Maryland Football | Head Coach Michael Locksley Weekly Press Conference

[Music] right appreciate everyone coming out um start just want to thank C for providing the pizza for everyone you to goate that you guys had a good lunch and start coach get your questions sure um as as always I appreciate you guys joining us um this quick look back uh to you come but was really pleased with how we attacked uh what we called our liftoff of our 2024 season I thought we played mostly clean football um in all three phases offensively defensively special teams and got a lot of live live reps and and to me and and to be able to get that accomplished where we were able to play a lot of players uh get some good things happen in all three phases while still uh being able to take and make Corrections uh when you have a chance to win um is is always a good thing um you know when you look at last week and then leading into this week obviously uh when you start thinking big picture about our our team you know it starts with you know we've been laying this foundation for this year's team for uh from the time we got here uh it's it's to start a new Maryland football Legacy to try to find a way to create a a new football Legacy for Maryland and and like I said it didn't start in last week's game uh it's a continuation of what we we've tried to do over the last five years here as a program and each game this season is another step uh towards us being able to do that uh we we have Michigan State coming in um obviously a a early conference game so it's the we had the start of both seasons in week one and week two our the start of our regular season but then the start of our conference season in week two and this is where you know in India I talked about starting the breaking up of the status quo and if you think of uh this week's opponent Michigan State um they're a team in this league that's been one of the top five teams um you know through the years and and for us to uh historically they've been a ranked opponent I know two years ago uh they were the the the talk of college football and what they were able to get accomplished and and so for us this gives us another opportunity with a a conference game this early at home uh to continue to work on on doing just what we talked about which is breaking up status quo in a big 10 um you do it with leadership the leadership comes from our players uh this has been a very player Le team and we talked about it at the start of the season of how I've seen the ownership taken um you know when you talk about Michigan State coming in coach Smith is a new to the League this will be their first opportunity to travel uh together under under the the new uh leadership that that John Smith brings and he's got a familiar coordinator and and and Rossy the de coordinator who's we've went against his defenses at Minnesota over the years really tough defenses and he's from that Greg shano tree uh offensively you know the Oregon State system and a really physical system where they want to run the football uh take the play action shots and and a week ago they had a tough uh tough season opener that they found a way to win and then if you you look at the way this team is made up they've got 61 new players and we've kind of been there before where you you you're implementing new players new philosophies new systems and I would expect like we think uh making that jump from week one to week two uh I would expect to see a jump on on their side um their defense look really good last week uh the two big stops at the end of the game to finish the game uh shows that that they've got some guys over there um what's our mindset heading into this week for us it's uh a it's the one of the earliest weeks we've had a big 10 opener um like I told uh our team the expectation for us is what we saw last Saturday uh is what we saw all Camp long we saw uh Roman henby run the ball the way he did in training camp uh in the game we saw Nolan Ray who we've talked about around here the big plays he made in the spring and the ones he made in we saw those things but we also saw the flip side of it where we had some miscues you know it's funny and and and you know we had a misc on a play that what happened in the game the same miscue happened and so one of the things going into this week that we we want to focus on is is what you see is what you get and and the week of practice that that we've got to have uh to go have success uh this week we need to see it we need to put the the work in this week um and like I said I do expect us to have a a big jump from week one to week two um before I close up I got to Dustin say something about CQ so I don't know if you saw my Emmy Award winning commercials you know with the manicure so you guys hopefully you guys go get yourself a CQ TP script or in Block uh card here um it's a great card I'm going to read my line here uh it's a great card has a ton of purse especially for turp fans like you guys uh discounts on the concessions and turp gear and I love wearing my TP gear and and the buil-in rewards and benefits and Community Partners so CQ again has been a great partner and I I say this in just but I really do mean it's been great to work with CQ especially in this age of uh nil and financial responsibility our players and the relationship that we've created through the partnership I think will be very beneficial uh game captains this week Glendon Miller Rex Fleming and Ty Felton will lead us in our conference opener against Michigan State and with that I'll open up for questions Mike what are some qualities you observed about Billy that make him a leader and kind of the followup to that would be how would his personality would you say or the way he cares himself is similar or different than that of Leah um what are the characteristics of of Billy's game that I mean I I think that it goes back what you see is what you get I mean who Billy is when you you meet him as who he is as a player very rarely do you see him get excitable um I