Michael Hershey eyes chance to become "one of the best centers in the country" in 2026

Aug 2

3 min read

Maryland football’s offensive line has a veteran leader in Isaiah Wright back to lead the unit day in and day out, while left tackle Rahtrel Perry is back looking ahead at the chance to showcase his year two jump in the Big Ten. Yet the anchor of the unit sits at center in returning starter Michael Hershey, a former three-star out of Spring Grove (Pa.) who has materialized into a mainstay in the trenches.

After appearing in six games as a true freshman while learning from veteran Josh Kaltenberger, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, Hershey made the seamless transition into an elevated role in 2025 after starting in all 12 games for a unit that allowed just nine sacks all season. The mobility and pocket presence that true freshman Malik Washington brought to the quarterback room attributed to the pass blocking success, but Hershey’s presence was the steadying presence needed in the middle.

The flashes as an underclassman led Hershey to draw offseason recognition after being tabbed as the eighth-best draft-eligible center by The Athletic in the spring, an accolade that head coach Mike Locksley views as deserving after watching him develop into “what I call one of the best centers in the country.”

“[Hershey] will be a guy that by the end of the year, that people will know the name, Michael Hershey,” Locksley said at Big Ten Media Day. “Super smart, tough, reliable. As you know, the center position is kind of the escort, the Secret Service for the quarterback and how he gets the lines all set up. And Hershey’s one of those smart, tough, reliable players.”

For Hershey, the accolades leads to deserving praise from his family and friends while staying focused on the chance to take the next jump. "I'm not big into looking at that. As coach Locks says: it's not about the talk, it's about the work and it's the results at the end of the day. Are you winning or not and are you performing?"

The 6-foot-5, 295-pound center was able to build on the success of his sophomore season in spring ball with the mental aspect of the game clipping “with the concepts and the plays that we're running.”

“It's just the game slowing down, and be able to go out there and pick apart these defenses piece by piece, and hone in on the small things, it definitely helps my game a lot,” Hershey said.

With Hershey one of three returning starters, the unit is working to build on the foundation with the clear focus on improving one area: establishing the run.

Maryland ranked 88th in yards per carry and 124th nationally in rushing yards per game in 2025 despite Pep Hamilton arriving with a pedigree and focus on revamping the run game. With Clint Trickett now in place installing a system that head coach Mike Locksley said is the one “Malik [Washington] was recruited to play in,” the emphasis has been on creating that balance in 2026.

“You see Coach Trickett’s background, you see he runs the ball a lot more and that can tell something right away,” Hershey said. “Last year we may not have been so efficient running the ball, but this year, we're definitely attacking that and going after our weaknesses in the run game, so you'll definitely see a different offense coming here. We've been stressing it the whole offseason, and we've just been going over and over day day in and day out, and the guys have really been buying into it, so we're feeling confident going into this training camp.”

With that, Hershey knows what would make 2026 a success on offense: “running the ball.”

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