'm not going to let that happen. So I feel really confident that we're going to be able to retain everybody we want to retain.”

Smith also backed head coach Mike Locksley on Wednesday, telling the Baltimore Sun that he has “confidence in Locks” in the midst of the three-game slide. Maryland will now prepare to face Indiana with a chance for the program’s first ranked win since the 2022 Mayo Bowl as Smith looks for the team to play a complete game after suffering three straight losses despite holding a fourth quarter lead in each.

“I think we look back at the - I look back at the season, and say so far, we've played three and a half really good quarters. Four quarters in Wisconsin, three and a half really good quarters in our next three Big Ten games. And you know, it's got to be a little better than that,” Smith added. “I think one of the things that we all recognize is we got a really young team and now it's time to stop saying we’re a young team and we have to get them to play at that next level. Everybody's got to understand in the Big Ten, when you're getting to the fourth quarter, there's a fourth gear that everybody's got to hit. And I think the coaches certainly see that. I think they understand that and now it's their job to get them to translate that to the players, to play at another level in that final eight minutes of the game.”

More from Smith during Thursday’s appearance:

Q: Are you in total control or are the boosters in total control?

“I feel like I'm in total control that the decision on how this department is going to run is mine. But look, everybody's going to take input. No one sits in their office thinking, ‘hey, we're not going to listen to what someone has to say.’ So, but the ultimate decision sits with me.”

On the Midnight Mile

“It's really a tribute to Lefty and continuing that legacy with - there were a lot of students out there at midnight to run that Midnight Mile. And hey, they're a lot faster than I thought they were. I thought I was gonna be able to keep up with them, but that was not the case. But it was a great night, a very festive beginning to men's basketball after we had the men's and women's basketball banquet earlier in the evening. Just out at Ludwig field, real positive energy and just a fun evening to be out and really kick off basketball season.”

On the NBA gambling news

“I think we’re all shocked. At least I’m shocked. You’re right, gambling is pretty pervasive but it is one of the things that keeps you up at night. I mean, it's a scary, it's a scary situation. And there's not a lot of - we do the education, but there's just not a lot of parameters to prevent it. And now that the NCAA is determined that student athletes can place wagers on professional sports, you know, I'm not a fan of that. I understand why they did it, but it just makes it that much harder.”

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