Five Head Coach Candidates Maryland Should Avoid Pursuing
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It's been a full week since Maryland football fired head coach Mike Locksley amidst a five-game skid. Since then, a plethora of replacements have been floated around, including my own list of five coaching candidates for the Terps to consider.
But what hasn't made the rounds yet is a group of candidates Maryland should stay away from. This hire needs to both give the fanbase genuine optimism while being realistic in regards to what the program can afford, yet not every suggestion fits those criteria.
I'm not including interim head coach Azaar Abdul-Rahim in this group, as despite both his and Terps' Director of Athletics Jim Smith's insistence otherwise, he shouldn't be in consideration to begin with.
Instead, I've decided on these five names, all of whom have been linked to Maryland in some way:
1. Frank Reich - New York Jets Offensive Coordinator
At first glance, Reich may seem like a great fit. A Terrapins' alum with a rich coaching history, including a Super Bowl victory as an offensive coordinator? What's not to like?
Well, coaching in college - especially during the era of NIL and unlimited transfering - is a much different beast than the NFL. Reich only has one college year under his belt, when he was Stanford's interim head coach in 2025.
Before that, Reich was fired from NFL HC jobs in back to back years. Factor in his age (64) and the long-term importance of this hire, and Maryland would be better suited looking at other options.
2. Scott Satterfield - Cincinnati Bearcats Head Coach
Satterfield is well removed from his stretch of dominance at Appalachian State. After the Mountaineers hit double digit wins for a third time in four years, he took his first P4 job at Louisville. That ended after four seasons with Satterfield's teams a combined 25-24.
His more recent stint with Cincinnati has had it's bright spots, including an upset over No. 8 Texas Tech last weekend, but he still carries a sub .500 overall record, some questionable coaching decisions, and a history of poor second halves - something Terps fans are all too familiar with.
With Satterfield set to be a lame duck this offseason, and many Cinci fans recently calling for his removal, his camp will be trying to spin the big win into a vertical move. But Maryland should look for some higher potential than his ceiling of 7 regular season wins as a Power HC.
3. Biff Poggi - Former Michigan Wolverines Associate / Interim Head Coach
Poggi himself told The Baltimore Sun that he wants the Maryland job, invoking the idea that if Indiana can win, anyone can - but his plan seems more like a snake oil salesman pitch than a real possibility.
Poggi, who is already 67, does have a history of coaching two prestigious Baltimore high schools, the Gilman School and St. Frances Academy. But on the college level, he lasted less than two seasons as Charlotte's head coach, compiling a 6-16 record while he and his assistants clashed with fans and media alike.
Aside from that, he spent three years (2021-22, 2025) as associate head coach at Michigan. Poggi may have the strong financial backing he claims to, but the relative lack of P4 experience at his age, and complete lack of interest from the fanbase, are both huge red flags.
4. Jamey Chadwell - Liberty Flames Head Coach
Unlike the preceding three options, I believe Chadwell would be a good in-game coach. He excelled during his time at Coastal Carolina and has largely continued that success with Liberty. The issues here lie on the financial side.
Chadwell is by far the highest paid head coach in C-USA, earning more than $4 million plus incentives annually ($5.9 million in 2025); only three of the remaining nine have a base salary of seven figures. The Flames have significantly more resources than the rest of their conference, giving him a big advantage on the recruiting and transfer portal trails.
Not only would he need a significant raise to consider departing (on top of buying out the final three years of his current deal), but it's unrealistic for him to build his next program like Liberty, where he has embraced having players start fast and transfer up after two years. That strategy may still be viable at, say, NC State, but certainly not in the Big Ten.
5. Brian Kelly - Former LSU Tigers Head Coach
This is really only being mentioned because of some chatter on Reddit and Twitter, but even considering Brian Kelly would be one of the most tone deaf moves imaginable for this program. And it has nothing to do with his price tag.
While at Notre Dame, Kelly decided to hold a practice outdoors with wind gusts of over 50 mph, leading to the death of student videographer Declan Sullivan. Maryland is less than a decade removed from one of their own players - offensive lineman Jordan McNair - dying from a heatstroke.
The entire reason Maryland hired Mike Locksley - and why they didn't have many other options at the time - was a need to regain some level of local trust. Kelly would effectively undo all of that healing under the guise of getting a "big name" splash.
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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