Mike Locksley on Maryland football's opener vs. Hampton, what he's looking for, RB room, fall camp takeaways

Ahmed Ghafir
5 hours ago
12 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsr1Ar3LlrQ

Maryland football is set to kick off the 2026 regular season this weekend as head coach Mike Locksley previewed what to watch, Malik Washington, the RB and WR room, what success in 2026 looks like and plenty more:

Opening Statement

“Sure, as always, appreciate the interest in our football program, everyone being here. Just want to start by wishing our fall sports, I know both soccers got going already. I think field hockey, cross country, volleyball, all of our fall sports. The coaches and teams, want to wish them the best as they head into their 2026 seasons. [We’ve] got some really talented coaches, women's soccer program and what Sasho has done, and some great athletes that are really excited to see what they do this year.

We had a really strong and productive training game, as we all said, coming out of it. For the most part, stayed relatively healthy. No one major injury coming out of summer camp. The goal was to be fast, fresh, and physical heading into week one, I feel like we've been able to accomplish that. I'm also looking forward to getting back inside The Shell on Saturday for us to start getting better. I feel like we'll do that. We've got a great opponent coming in in Hampton. A lot of respect for their head coach and their program, which I know a lot about.

Our game captains this week are Daniel Wingate, Malik Washington and Bryce McFerson”.

On week one success under Mike Locksley, keys for Saturday

“I think it starts with our training camps, and it’s the one time with this generation of athlete that, as I like to say, we're coming out of a 30-day period where we've done football 24/7. And then what happens, after training camp because of how locked in we are with football 24/7 and then school starts, people get on campus, a lot of distractions take place. And this is, for us, we do a good job of minimizing the distractions during training camp and it served us well. Obviously, getting off to a fast start, but as I've said to our team this year, nothing from our past will dictate our future and so nothing that we've done here in the first game will have any bearing on what we do this weekend other than how we prepared ourselves.”

On changed perspective on Maryland football this season

“My perspective has been really consistent and that's I think a byproduct of the consistency that it's still a young team, but we're no longer inexperienced. We've gained experience with how and what we've gone through. And so my perspective hasn't changed. I felt pretty strong that we have a good team, but at the end of the day, the work is going to have to be louder than our words, and so they've done the work so far.”

On what success looks like in 2026

“That's too big of a picture for me to worry about. I'm more concerned about Week One, Hampton. More concerned about adding them up. Like I said, I think at the media day, I'll let you guys add it up at the end and answer those types of questions. But for me, it's going to be about Hampton this week only. Not worried about our past. It’s not indicative of what the future looks like for us. So the focus is on Hampton.”

On the coaching staff during camp

“I tell you what, we're coming out of camp. I think as connected as a team that I've been a part of, and a lot of it is because of the work that the coaches have done. When you just look at the last two, three seasons in terms of just the landscape, the thing that just jumps out to me from a leadership standpoint is just how connected we have to be, especially with so many moving parts, new people coming in, people coming from different places, people coming from places that have different standards. And so for us, I think our coaches have done a really good job, not just this summer but throughout the spring, sticking to the vision that we set for how we had to get this team prepared for an important season.”

On position group that stuck out during fall camp

“I would say it starts with probably the running back room. It's a room that maybe we don't have a lot of depth in terms of - we typically have four or five guys that rely on it, but that room really [has] jumped out because we put a point of emphasis on our ability to run the ball better. And watching DeJuan Williams throughout training camp, and he's a guy that was injured early in his career in high school, missed most of his senior year, had the surgery. As we know, it takes about a true 18 months to get healthy enough off of the ACL, and I see the explosiveness back, the speed back. Iverson Howard, Ivy's done a tremendous job this training camp and all summer long and really has gotten caught up to speed to where I think the game has slowed down for him. And then the addition of Harry Dalton, also another playmaking threat, was a kind of a wing-T quarterback, a single wing quarterback in high school. So he's used to playing with the football, and kind of reminds me of the kid I had at Bama, Josh Jacobs as a player.”

On QB Malik Washington’s growth ahead of year two

“I thought last year, again, we threw him into the deep end of the pool who didn't have a lot of training camp reps because of the injury he dealt with. And to look at how he was able to play speaks volume to what type of player he is. Because for a guy that didn't have a training camp, true freshman starting every game, going through some tough times, some adversity as a quarterback, he never wavered. And what I've been most impressed in year two is, a year ago, he didn't know necessarily what his role was and he didn't try to force himself into a role. He let it organically happen and with most of his work. And then I know here I've talked about even his word and his spiritual foundation and the structure that he has with himself. And now I see him being verbal about it, and now, this team is starting to take on some of his personality in the locker room and how they approach things and I see him just a lot more vocal. There's no doubt about whose team this is. He's a guy that has earned the right to lead.”

