Maryland now enters year five of the Mike Locksley era. He currently has a 21-28 record with Maryland, but he has also shown significant improvement. After failing to eclipse three wins in his first two seasons, Locksley and Maryland have reached a bowl each of the last two years. Dan Enos departed for Arkansas after coordinating the offense last year. However, Maryland added former top assistant Josh Gattis as co-offensive coordinator with Kevin Sumlin.
On defense, they retain Brian Williams after taking over in 2021. He remains one of the best recruiters in the conference. This group also contains high-profile position coaches like former Texas State head coach Zac Spavital, who now coaches safeties. Whatever Locksley is doing, he hasn’t had any trouble bringing elite coaching to College Park.
Maryland HS Football New 2023 Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
Maryland returns Taulia Tagovailoa at quarterback for his fifth college season. Tagovailoa stands 5-11, 205 pounds. Last year, he took a slight step back, completing 67.0% of his passes for 7.7 yards per attempt. Overall, he threw 391 times for 3,008 yards, 18 scores, and eight interceptions in 12 games. The year prior, he completed 328 of 474 passes (69.2%) for 3,860 yards (8.1 YPA), 26 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Tagovailoa is a pocket statue with 187 career rushing yards on 194 attempts. Overall, he finished at the Big Ten’s sixth highest graded signal caller last year.
Billy Edwards is back as the backup. He threw the ball 46 times for 313 yards, three scores, and zero interceptions last year. His efficiency wasn’t bad with a 60.9% completion percentage and an 8.1 yards per attempt. Edwards does look like a decent rusher with 34 attempts for 136 yards.
Overall, the quarterback position should be in good shape as long as Tagovailoa stays upright. Something that did not happen last year.
Running Back
At running back, Maryland returns plenty of experience led by Roman Hemby. The 6-0, 200 pound back rushed for 988 yards and 10 scores last year on 187 attempts. He also caught 34-of-37 targets for another 315 yards. Hemby averaged 2.81 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 19.3% of his attempts.
They also return second-leading rusher Antwaine Littleton. Littleton rushed 77 times for 378 yards and six scores. He also caught all six targets for another 44 yards. Littleton averaged 3.94 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 26% of his attempts. Roman Brown, who rushed 30 times for 116 yards, is back as well.
While this position doesn’t have the name value of some other programs, they return a sneaky-efficient group.
Wide Receiver
Maryland lost Rakim Jarrett and Jacob Copeland this offseason, but they return leading receiver Jeshaun Jones, who caught 44 balls for 557 yards and four scores on 63 targets. Jones stands 6-2, 185 pounds, while playing in the slot 37.9% of the time. He posted a 1.7 yards per route, which tied for 26th in the Big Ten.
To ease their losses, Maryland added transfers Kaden Prather (West Virginia) and Tyrese Chambers (FIU). Prather comes in as a former four-star recruit, who caught 52-of-82 targets for 501 yards and three scores last year. Prather is a big body at 6-4, 211 pounds. He played out wide 96.3% of the time and his 1.67 yards per route ranked 23rd in the Big 12 last year.
Chambers stands 6-1, 195 pounds and caught 50-of-85 targets for 535 yards and four scores with FIU last year. He also played out wide on 97.2% of his routes, logging a 1.77 yards per route, which ranked 29th in C-USA. It should be noted that his 2021 season was much better with 1,069 yards and a 2.98 yards per route.
Maryland Football often runs four wide, leaving Tai Felton as the final presumed starter. At 6-1, 185 pounds Felton caught 23-of-35 targets for 309 yards in his second season with Maryland. He spent 16.8% of his time in the slot, logging 1.19 yards per route (46th). The main reserve looks like Octavian Smith, Shaleak Knotts, and Leon Haughton. Smith is a former four-star recruit and the 332nd ranked player in 2022. Knotts was also a 2022 four-star recruit and the 218th player in that class.