Locksley Talks Opt Outs, Status of Tagovailoa Waiver and Replacements Along the Offensive Line

Big shakeup out of College Park today as head coach Mike Locksley recaps a series of changes along the roster

Head coach Mike Locksley announced that six Terps have opted out of the upcoming 2020 season citing COVID among the concerns as the increasingly common decision has swept college football this week. Among those to opt out of the season is senior quarterback Josh Jackson, who Locksley said likely played his last game in College Park.

“My conversation with Josh is that he wanted to pursue the academic piece of it. I did pursue that question with him and I’d venture to say Josh Jackson has played his last football,” Locksley told reporters on Friday. “We thank Josh for what he did last season, obviously coming in as a grad transfer in the program. Wasn’t what either of us expected, wasn’t the season I’m sure he wanted or we wanted but he was a valuable member of our team, brought a lot of things to our program from a leadership standpoint and how he did his business. Proud of him being able to make tough decision like he’s made and even prouder that he’s a guy that does things the right way off the field and will continue to pursue his education and finish his degree here at Maryland.”

The news comes as the Terps have just one scholarship quarterback on the roster heading into the 2020 season as Locksley reiterated his support for Jackson’s decision to opt out. Redshirt freshman quarterback Lance Legendre serves as the lone returner as Locksley highlighted a pair of walk-ons who can provide sound depth for the upcoming season. “As we’ve gone into the year, our expectation is we’re going to need every player on our team—walk-on, scholarship. We’ve helped ourselves with the addition of a couple walk-on quarterbacks, obviously Eric Najarian has been in our program. Signed a walk-on locally in David Foust from Anne Arudal County, has been with us all summer. Challenging, yes, but we went into this knowing this could be the case.”

A big boost to the roster could come when Alabama quarterback transfer Taulia Tagovailoa receives word from the NCAA in regards to immediate eligibility for the 2020 season as Locksley hopes to hear back within the next two days. “It’s in the hands of the NCAA, I’ve been waiting patiently for an answer for that but Lance Legendre has continued to make strides in our program. Competition is still there, we’re excited about what Lance brings to the table. Obviously concerned with depth, but that’s where again, we’ve got quite a few guys and faces in our building and in our program that we’re going to need to count on to get us through this year, which will be very challenging and different.”

The younger Tagovailoa moved to College Park earlier this summer as the key figure in the quarterback room has drawn buzz from Maryland fans since his decision in late May to transfer into the program. “He has that affectionate personality that players gravitate towards. He came in the right mentality that I’m nobody different, I’m here just to be a member of this team. As we said signing him and bringing him in the expectation is we wouldn’t have them available to play this year and obviously we’re waiting on word from the NCAA on whether or not he will be granted immediate eligibility which will be icing on the cake for us. he’s been here since June 1, he’s assimilated really well with his new teammates. Had the opportunity here the last few weeks to just see how he interacts, I know he’s made the quarterback room better. Lance and he and all the quarterbacks in there are a tight-knit group and they’re all working to help each other learn the system, move the program forward. Been really excited about the addition of him to our room just as a person.”

While the depth at the quarterback position raises more red flags for Maryland heading into 2020, Maryland also loses a pair of returning starters along the offensive line as center Johnny Jordan and right guard Austin Fontaine opted out. Linebacker TJ Kautai, cornerback Vincent Flythe and defensive tackle Jalen Alexander were also among those to opt out while electric tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo will be sidelined for the 2020 season due to a medical condition. But with offensive line already at the forefront of concerns for Maryland heading into year two under Locksley, the staff has leaned on existing tackles with interior experience to fill in for Jordan and Fontaine.

“Again, we’re going to coach the guys that are here that are opted in and we feel really good about Spencer Andersons of the world, who played a lot of football for us last year. Obviously Evan Gregory is in our program, signed a junior college guy in Johari Branch who we felt going into spring ball and prior to spring practice that he would be a guy that would be able to make an immediate impact. Addition of Amelio Moran and other junior college offensive linemen, there’s about 56 new faces who are not Terps a year ago. When you think about that, whether walk-on or scholarship players, we’ve been able to turn our roster over almost 100%, 80%. There’s going to be a lot of development being done, a lot of coaching that’s needed to be done from now until we get started. Obviously with COVID, we’re going to use our whole roster and guys that’re available to us and we’re going to play the guys that are here. Hate to see and lose good players, but that’s part of the game and have to prepare our minds that that will happen and have a plan to be able to put the best product that we can on the field.”

Upperclassmen right tackles Marcus Minor and Spencer Anderson have both taken reps at center, which could pave the way for right tackle Tyran Hunt to slide into a starting job to fill in for Minor outside.

“One of the things we started doing even prior to the pandemic is Marcus Minor is a guy that’s versatile, started at right tackle for us the last couple of years. He’s taking snaps at center, obviously Spencer Anderson is a tackle and but also spent time at center. The addition of the two junior college players, Moran and Branch, both give us some experienced guys meaning not high school guys that played at a high level in the junior college ranks to be able to come in and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the development of the young high school players we signed. We put a premium on offensive line this past recruiting cycle, these guys have been up here since June 1 for the most part. A lot of them were able to get up here early based off the rules that COVID allowed us to get them up here and not have to take summer classes. As we’ve said, we’re going to have to use everybody on our team and develop everybody on our team because you’re one positive test or direct contact trace from not playing. We anticipate that and to me, the teams that have success this year and have done the best job of navigating that while also developing your whole roster. The way we practice, the way our practice plans are put together, we do that naturally.”

With preseason camp set to begin today, Locksley will lean on over 50 new student-athletes within the program to get through an abnormal 2020 season.

“We know it’s going to take all of us on this team to get through a trying year and a different year, we’re all really excited to have the opportunity to get to play this year.”