Maryland will kick off fall camp today as head coach Mike Locksley, defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, offensive coordinator Dan Enos, and special teams coordinator Ron Zook are set to meet with the media. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa will also be made available to the media on Friday ahead of practice at 2:30 as year three under head coach Mike Locksley is officially underway.
Led by wide receiver Dontay Demus, Maryland brings back seven All-Big Ten honorees from last season and returns the tenth-most returning production of any team in the country and highest in the Big Ten. The continuity on the roster that fans are elated to see is capped off with the 18th-ranked recruiting class in the 2021 cycle, good for fourth-best in the Big Ten.
It’s hard to bring up the potential for the 2021 Maryland season without mentioning the loaded wide receiver room that first-year assistant Zohn Burden inherits. While Demus is one touchdown away from moving to ninth in program history in career touchdowns, the Terps also saw five different leading receivers in all five games last fall as Nick DeGennaro, Jeshaun Jones, Rakim Jarrett, and Brian Cobbs all return to the program. Maryland also welcomes former four-star Marcus Fleming into the mix while tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo returns to the field after missing last season with myocarditis.
On the defensive side of the ball, all-Big Ten performer Mosiah Nasili-Kite led the Big Ten with 0.8 sacks per game last fall while outside linebacker Durell Nchami will look to build off his season-ending performance, forcing a pair of fumbles and totaling three tackles for loss to set new career highs. Nchami will line up opposite of either Lawtez Rogers or Demeioun Robinson, one key position battle to track this fall, while Fa'Najae Gotay and Ruben Hyppolite will likely lock down the starting MIKE and WILL spot.
Punter Anthony Pecorella enters his junior season sitting fourth all-time in Maryland history, averaging 41.5 yards per punt, and pinned eight of his 15 punts inside the 20-yard line. Senior kicker Joseph Petrino will look to return to 2018 form when he made his first 11 field goal attempts of his career.
We’ll have full on-site coverage from today’s media day and first practice.