If head coach Mike Locksley made one thing clear ahead of spring ball, it was that the starting quarterback competition is wide open with five scholarship athletes currently on campus.
“That’s why I’m going into the room. I have no idea who my starting quarterback is,” Locksley said on Tuesday. “No idea who my starting quarterback is. I’m looking forward to figuring it out and you will be able to ask me that the Tuesday before UConn.”
Tuesday marked the first opportunity for the five-man QB room to begin separating themselves with Locksley coaching up his unit alongside grad assistant Eric Najarian. While both Cam Edge and Billy Edwards Jr. saw time in 2023, Maryland added QB MJ Morris from NC State this offseason to give Locksley another viable option under center this fall.
After entering the transfer portal following the 2023 season, all it took was an official visit to Maryland for Morris to decide his next stop.
“The main thing was really Coach Locks and his staff. I heard that they were building something special. I heard they have a great offense especially his track record of developing quarterbacks, developing good teams,” Morris said about his decision to transfer to Maryland. “And then Coach Gattis too, talking to him, seeing his knowledge of the sport, seeing his knowledge of the game. That just really intrigues my interest in coming here because I always want to be the best player physically and mentally and I feel like here was the best place to do that.”
Morris added that he and former Purdue center Josh Kaltenberger frequently worked on snaps inside Jones-Hill House leading into spring ball to begin building a rapport, but the film room was also a familiar spot for the new Terps quarterback after enrolling.
“Just being in my film book as much as possible. My free time, knowing that I have to get in that film, I have to study this offense, I have to know it like the back of my hand, or this offense can’t work because it all relies on me and we’ll see what I know in my head first. Just like I said, just in my film book, talking to coaches, talking to Billy, talking to Cam, talking to all the boys here, just knowing like how this offense supposed to be ran, talking to Tai Felton knowing, like on this play, where do you want this ball? Just stuff like that.”
New Maryland QB MJ Morris knew that his first practice “wasn’t going to be perfect,” but a chance to put the pads on and see what he’s spent the last two months studying finally come to fruition gave the newcomer a closer feel of the Terps’ offense.
It also gave Morris a chance to see what differs between the Terps’ scheme and what he did with the Wolfpack.
“At NC State, we didn’t do a whole lot of under the center so this is my first time really being under the center, having to do a play action, having to read the defense while I’m doing it at the same time. Talking to him, just learning the offense, just picking it up, keys and tips that can make this offense better, can make it run more efficiently. That’s what I’m here to do.”
After playing in nine games over two seasons with the Wolfpack, Morris is now moving full steam ahead toward becoming the replacement for Taulia Tagovailoa under center, but he’s far from the only one.
Billy Edwards Jr. drew his third career start in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, eventually leading Maryland to a 31-13 against Auburn. While he shifts his attention to becoming the full-time starter, Edwards knows his experience looms large through the spring.
“The one thing I always noted with Taulia that, [one thing] you can’t teach in a quarterback is experience,” he added. “And obviously I have some games under my belt, some games started, played in a handful of games. I think that that definitely helps me out with in-game experience because quarterback, when the live bullets start flying, it’s a lot different.”
Cam Edge also enters his third season with the program after getting a chance to flash during the bowl game, finishing 4-of-6 for 82 yards and his first career touchdown.
“It’s the first time my mom, dad, and sister all got to come and watch me play all together. It’s been a long time. That meant a lot,” Edge recalled. “It was really emotional to drive back to Delaware with them and see them out there the plays and everything like that. It was really good to see that and I’m really excited. I think it really propelled me forward.”
While third-year quarterback Jayden Sauray described the room as a “brotherhood,” Mike Locksley acknowledged that Taulia Tagovailoa is no longer with the program for the first time in four years.
“It’s been weird only because we had such a close relationship. As I said, we’ve watched every practice for four years he was here together from 10 o’clock at night to sometimes one in the morning. And he and I have grown up together. He as a quarterback, me as a head coach and it was a good four-year run, but you know what, all good things come to an end. We’re excited with the guys that we have in that room for. We’re recruited some really good guys. We’ve got a great opportunity to develop that room and see if we can continue to build on a foundation that Lia has had a part in laying.”
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