National analyst pessimistic about Maryland football's chances with two head coach targets, highlights local coach instead

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Maryland football is set to return to action this upcoming weekend when they face Illinois for a noon ET kickoff, giving head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim a chance to begin his interim tenure on the right foot. Yet with Maryland officially moving on from Mike Locksley midway through his eighth season, the second half of the 2026 season has now given Maryland fans a chance to look ahead at who are realistic candidates to take over as head coach.

John Brice of USA Today and FootballScoop, a national site tracking and scooping coaching moves across the country over the last decade, expressed pessimism surrounding Maryland's chances with some of the top names attached to it. That includes Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert and New Mexico head coach Jason Eck, who one agent noted would be unlikely for Maryland without any significant changes to the NIL budget, which ranks in the middle of the Big Ten. Another agent expressed pessimism surrounding the two hot name candidates while noting the search, "starts and ends with Huff, in my opinion.

"If [Huff] doesn’t want it, we get into Lance Taylor, Dan Mullen, Brian Kelly. Not sold the Indiana coordinators would even consider it.” Brice also noted that the coordinators at Miami (FL) -- Shannon Dawson and Corey Hetherman -- are unlikely to be interested in the vacancy.

One name that Brice did point to as a sensible fit is Jeff Monken, the cousin of Browns head coach Todd Monken and the head coach at Army since 2014. Monken has amassed a 94-65 overall record, including 16-5 record since joining the American Conference in 2024. The 59 year old has never been a head coach at the Power Four level after joining Army following a four year stint at Georgia Southern where he went 38-16 (22-8), but winning records in five of the last seven seasons and seven bowl appearances since taking over the Black Knights sticks out. Brice also highlighted that Monken visited with LSU, Ohio State and Oregon over the last 1.5 years.

“If they can’t be better (from a talent standpoint), they would be wise to be different than everyone else. Nobody could win consistently at Army, either," a sitting head coach told Brice.

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