Mike Locksley is getting a pay raise.
The Maryland football head coach agreed to new terms to his contract, athletic director Damon Evans announced Friday. The amended deal bumps the coach’s salary up to $5.5 million in 2023 and will increase by $300,000 every year till the deal’s last year in 2027 for an average value of $6.1 million, per a Maryland source.
The coach was previously set to be paid $4 million with an increase of $100,000 a year, per The Washington Post. His contract initially was set to expire in 2026 but was automatically extended a year after the Terps won seven games. If they do so again, his deal will expire after the 2028 season when he’ll make $7 million dollars, per source.
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“I’m grateful for the belief that President Pines, Damon Evans and the entire administration has shown in me,” Locksley said in the release. “We are developing young men to be outstanding leaders both on and off the field, and our goal is to compete for championships in the very near future.”
The program is coming off back-to-back winning seasons and bowl game wins, the first time it’s done so since the 2013-2014 and 2002-2003 seasons, respectively.
Locksley arrived when the Terps were at their nadir. The program had fired coach D.J. Durkin soon after a player died of heatstroke during a summer workout.
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Locksley was then Alabama’s offensive coordinator and won the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant. He returned to Maryland for his third stint with the school after previously being on the offensive staffs from 1997-2002 and 2012-2015. He was named interim head coach in 2015 after Randy Edsall was fired.
The Terps hadn’t won eight games since 2010 — a mark they reached in 2022 under Locksley. The coach has provided stability and elevated the Terps from the Big Ten’s cellar. Now comes the toughest part — making them champions.
“We haven’t talked about championships since I’ve been here because we’ve had to build a foundation,” he told The Diamondback in March. “… We understand what it takes to win consistently, now it’s about performing at a high level against the best teams in this league.”
