After leading Maryland football to its first winning season since 2014 and first bowl win in 11 years, coach Mike Locksley agreed to a new five-year contract that runs through the 2026 season, the team announced Friday.
The Terps are 13-23 since Locksley became head coach in 2018. His original contract was a five-year, $12.5 million deal, with an extra year extension after the 2019 season.
A banner season for Maryland, including a Pinstripe Bowl victory and the emergence of Taulia Tagovailoa at quarterback, led to a new deal for the 52-year-old coach.
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“Coach Locks has done a great job revitalizing our football program,” athletic director Damon Evans said. “Last season, culminating with the emphatic win in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, demonstrated the progress he is making. Coach Locks continues to build our program and has high expectations and we know he is the man to lead us there.”
Locksley received a substantial pay raise. After being the lowest-paid head coach in the Big Ten last season at $2.7 million, he’ll now earn $4 million in 2022 with a $100,000 escalator.
Incentives in the contract allow for the contract to be extended into 2027 and 2028. A seven-win season in 2022 triggers an automatic one-year extension. Another seven-win season in 2023 would add another year, or two years if he fails to reach the goal in 2022.
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The Terps will showcase their new squad for the first time at the annual Red-White Spring Game on April 30, and they’ll do so after locking down their coach for the foreseeable future.
“Maryland is not only my dream job, but it’s also home,” Locksley said in the release. “We are building something special here in College Park and I’m extremely grateful and honored to continue to serve as the head football coach at this outstanding university.”
