Mike Locksley on Spring Showcase, Maryland's new WRs, edge rushers

Ahmed Ghafir
7 days ago
7 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ04-gTsYjY

On transitioning to the Spring Showcase

“I mean, we got the work done [that] we wanted to get done in spring. We get 15 opportunities. As we've talked about, the landscape around spring ball, college football is a continuing change. Has a continuum to it. I thought it was more important for us to get the work done we needed to earlier. The spring game for us right now, the importance was to have the interaction to make sure with Maryland Day being the point of emphasis, open house for this beautiful campus, a little bit of football, but a lot of interaction of what I feel will be a really good team.”

I mean, it's a collaborative effort. Everything we do with our marketing department across over there in Xfinity, with the marketing people in house. I can tell you, our director of on campus recruiting, Kelsea Winkle does a tremendous job and her group. This was a vision I had because once I knew we weren't going to play a game, I thought it was important for us to do some football but I thought it was even more important for us to reintroduce the team because each year, it's a different team now, and it's no longer that, the group that from last year's this year, this will be a completely different team. And I thought it was important to introduce them and as I have gotten older and a little wiser, it's about them and not about me, which is why I like seeing the players kind of lead today and that's what I thought we got. And I thought it was a great day overall. It was a way to showcase Maryland. Took a little bit of the ode to our Midnight Madness that basketball does and we tried to do a little midday madness.”

On Proverbs 14:23, where the verse came from and how it played out

“It came from the Bible, obviously, Proverbs. It would be chapter 14:23. No, I'm a member of Zion Church and it's been a great foundation place for me, for our team, Pastor Keith Battle and his staff. Pastor Stefan is one of our chaplains that we have a service every game day. And in church, one of the things that just resonated with me a few months ago was a couple years, for the last two years, I've had to do a lot of talking, because we've had a young team that really is inexperienced, that didn't have any body of work. And so as the leader, I had to sell them. Well, this team is no longer freshmen and sophomores. They're now sophomores and juniors, and that means it's about them. And for me, I'm gonna do a lot less talking up here. You guys have written your stories. You already have the story written. And for me, I'm just gonna let the story play out and I'll let them do the talking. But proverbs 14:23 is around work, and it's basically the Locks translation is the more we work, the richer we will become, and the more we talk, the poorer will become. And so I figured I’d do a little less talking this year.”

On biggest accomplishment of the 15 practices

“We really looked at as we head into this new frontier of spring ball and football, we created a task force that basically looked at the sports science of how we need to practice. Studied it. We've done a collaboration with our business school, with some of our computer science school. We have our own sports performance people that have all the data. And so by doing that, we readjusted how we practice, the amount of time we spend on the field, the amount of time they spend on their feet. And what I wanted to do is, like a science project, kind of figure out how we need to practice, and the way we need to practice to stay healthy number one, which was a big issue for us a year ago, but also to improve and do more by doing less, per se. And I've been really happy with that task force that we put together, and it really helped us get through this spring and get the work done and we needed to get done.”

On Jalen Huskey getting drafted

“Yeah, I was able to FaceTime them. But probably even more for me, the pride I have. I've had a lot of guys drafted. I've had a lot of guys drafted, early, first rounders, Heisman Trophy winners. I've coached them all, but this kid, Jalen Huskey, this one's a really personal one, really special for me because I know his story. I mean, he was a guy that didn't get recruited by us out of high school, went to Bowling Green, earned everything that he's gotten, was a really good player when he arrived here on Maryland's campus. Played corner for us. I asked him to move to safety because we needed the help once we had some injuries there. [It] wasn't something he wanted to do, but he did it because the team needed him to and he embraced it, and really his career took off and to see him get drafted, the 100th pick of the draft, keeping the tradition on that we've had of getting guys especially out of that room, that defensive back room, to keep that tradition going, really proud for Jalen and he'll do tremendous down there in Jacksonville.”

On two new portal WRs, Chris Durr & Na’eem Gladding

“I think both validated what I thought we were getting. They both got through spring ball, really high football intelligence. They picked the system up, obviously going back to the different system that we've had here for a lot of years. To see them be able to pick it up as quickly as they have and then find ways to be productive within it was good to see. Both guys are mature guys. But probably the biggest thing that jumps out about both [of] them is they love the game. They love to play football. Durr is one of those guys that always has a smile on his face and competing. With Na’eem, he's one of those more serious guys but he brings a tremendous amount of intensity to his work.”

On the changes to the structure this spring

“I think what we're doing is that as this landscape continues to change, we're always looking for ways to improve, whether it's how we practice, improve the play on the field, improve the production on the field. I think what happens as your team gets older. Some of that naturally happens. Some of the changes we've made on the staff have really benefited us in terms of the development of a team that went from a freshman, sophomore laden team to now sophomore, junior laden team, a team that, like I said before, a year ago, led in the fourth quarter in some games and didn't know how to finish, learned some really valuable lessons that hopefully will will benefit us this year. So excited about the way it looks and the way it's moving.”

On TE Dorian Fleming

“Did you see him? Did you see Dorian out there? He was out there. Y'all didn't see Dorian. He was there. He was out there.”

On having multiple edge rushers

“We're gonna give them all credit. Ted [Monachino] has a pretty good room and it's a room that iron sharpens iron. A lot of great talent, a lot of great length and now they're sophomores with except for one, and they've really embraced the rookie coming in and showing him the way. So that room's a big room for us, a room that we got to have a lot of production out of and I expect to do that.”

On DD Holmes

“No, because he's a bigger different body type, but has the athleticism. Big time basketball player out of high school at Gonzaga, a guy that I really thought a lot of this spring. He's probably made the biggest jump of the group but I'm really happy with the way that room has performed and we've got some guys that will give us a chance to get after the quarterback.”

On the voting for the spring showcase

“The coaching staff does the voting each year. These awards stay the same. We rotate the names on the front of the award, and to me, it's an ode to honoring some of the former Terps that played here. One of the things that's happened here over the years is that you've had a lot of guys stand up in front as the head coach so you have a lot of players that, when they leave here and their coach that coached them is no longer here, they don't feel a connection. And so I've been here since 1997 off and on three different stints, 17, 18, seasons, year 18 on this campus. So I've been a part of a lot of Maryland football teams and being able to honor some of the guys from the 50s and. The 40s and the 60s and the 70s, is a way to continue to bring that community, that brotherhood, keep it together, keep those names alive, which is huge. I thought the Vellano family out there today who we named the award after the dad who the dad, Paul played here. The younger son came here and played mom was so happy. And to me, that's what it's all about, is paying it forward while still giving some homage to some of the great Terps that I had a chance to grow up rooting for.”

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