think he has emotion and and he's one of those guys that you know he can he's on both sides of uh of the aisle per se like you'll see him hanging out with uh the running backs and then he'll be with the big old lineman and he kind of gets along with everybody and to me when you think of a quarterback it's a person that that elevates the level of his teammates and I always say he has to have the mind of a coach and the skill of a player and those are characteristics that Billy showed early um you know it's a a little known secret Man Billy was like Leah's Brother's Keeper uh if I needed Leah to get somewhere on time uh Billy as his backup was the guy and they they had a really strong relationship I know Leah texted me immediately after the game uh that Billy had a week ago and was super excited for Billy so uh very similar characteristics I think Leah left like I said that the the the work ethic that it takes to play quarterback in his system uh that Foundation he left for a guy like Billy and the rest of the guys in our program so uh but Billy has some natural leadership abilities and he doesn't get you know excitable he kind of stays even kill which you like to see out of quarterback Mike you mentioned that this is the earliest you guys have entered conference place since you got here what what are some of the challenges in playing a a league game this early in the season especially against a team with a lot of changes Michigan state has had in the offseason you know I I don't necessarily think there's challenges other than you know we've got to get going right now there's no easing in the conference play and we know the value and uh what what conference wins mean because when you start running your mouth about competing for championships starts with being able to win in conference and you know week two uh traditionally we've kind of built into our conference play and it's here now now we played obviously that short season in 2020 where we played immediately I think Minnesota pretty early but for this one I think it's uh important for our players to understand like there's two seasons in every season you got your your regular season but then once conference play starts these things become really valuable really important and I think for us as we try to build momentum uh it's important to get to get off to a fast start in conference play follow up on the offensive line uh what you've had a chance to let the tape you know the dust has settled from this past Saturday what impressed you the most about how they came together and what are you looking moving forward I thought for the first time Five Guys that hadn't played together in a game um if you if you're a football officio and you you understand like what what Yukon did up front movement everywhere I mean some things like really tough stunts up front the communication and the way those guys were able to kind of fight through it because there were some 50/50 runs where they hit us for minus yards runs but then we hit them for a 50 yard run I thought the the inexperience of the o line I was really pleased to see how they handled all of the stuff they faced in in in the game against Yukon and it'll only make us better because it builds the toolbox for those guys hey coach building off over here building off Dave's uh first question playing a conference team this early in the season was that something that you kind of wanted to give yourself and the team a challenge and is it something that moving forward you're maybe more open to because as you mentioned it was really just the pandemic season that this has really been the case for you I don't know if you know I don't get to make the schedule um so they where the conference push puts games and you know I can help pick opponents of the non-conference schedules but the conference kind of sets that that schedule for us I know every team has to deal with it I mean we've had some some conference early conference games throughout uh I know the time I've been back here as the head coach so um do I like it I mean I'd prefer to build in to it but you know I've never been wanting to cry about opponents when we play where we play I just like the play Mike I have two-part question do one do you have an update on MJ and two do you plan on rotating quarterbacks as liberally as you did against Yukon um update on MJ uh he he was out yesterday um I hadn't had a chance to decide or find out where he is today just yet um but we'll uh keep you up to date as we always do with very very little information about the rotating quarterback uh the rotating quarterback so uh as as I've always stated I mean we we have a plan and how we want to play the players in each game uh how the game plays out or going into the game we come up with that philosophy I still I think we're still trying to put the game plan together for Michigan State but I can tell you anytime we have the opportunity uh to develop a second quarterback in our program we're going to try to do it if there's some strengths that he bring BRS to the table uh from a skill set standpoint um we we'll utilize them because we want to utilize all the weapons in our offense and uh we've got three quarterbacks that I said we feel we can win with hey coach um what's up wanted to extend my condolences I know today is a day for you so just wanted to start that um and then question for you I know a couple weeks ago you said Glenn was a a guy that you want to see kind of come together and you're always like just hoping hoping he he'll put it all together and then this year he looks like he finally has in your coaching career what have you noticed why have guys maybe not been able to get it earlier than others and and what's generally kind of the moment that that changes that man let's go ahead and tell coach locks the parent what makes a guy grow up man it's like the waa moment like sometimes it just clicks and they get it but I would say I started seeing Glenn's maturity a year ago um I didn't just see it this year I