College football program hires 100-win high school coach

A successful high school football coach has been hired to the staff of a Power Four college football program.

Archbishop Spalding football at Don Bosco | Michael Karas/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

A record-breaking coaching realignment hit college football over the course of the 2025 season. Close to 20 different programs across the Power Four ranks will have a new face in charge of their program in 2026.

While the coaching carousel figures to be quieter next offseason, there are still a number of Power Four programs that need to see signs of improvement from their head coaches. One of these programs is Maryland, which is entering its eighth season under head coach Mike Locksley.

Locksley has worked in multiple stints with the Terrapins in his coaching career. He worked his first stint at Maryland as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1997 to 2002.

He returned to College Park in 2012 to serve as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, even serving as the interim head coach in 2015.

Locksley's head coaching tenure began in 2019 following a successful run as a part of Alabama's offensive staff the previous three seasons.

Despite two challenging seasons to begin his tenure, Locksley guided the Terrapins to three consecutive bowl wins from 2021 to 2023. However, Maryland has posted 4-8 overall records each of the past two seasons, only winning one Big Ten game each year.

In the midst of a pivotal offseason for the future of his tenure at Maryland, Locksley has made an unorthodox acquisition for his coaching staff.

John Brice of FootballScoop reported that the Terrapins hired former Archbishop Spalding High School head coach Kyle Schmitt as their next tight ends coach on Wednesday.

A very interesting hire for Mike Locksley https://t.co/EOn2kOuJAJ

— FootballScoop (@FootballScoop) January 21, 2026

Schmitt had been at the helm of Archbishop Spalding dating all the way back to 2013. He posted a 101-36-1 overall record with the Cavaliers, guiding them to four consecutive Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championship victories.

There are a few different ties between Schmitt and the Terrapins. For one, Archbishop Spalding and the University of Maryland are only about 30 miles apart geographically. Schmitt is a former Maryland football player, making 48 career appearances as an offensive lineman between 2001 and 2004.

Perhaps the most important semblance of familiarity between Schmitt and Maryland is his established relationship with Malik Washington, the Terrapins' starting quarterback. The second and third of Archbishop Spalding's four consecutive championship victories were with Washington at quarterback in 2023 and 2024.

Familiarity can go a long way with players in the modern era of college football. Schmitt coaching a group that Washington will consistently work alongside should only help the Terrapins in 2026.

\Maryland quarterback Malik Washington (7) throws a pass against Michigan State in the second quarter at Ford Field | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images