On Maryland’s NFL representation

“It's always good. I mean, we do a good job, obviously, of developing players for the next level. To have 21 players on active rosters, practice squad, have 21 players be able to continue to fulfill their dreams as NFL players is a testament to what Maryland, and not just me, but the resources here throughout their tenure. From the professors, the academic counselors, the training room, a lot of people put time and energy into those guys. So I think it's a testament when you see them excel at the highest level. It's a testament to all the people that have poured into those guys.

On avoiding players from being poached

“ I think what I hear is a big picture question about the landscape. And to me, three years ago I leaned in and said, ‘Man, this thing has become transactional. I just don't know if this is - I'm not a transactional guy. But I doubled down on connection. I doubled down on relationships. And it kind of shows itself, the pundital savory returns 71% of a 4-8 team but I can tell you, a lot of people tried in their own ways to poach players from our roster. We've lost some talented players here, and we understand in this landscape you'll lose 20% of your roster every year. But I thought the way we've kind of anchored ourselves and our philosophy of building it, still with high school players because of the talent level of high school players in the DMV, the Tidewater area, which has been good, Jersey, that Mid-Atlantic Seaboard has been really good to us. That we can still double down on relationships and make sure that the reason people decided to stay here a year ago wasn't just because of NIL, because they had opportunities to maybe [go to] greener pastures, and you know we actually had a couple guys that took the trip on the other side and made a return. Those things really help us as a program and I think it speaks to the things that we do to create that connection.”

On style points on Saturday, what he wants to see Saturday

“The style points don't matter. We've had big victories around here with a lot of points. We've had close game victories. It's funny because I just left the staff room with our staff meeting, and the three things for us going into this game is I want to see us establish the ability to run the football in a game like this. Those are very clear, concise objectives. I want us to play clean. I love to see us come out of this thing penalty free to show that we have matured from a discipline standpoint. And then last but not least, I would say execute at a really high level in all three phases. And if you do those things, all that other stuff takes care of itself. So I don't get into how we win. I get into the process and the habits that it takes to win and that's where we'll lie. And that's what the whole the more we work, the richer we’ll become because those habits and creating them are the work we have to do. If we sit around and talk about winning and talk about how much we win by or all those things, it doesn't help us.”

On the secondary, CB Jordan Scruggs

“I think the unit development starts with - we've expedited the growth of some talented young players. Darrell Carey comes to mind. One of those young players that got here in the spring. You think of a guy like Zahir Cobb, another young player that really has shown, and he got here in June, and in a short period of time, he'll be one of those guys I think that'll that'll jump out to people a lot like Messiah Delhomme did a year ago, maybe starting on special teams first, having an impact. And then you throw in obviously Amari Jackson, new player from Boston College. It's a talented, talented room and it's we've got some depth there that kind of creates competition. And to me, that's probably the best thing that's happened is that we have competition with a lot of different positions that really make us better.”

On Zion Elee’s recruitment

“It happens a lot. But again, I keep going back to connection. The reason a lot of these guys come here is because of relationships. I know everyone talks about the money and the NIL and the landscape, and I keep talking and teaching and trying to create resources about the other things that are what's important. I always go back to doing what's right and in recruiting, that's what I've tried to do, do what's right by the kids. I'm not here to necessarily be the friend, and I'm not the cool coach, the young cool coach that used to be able to recruit that way. I recruit pretty authentically. Tell it like it is. I call it moral courage when you can tell players the truth, even if it hurts. And I think some of these kids respect that and they've seen the success that players that have come through this program have had. I think Zion is a byproduct of that with relationships and connection being the core to all that.”

On the interior DL depth

“I mean it's great having Vani back, Lavon Johnson. Spent the year at Texas for whatever reason, made the decision to come back, and he's improved as a player. Haven't gone away now, come back and matured quite a bit. ET, Eyan Thomas has been [a] steady player for us. Missed the spring with injury, but is back and really excited about him. And you throw in the Parker Twins and Jayvon and Armon and you throw in 88, LeBlanc. Derrick LeBlanc. We've created some depth. I haven't even mentioned the Bryce Jenkins of the world, who last year as a true freshman had a huge impact. And probably coming out of camp, I'd say that you know guys like Derrick LeBlanc, Lavon Johnson, new players, they'll come in. ET has been ET. He does what he showed us. He has ability to do. I've seen Bryce get better and mature. I've even seen [Joel Starlings] end up getting. He'll be a guy that will help us quite a bit this year.”

