Maryland Football Coach Mike Locksley Explains Why New Multi-Million Facility Upgrade Couldn't Matter Less In NIL Era

Mike Locksley took over the Maryland football program as head coach in 2019 and immediately made a splash on the recruiting trail by landing five-star wide receiver Rakin Jarrett and four-star quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa in 2020. The Terrapins then finished with the No. 19 recruiting class in 2021.

In the two years since, though, Locksley and his staff have not been able to replicate that success.

Maryland finished with the No. 38-ranked class in 2022, and the No. 33-ranked class in 2023. It is sitting at No. 71 with a lot of time left in the 2024 cycle.

Although those final rankings aren't terrible, the Terrapins have landed less than 13% of four- and five-star in-state prospects during the last four cycles. There isn't a lot of juice on the recruiting trail at the moment and it's hard to pin much, if any, of the fault on Locksley. He's had Maryland on the rise, but he shouldn't have worn the big hat during the mayo bath.

Money has a direct correlation to success in recruiting. That has always been true, but NIL has created a largely unsustainable landscape in which programs with less funds in that space struggle to land top high school recruits over programs with a larger cash flow.

Locksley recently spoke on the topic with Sewart Mandell and Jayna Bardahl of The Athletic. His outlook was, for lack of better word, grim.

I feel like I've got my legs cut from underneath me. Because my strength in recruiting isn't some slick salesman job, it's built on the longevity of relationships. And now the way the college landscape is with the NIL, the transfer portal — everything is pretty much transactional, and relationships have kind of gone out of the window.

Maryland is able to present Name, Image and Likeness opportunities to its recruits. The Terrapins have a collective, The Best is Ahead Foundation, and it serves the same role as other NIL arms across the country.

There is just less money pouring into the The Best is Ahead Foundation than collectives at other Big Ten and FBS schools. Especially when compared to the likes of Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State.

It's not to say that money is everything in recruiting these days. Prospects are still keeping coaching staff, playing time, and culture in mind, but things like resources and facilities are less important than they were just three years ago.

Maryland is the perfect example. Locksley's team moved into a brand-new, $149 million football-only facility, just last year. The Jones-Hill House is beautiful.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really matter. The role that it plays in recruiting is minimal in contrast to NIL.

Locksley will be the first to say so and he did not hold back.

Unfortunately, we moved in at a time when facilities have been de-emphasized in a recruit's mind. Because they'd get dressed in the trash can for $25,000.

Name, Image and Likeness changed the entire operating system of, and behind collegiate football. The amount of money pumped into an NIL collective and success in recruiting have a direct correlation.

Everything else, like facilities, take a back seat. Locksley and Maryland can't keep up.