Interim coach Mike Locksley speaks during his introductory press conference at Gossett Team House on Oct. 11, 2015.
Mike Locksley is getting a second chance.
The former offensive coordinator was named the Terrapins interim football coach to replace Randy Edsall, who was fired Sunday. Although it’s a temporary role, he has an opportunity for redemption after a disastrous two-plus-season stint at New Mexico.
Locksley is confident he’ll be more prepared for the challenge this time, comparing a coach’s evolution to a father’s progression — Locksley has four children — as he learns from previous mistakes. But Locksley maintains he is solely focused on closing this season on a high note, not on improving his job prospects.
Either way, Locksley, who has been the Terps offensive coordinator since 2012, will have a platform to showcase his coaching talents. And with the Terps sitting at 2-4, he plans to shake things up in the locker room and on the field heading into the Penn State game Oct. 24 after the Terps’ bye week.
“You won’t see us coming in and making wholesale changes,” Locksley said during an introductory press conference Sunday. “But as I told the fellas, there will be some small tweaks as how we do some things around here, and that’s just based off my philosophy.”
READ MORE: Anderson fired Edsall due to lack of progress.
After Athletic Director Kevin Anderson told Edsall on Sunday he was fired, Anderson spoke with Locksley and offered him the interim coaching position. Locksley accepted and later in the day addressed the team in a quick meeting.
Locksley’s message: Change is difficult, but the Terps must move forward and put this saga behind them.
“We are still in a position to still reach some of the goals that we set going into this thing,” Locksley said. “As a staff and as a team, we make the commitment, talk about being all in, well, we’ve made the commitment to finish the job that we started.”
The Washington native has now held three positions with the Terps. From 1997 to 2002, Locksley was an assistant, working with the running backs and serving as a recruiting coordinator for much of that time.
The Towson alumnus — he played cornerback there — got the New Mexico job in 2009. Despite the reputation as a great recruiter, he was fired four games into his third season with a 2-26 record. The Terps hired him the next season.
“It’s like having kids,” Locksley said of his head coaching experience. “When you have the first one, you’re learning by trial. And obviously the second one comes, and because of those experiences, you’re able to learn from them and not necessarily make some of the same mistakes you made the first time.”
Locksley has a crucial role in the Washington, D.C. area-to-UMD recruiting movement and helped reel in high-profile recruits such as former Terps wide receiver Stefon Diggs and redshirt freshman offensive lineman Damian Prince.
While Anderson said Locksley will be a candidate for the permanent head coaching job, Locksley didn’t mention a desire to lead the program beyond this season.
“We haven’t even talked about how we are going to move forward,” Anderson said, “but I expect Mike will do a great job.”
For now, Locksley, whose son Kai is a freshman quarterback at Texas, is focused on building on the Terps’ performance Saturday in a 49-28 loss to No. 1 Ohio State.
The quarterback position, a problem for the Terps all season, has stabilized with the reintroduction of Perry Hills to the starting lineup. But the Terps are in the midst of a three-game losing streak and have been beaten by 21 points or more in each of their four losses this season.
Locksley said that has to change.
“Somehow, some way, we’ve got to find a way to get these guys again moving forward, and continuing the process of improving the program,” Locksley said.
