Mike Locksley after Michigan loss: "we just weren't good enough today"

Ahmed Ghafir
4 days ago
7 min read

Everything that head coach Mike Locksley said after Maryland’s 45-20 Senior Day loss vs. Michigan:

Opening statement

“First of all, credit to Michigan. Really good team. [I] want to Secondly, thank our seniors. These guys really have done a tremendous job the last couple of years of modeling what true leadership looks like, especially through a tough stretch here for us. And as I told them in the locker room, the leadership that they've shown us through this tough stretch these last couple of years for this group of seniors, especially some of the older guys have been around here. They've really modeled for an inexperienced team what it looks like that you just keep showing up and you keep swinging, which they did. We’ll grow because of the work that this group has put in. I know this team will keep fighting. As long as there's time left, we'll keep fighting, keep showing up and working.

We have one more opportunity next week in Detroit to send our seniors out with a win and I know this team because the character they've shown the last seven weeks here, will continue to do that and send off and finish this thing the right way, as we travel up next week after Thanksgiving, to go play Michigan State. We just weren't good enough today. It starts with me as the leader, and we all take a look at this film and get things corrected and finish it up the right way.”

On Michigan’s offense, toughest part about containing them

“I mean, obviously 12-of-14 on third down, the execution of getting off the field showed up again. Now I give our defense. I mean, they played a short field all game long. Obviously the kicking game and the drive starts for them was not advantageous, but we do have to be able to get off the field on what we call money downs and didn't do that today. Didn't do it very well.”

On Michigan rushing for 228 yards

“The way it looked on the field for me, until I watch it, the ball came off the edge. We didn't set the edge of the defense very well. The last few weeks has been a lot of what we call interior runs. Today, the ball came off the edge of the table, which typically means that we've got to get the force players down tighter. They've got to do a better job of forcing the ball back to where the help was. And today, I didn't see a lot of the ball being forced back inside. Ball came off the edge of the table too many times.”

On whether Locksley can take anything away from Michigan’s development of Bryce Underwood to implement with Malik Washington

“I haven't studied Michigan enough to know what they've done with Bryce other than getting prepared for this week. I think our freshman quarterback has played pretty well. And are there ways and areas that he can play better? No doubt. But haven't studied them enough to be able to make that assumption.”

On takeaways from Malik Washington’s freshman season

“Ny this time of year, I think as a freshman that didn't play a lot during training camp, missed all of training camp due to injuries, I think that he's played pretty well for us and has given us some opportunities to win. Is there room for growth? There's room for growth for all of us, but for a true freshman quarterback, I think he's played pretty well.”

On Michigan converting 12 of 14 third down attempts

“I mean, I got to go watch it. I mean, it starts with making the plays that are there. We've had some opportunities on some of the third downs. Look like our under coverage on some of the longer situations, I know they hit the tight end in the seam a couple times. It's tough for me to get up here and answer why and exactly how everything that happened. I'll get it watched, get it evaluated. I know it just happened too often, and we've got to get it stopped and get off the field.”

What Locksley hopes the young core are learning from the losing streak

“Well, one, I hope that they're taking the leadership traits that this group of seniors have shown, which is, there's not been one time I've shown up on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to get this team ready to play that I don't feel like they showed up ready to do the work necessary. As I said, this team has some really deep, rooted connections and have stayed really, really together throughout this tough skid. It's a byproduct, like I said, you don't always get what you work hard for. Those are life lessons that will benefit us all. I can tell you nobody wants to win more than that group in that locker room and us as a coaching staff and the support staff that helps get this thing going day in and day out. But we're going to keep showing up, keep working, keep doing the necessary work. And I know that because of what the seniors have modeled, especially through this last two-year stretch, they've left a strong impression on what it looks like and how you're supposed to work.”

How to keep the young foundation engaged

“As a coach, it's my job to keep them engaged. I think the way you do it is you continue to show some signs of progress, where they played well and things they do in small areas of progress. The end result is the key, winning is what it's all about. But for me, I've got to keep showing this an experienced team because they're really not young now and as we get into week 11 or week 12. But with this team, it's a matter of just continuing to show them where they've done things well while also correct in the areas that we got to get corrected.”

On special memory of the senior class

“We honored those guys. Those guys did a really good job this week of, like I said, modeling what it looks like. They didn't make it about them, and that's what I think that group has been all about. This group has been a group that, even though they could have made it about them, they've made it about leaving the right kind of impression on a team, even though things aren't the way they want it to be. And they show what it looks like when you don't get what you want, you still got to show up, put the work in, and play and do work to the standard. And that's what I think this group will be known for. And I think you'll see the fruits of their work within what this thing looks like moving forward, especially for some of these young players that are getting opportunity to see it firsthand.”

On lessons learned for the team moving forward

“That’s the tough part because this landscape doesn't allow it. I think what you're going to start to see is every team has a single identity. The years - and I've said this - the years of saying you're here to develop development is not the case. I mean, we develop players within our team, but to take one team from last year to this year, every year, it's going to have its own identity. And we'll be defined by the present, by what we are and who we are today. And I can tell you that we obviously have some talented, inexperienced players that just have to get back on the on the horse and learn how to win. Learned that, sometimes just a little bit more detail and what we do and how we do it is the difference. And we saw some of that today where we just missed on some explosive plays, whether it be an interception on defense, whether it be the deep shot down the sideline where we're just missing. And so it's my job to get us to hit those plays and we'll learn from them.”

On the early trick play, onside kick, then punting on 4^th-and-5 on the next possession

“So again, we wanted to play aggressive to generate explosive plays. I mean, we dissect. I mean, it's amazing how we can dissect every single play. But the end result is this, the way you create explosives or momentums, either a player makes a play or a coach designs or schemes or calls things to generate an explosive. We tried to steal a series. I don't know if you know, our kicker, [Philip Noyes] who typically kicks off, wasn't available, and so we had a [Ryan Capriotti] kicking off, and we put the surprise onside in, some things we saw to try to steal a possession, generate some momentum, generate explosives. We wanted to be aggressive. We had the reverse pass that we end up, Malik [Washington] scrambled. Again, we had to hit the top of that redzone area. Here's a coach trying to design a play to create an explosive but then we get it 4^th-and-5. And I don't know how it got compared to that, but now we can get we had a really good punter who pins people down inside the five-yard line with punts quite a bit. And so we decided to try to pin and play good defense and then flip the field position. So that's how those decisions were made.”

On message after Lavain Scruggs’ dropped interception, Jalil Farooq’s dropped touchdown

“Catch the ball, make a play when they're there. I mean, these are obvious things that you when you know coach's job is to take players where they can't take themselves and that's my job. I got to figure out how to get Jalil to make that play. I got to figure out how to get Lavain to make that play. But I think if you bring those guys up here, they'll stand in front of you just like I'm owning it and taking accountability, they'll stand right in front of you tell you that they're capable of making it and they need to. So not a lot needs to be said. It needs to be done.”

Related Links