Messiah Delhomme ready to become impact piece in year two with Maryland football

Ahmed Ghafir
3 hours ago
3 min read

Messiah Delhomme is set to step into a starting role for Maryland football to replace Jalen Huskey as the starting free safety in 2026, yet it will also come one season after becoming a mainstay in the secondary rotation as a true freshman.

The former four-star out of Warwick (Va.) appeared in all 12 games and registered 39 total tackles, including his first career interception vs. Nebraska and his first career fumble recovery against Towson. Yet that also came after Delhomme made his mark on special teams after blocking punts in consecutive weeks, first in the week three win vs. Towson then week four road win vs. Wisconsin, to become one of just 11 players nationally to record two kicks in 2025.

Now, Delhomme is looking to become that impact piece in the secondary.

“The game slowed down a lot for me. I feel like that's the biggest change that I've had,” Delhomme told local media following Wednesday's practice. “Being in the playbook more, being able to watch film with my coaches, the assistant coaches, when it's time outside of the mandatory time, and also just doing it on my own.”

While Delhomme is an integral part of a secondary that's still ironing itself out with the cornerback room, he's also a big part of a defense that is adjusting to life without Zahir Mathis, though it's an absence that Maryland is confident they can mitigate with the other pieces on the roster.

“For our room that we have, I won't say it's easy, but it is easy. We have a lot of pieces in there that can, once again, that's able to fill his position. There's no drop off from where he was to where the rest of our room is. I feel like they all have a good standing of where they're able to fill in," Delhomme added.

“It impacts, but it doesn't impact a lot because we have guys that are ready to step up in his role, that's ready to fill in his position, and I feel like we got the younger guys that's ready to do it.”

More from Delhomme following Wednesday's media availability:

On balancing academics vs. football

“I would say, lean on your older peers to help you learn the system, and then also you always want to make sure you got your head in the books and always at study hall. And we always had the resources around us to get us the academic pieces that we need, and it's just up to us to be able to use them and use our resources.”

Something Delhomme wants Maryland to continue from fall camp

“I definitely wish we keep our brother's keepers moment throughout the season. I feel like that's something that really helps us stay grounded and stay connected and know each other's why, and so we know who we're playing for and what we're playing for.

On brother’s keepers moment

“Brothers Keeper moment is where we all get in little groups and we're all able to talk to each other, be vulnerable to each other, and know each other's why. So when we [are] out on the field and it's crunch time, we all know who we're playing with and what we're playing for.”

Where the OLB room has grown in fall camp

“I've definitely seen him grow a lot throughout spring, summer, especially over winter conditions, winter conditioning-they were just in the playbook more, a lot more, and they were always around each other to help each other grow and learn more knowledge.”

Any position groups that have stuck out to Delhomme

“All our groups in general. I feel like seeing it from last year to this year. I feel like we've come more as a team. Every group has brought their peace and their end, so that we can all end up towards our main goal.”

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