actually to the point where you know we had a jersey number open and usually they're texting me to hey coach can I switch I actually called Glenn and say yeah I got a gift for you since I'm always calling you to my office because you aren't doing things that that make me happy uh come see me so he thought he was coming to see me to get in trouble again and and I actually said hey do you want to wear number one um and he was kind of hesitant and I said no you earned it you do things the right way uh he's a guy that has a positive impact on his teammates and we seen that maturity out of Glenn and what makes it I I'd like to say you know what our program does um we take guys like Glenn and uh they come in as 18y old boys and hopefully they leave as 22y old men because of the time they spent around the guys that Glenn has spent time around from John hul to Brian Stewart to Zach spavital to you know Wes all these guys that have had a chance to come coach and and be a part of developing young men and to me that's what this program is all about when we talk about family and our coach is have really taken on that uh responsibility of becoming that that that mechanism to help them take that next step hey coach um hey coach I know you talked about obviously the offensive line what they were able to do week one um you know they have another test in week two uh Michigan State I know they're able to get uh seven sacks what kind of jumped out to you about what Michigan state did uh defensively yeah they're two DNS um big Big Time Players obviously I had a chance to recruit Chris Bogle a little bit uh at my previous place and uh really good player transferred in there from Florida um 27 their linebacker I mean every time I look at the the the the depth chart I'm like this guy is still here it's like he's been there for 10 years and um but he's one of those guys that's always around the football you know they play good team defense you know their D coordinator is a guy that is well respected in this league uh I know he's had Minnesota in the top 10 in defense over the years and you know I know Jonathan went out and went to go get him he was a guy that he kind of said hey I want to go get a guy that understands the Big 10 and um I think they've got a pretty good understanding of what they want to get accomplished but it starts with their front seven and and the physicality uh will create a different kind of challenge for us this week hey coach hey there how you doing what's up you get your CQ card uh every time they score 50 points we get $50 extra on there right man I got him a manicure yeah um so we saw this week I think a lot of everybody here saw the story with Josiah mclen and and what went on just what can you tell us I guess about these last two weeks for that young man for this team um rallying around him and then being able to see him score that touchdown and all the tragedy that surrounded him and just take us through what that was like it's been tough man being being a tur football player we've had a tough summer you know we lost obviously Isaiah Hazel who we honored uh we lost JoJo Walker kid I recruited out of Dallas Texas uh this summer Kenny going to motorcycle accident um just tired of seeing this this this trend and then for Josiah obviously you know the little known story is that he really struggled this summer being here like I mean he became like every year I have one or two kids that I call kind of locks kids um and and he became that because I know that he's from a small little town really close with his granddad and his dad were here on his official visit and and he he was homesick most of the summer and we did everything could to keep him I said we could just get him to training camp where football kicks in and that's kind of what happened and then the Saturday before he supposed to check into his dorm he gets the call as we walk out the practice that his dad dies in a car accident and you know our team is is is a family and you know Robert Smith who's one of our leaders you know he lost his mom to cancer so I pull Robert I said hey take him under your wing we got this thing this year where uh every player each week has to get one person in the program that is my guy like I got you this week so you know like this week I got Dylan Wade and you know I've been texting him since Sunday and and so Robert got him and I knew during the course of the week that he was a guy that could help us and you know we we actually put a play in for him expecting that hopefully it would do what it did for him and for him to get the touchdown on the play that's why you saw you know all the players on the team were so excited because they all knew what he went through that week we all kind of rallied around him uh he didn't want to go home he wanted to stay here with us which meant the world to us because that means means that he's uh adopted us pretty quickly thank [Music] you coach uh obviously Billy had a great obviously Billy had a great game do you fear that the head huting that went on in that game uh do you fear Billy running when you have such a talented guy or so far and also should the penalty be more than what it is when somebody attacks in on that level on your in your opinion no I mean one if you look across college football this weekend there were a ton of quarterbacks that took shots like we took and that's not saying that I'm okay with it you know one of the tough things and we're talking to one of the officials that works our practices that's an official is that quarterbacks aren't tackled in practice very often and so for linebackers and DN and people that do this for a living when they finally are able to be tackled and now they have the ability to give themselves up giving themselves up sliding uh the the the timing of it a lot of it to me is timing I don't know if it was uh if that if these were intentional but if you look across the country there were a ton of these things and and they're hard to police but as you get guys ejected from the