There are telltale media signs that indicate things aren\u2019t going well for a college football program.<\/p>\n
One is when the coach no-shows for their weekly radio show<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another is when the athletic department starts pulling credentials for suspect reasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n And yet another is when the school\u2019s PR staff starts arbitrarily changing media policies to limit access or questions.<\/p>\n That appears to be the case with the Maryland Terrapins football program, where embattled head coach Mike Locksley apparently no longer has to deal with the scourge of the dreaded follow-up question.<\/p>\n In his eighth season at the helm and coming off consecutive 4-8 finishes, Locksley came into this year on the proverbial hot seat. The high hopes from a 2-0 start were dashed over the weekend with a 35-26 home loss to James Franklin\u2019s Virginia Tech<\/a>, dropping his overall record at Maryland to 39\u201350. That brought tough questions at Tuesday\u2019s press conference as his team prepares to take on UCLA.<\/p>\n Asked Michael Locksley if he believes he deserves more chances to keep *saying* he\u2019s going to learn from losses while rarely actually doing so.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the back and forth. Tried following up but a Maryland PR staffer took the mic out of my hand and Locksley did not look at me. pic.twitter.com\/WEJ2x4T0KQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Taylor Lyons (@taylorjlyons) September 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHey, Mike, you said it after the game Saturday. You said it several times after losses over the years that you\u2019re going to learn from it. You\u2019re going to get things fixed, corrected,\u201d said Taylor Lyons of the Baltimore Sun. \u201cYet losses like Saturday continue to happen, where you get outcoached, you get outplayed, and then you come out afterward, and you make those same promises. Do you feel like you deserve more chances to keep saying you\u2019re going to learn from losses, and I think everybody at this point expects more from you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGo back and break down your question now, because you seem like you went on. What are you asking me? Let\u2019s get to that,\u201d Locksley responded.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter losses like Saturday, you keep saying that you\u2019re going to learn from them,\u201d started Lyons, before Locksley cut him off, saying, \u201cGot it, I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI understand why you ask the question, why you say those things,\u201d the coach continued. \u201cI understand why the fans are frustrated. They\u2019ve earned the right for us to play better than we have. It won\u2019t get fixed here at the podium. It gets fixed across the street with the work we do. We continue to do the work. We continue to improve. We\u2019ll continue to do the things we have to do to earn their trust back.\u201d<\/p>\n With that, Locksley quickly looked away from Lyons, who could be heard coming back to his original question and the secondary aspects of it, but he was no longer speaking into a microphone. Then, another reporter could be heard asking a question into a microphone, and Locksley started listening to that person, ignoring Lyons\u2019 follow-up.<\/p>\n According to Lyons, the athletic department had taken the microphone away because it no longer allowed follow-up questions at press conferences.<\/p>\n Maryland PR apparently has a new policy this year to not allow reporters to ask follow-up questions in Locksley\u2019s pressers. Was never a thing before this season. I\u2019ve had staffers come up and actually grab the microphone out of my hand multiple times in the past few weeks. https:\/\/t.co\/IR4Vqf7Pvq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Taylor Lyons (@taylorjlyons) September 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMaryland PR apparently has a new policy this year to not allow reporters to ask follow-up questions in Locksley\u2019s pressers,\u201d Lyons wrote on X. \u201cWas never a thing before this season. I\u2019ve had staffers come up and actually grab the microphone out of my hand multiple times in the past few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n That prompted reactions from fellow reporters, who called out the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cModerated press conferences are the worst,\u201d said<\/a> On3 Oklahoma reporter George Stoia III.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many media restrictions in CFB would never fly in the NFL,\u201d added<\/a> ESPN Bengals reporter Ben Baby.<\/p>\n \u201cAlways a sign things are going well when you\u2019re putting policies in place to prevent reporters from getting actual answers to the question they asked,\u201d wrote<\/a> Atlanta radio host Heath Cline.<\/p>\n It can be a difficult and uncomfortable situation when you\u2019re a head coach of a program heading in the wrong direction, and you\u2019re tired of answering questions about what\u2019s going wrong and whether or not you can fix it. But in the words of Don Draper, that\u2019s what the money is for<\/a>. Locksley makes $6.1 million a year; we\u2019re pretty sure he can handle a follow-up question about whether he feels like he\u2019s earning it.<\/p>\n \t