On the WR room

“Those are three really fun guys that coach, meaning, those guys are guys that, around our building called the Locks guys. These are guys that love football. I mean, Chris Durr, I don't think he has a bad day on the practice field. Enjoys it. Loves the art of getting better. Loves the art of developing. Na’eem Gladden is another one of those guys, has shown tremendous amount of maturity for a new player. He's part of our leadership council, has come in and kind of led one of those quiet leaders with his work ethic. So having those guys and then Kaleb in year two is so much more comfortable. Has a great understanding of our structure and our standards around here and I expect him to build on what I thought was a pretty good year one here.”

On what Locksley wants to see this weekend

“Again, it goes back to our objectives for game one: play clean, turnovers, self-inflicted wounds, the penalties. It's always a good sign of maturity if you can come out of game one playing clean. Establishing the run on offense, we got to be able to do it this year. We got to make that a part of our DNA. And then on defense, it's tackle, tackle, tackle. How well you tackle in game one is a direct byproduct of what kind of team you got, what kind of defense you got. I’ve got to get them excited about running to the ball and tackling, and if we do those three things well, we'll have the type of success we will have.”

On the development of a P4 QB

“I mean, I think the biggest jump is the consistency of him understanding our system. We brought in a new offensive coordinator. The Maryland system on offense has been kind of a gumbo in terms of it takes the best of the things we do that's consistently what we've always done, and then we add to it, and Clint's been able to do that. And I think the part of Malik's maturity is much like I saw with Jalen, his maturity from year one to year two, is just that comfort level of coming in as the established starter, and then the offense taking on the personality of him, how he works in the offseason, how he prepares himself, it becomes a trickle-down effect. And it's also how he's led on the other side of the ball. I know our game captains this week, both he and Daniel have been huge, huge leaders for our program from January till now.”

On coaches trying to get NFL players on college rosters

“I mean, I really can't speak on it because I haven't paid a lot of attention to Lane. Lane's one of my old roommates back in the day at Bama, so I know him well. He's always going to be on the cutting edge of doing things. If the rule was you could bring those players back, I think he's trying to play by the rules. Here, I run everything through the trickle-up effect. I got bosses. There's definitely some guys I would love to have a chance to bring back to play for us. Guys like Octavian Smith and you know Alan Herron if things didn't work out. So I can't sit here and throw stones at Lane and not say that when those things happen, we did our research like everybody else. I know a lot of people are acting holier than thou, and they're usually guys that don't have room at the bottom of their scholarships to bring in guys. And so, I don't know Lane’s situation personally, but I'll be the first to tell you that when it passed, when the blanket waiver happened, there were definitely – we'd be remiss as a recruiting staff to not look at guys like Octavian Smith. We could have benefited from having an Oct back here if the Big Ten rules allowed it, if the national laws allowed it. Now that the rule has come out, we’ll play with the guys we have and make it work.”

On replicating game settings during the offseason

“Put them in live game scenarios. We practice. We scrimmage. We pay officials to come work our practices on a daily basis. We keep penalty reports in practice. I know who our most penalized players are coming out of training camp every single day. It's a metric we keep, and so it isn't that it hasn't been a point of emphasis. And again, you guys know how I feel about penalties because there's a lot of things called that aren't necessarily penalties, and sometimes depending on who you are, sometimes the penalties tend to flow a little more your way and they seem to do that for us. We spent the last six, seven months really working on focus because most penalties that happen before the snap happens because of focus. And we've done a lot of things to reinforce what happens when we don't play with them with the standards that we want.”

On what Locksley’s excited for ahead of week one

“The biggest for me is actually, every year there's a few players that just pop up out of nowhere and end up being really talented players for our season. And as a head coach, I mean, I always say it's almost like Christmas because I really don't know what type of team I have yet. And I think I said this a year ago, I will find out what type of team I have when we first face adversity. We faced a little bit of adversity a couple days ago when we went from guys, everybody with the same color jersey, to have a scout team, and then we address, hey, what does that black jersey mean? Does that mean it's the end of the world? So I'm excited to see a young team grow a little bit more this season as a coach that's invested a lot of time, energy and efforts into it contrary to what most people think. We definitely put a lot of time, energy, and effort. And I'm excited to see this young, no longer inexperienced team, but experienced team grow and play to the standards.”

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