game which happened in quite a few of them um I think that you'll see him get better at it as we get into the season because of the lack of tackling quarterbacks in practice and and you know for our guys you know I I I don't want our quarterbacks taking shots like that we I'd prefer them dive we've worked on diving on the match protecting ourselves uh are is there a time and place for sliding and giving yourselves up for sure but we want to get out of bounds we teach our guys how to not take those extra shots and you know some of it is just playing football and and you know I grew up on the defensive side of the ball and you know I don't want to take the teeth away from our defense and there's some things we can't do that they can do and um you know but I I don't think they were intentional in terms of how uh they they were but but they were ugly shots I I will say that coach Mo address you about that after the no didn't even it was not not a reason to I mean I as I said I didn't feel they were uh maliciously done I you know it's kind of that in between and is is he going down low and so no I wasn't and I didn't expect to have to address it Mike S sort of a follow-up question to Heather's question the Josiah situation I know was emotional for the team but your philosophy in general running up the score as opposed to scoring a late touchdown what what are your thoughts on that I don't know about running up scores I've never ever I got too much respect for our opponents and I'm not saying you I know but just in general to run up a score no I will say that when we play a lot of players we playing a lot of players to get them experience executing our offense and there we we you know we threw the ball on third down because I want to see my Young quarterback get experience of playing on third down um I think most coaches understand that early in the year um as I said I got a lot of respect for the game and our opponents in that um jiah was going to play regardless uh that was a play we knew he could run um got it executed and I was glad for the kid but um no no second guessing on how when it was done or how it was done hey coach you talked about developing MJ kind of to be that second quarterback can you talk about the benefits of having a second quarterback that's developed and also what's kind of like the end end goal for MJ and his development and how you kind of hope to utilize him um so what's your first question what's the benefits of developing second quarterback uh in college football and and unfortunately I've been here and been a part of it for 36 years that uh the second quarterback not having game experience you know to me I'm big on uh anytime you have an opportunity and and the second quarterback times is a weapon a added weapon whether it's his ability to run throw uh those things give you a added advantage and so for us we always trying to develop our depth behind our starters because we understand that the game is a physical game and at some point injuries become a factor and when you're able to develop your roster as a whole when guys are thrown in late in the season it isn't the first time and so um that's just part of uh how we develop our team uh and the second quarterbacks no different than the the the fourth receiver the second or third tight end we've got to find ways and opportunities to bring them along in our program so that when they are needed they have the The Experience necessary second part just kind of how you hope to utilize them throughout the season yeah um you know and and again a year ago we used Billy in a certain way to Where Oh Billy can't throw and then he throws for you know 31 yards we'll use MJ based on his talent level and he's a guy that has the ability to win in the pocket as a thrower and also has the ability athletically to to to run the the system that we like to run and so we we'll continue to to do those things with him um as I said we got a third guy in cam Edge and and Cam's strength is his ability to win in the pocket throw the ball uh his his strength is also being in our system now for this will be year three for him and you know it's great to have three guys that have that ability hey coach what's up Preston Howard uh played the first drive on Saturday didn't really see the field after that he came out a lot earlier than the other starters um was that injury related or was that something else yeah he was nicked up uh he's been dealing with being nicked up he was nicked up most of camp and we we've been trying to get him healthy um we're hoping to have him back this week but yeah he got nicked up in the game hyperextended the lower extremity area and um made the decision to pull him and give him a chance to to to rest and but I expect him to be back in available in and uh being able to be another Cog in our offensive system cuz he's a good player there was so much to talk about I don't even think we touched on the wide receivers and just how much of a weapon for Billy that can be I mean to have we got some receivers around here yeah I know right I mean Felton and prayer and there were just everybody was catching everything but what can you say about uh the development of those receivers and how much of a benefit for Billy that is to have them in the system yeah you know with with both Kaden and Tai and then you throw an Octavian who's in year three and punch knots in year three so you know these guys have played in some roles behind some talented guys and now it's their opportunity you know Tai and Kaden are both guys a year ago caught 40 or more balls and um both are very talented with uh run after catch and you know we just got to continue to find ways to get them their touches I think when you get those type of players their touch opportunities in the game uh that's how you score points and and Josh understands that and has did a really good job of featuring those guys and getting it to them in the right kind of situations thank you thank you very much aot of our momentarily be [Music]