Maryland Kicker Sean O'Haire Returning to Terps for 2026 Season
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The FBS football calendar has officially flipped. With the Indiana Hoosiers taking home their first ever National Championship on Monday, all 136 teams can firmly set their sights on getting ready for the 2026 season.
That includes Mike Locksley and the Maryland Terrapins, who have a critical year ahead of them in the always fierce Big Ten.
The Terps did a relatively good job at keeping players from jumping for the transfer portal, and with that window now shut, some final announcements of players staying put should keep trickling in.
One more did on Tuesday, as right after confirming that a frequently used defensive lineman is back for 2026, the Terps made another return official: kicker Sean O'Haire.
Sláinte to year two.@SeanOHaire4 is back‼️ pic.twitter.com/fPehBNQ7tz
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) January 20, 2026
The native of Kildare, Ireland started his college career with FCS Richmond, where appeared in five games (four regular season and one playoff) with the Spiders. O'Haire was a perfect 12/12 on field goal tries in his redshirt year, with a long of 50 yards.
After transferring to Maryland, O'Haire's success continued:
- He nailed 21 of 24 FGs - the most by a freshman kicker in the FBS - and also made all 29 extra point attempts.
- That 87.5% FG success rate was good for fifth best in the Big Ten and 17th nationally.
- He was named a Lou Graza Award Star of the Week in the season opener against FAU, when he made three field goals, including a 49-yarder.
- At the end of the campaign, he also took home First Team All-Big Ten honors.
All told, O'Haire was one of the bright spots on a Terps squad that struggled immensely in conference play. Maryland beat Wisconsin in their first Big Ten contest before dropping all of the remaining eight games, finishing a second straight season 4-8.
Their 2026 schedule is filled with more tough matchups, including a non-conference home game against James Franklin's first Virginia Tech squad, a trip to the Horseshoe and conference runner-up Ohio State, and other possible AP Top-25 teams in Illinois, Penn State, and USC.
If Maryland wants to hang around in close games, having a dependable kicker like O'Haire is a huge plus.
Barring any late deviations, the Terrapins will finish with 16 departures via the transfer portal while retaining 77 players from their 2025 team.
Meanwhile, Maryland will add at least seven players via the portal - all of which can be viewed here On SI - and 17 freshmen in the Class of 2026. That leaves them with four spots out of the NCAA maximum 105 to fill on the roster.
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Mike joined Sports Illustrated 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 a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball, he returned to the college landscape with Maryland On SI.