Maryland Fires Ted Monachino as Mike Locksley’s Job Odds Shorten to Near Coin Flip

Maryland has fired defensive coordinator Ted Monachino, head coach Mike Locksley announced Sunday, one day after the Terrapins fell 37-30 at home to Rutgers for their fifth consecutive loss. The move comes as Maryland (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten) heads into its bye week, and it leaves Locksley’s own future in College Park as one of the most closely watched storylines in college football.

“I appreciate Ted’s hard work and dedication to our program during his time in College Park,” Locksley said in a statement. “As I evaluate our program, I believe this change is necessary. We wish Ted all the best moving forward.” Monachino had run the defense for the past two seasons after arriving from North Carolina, and he previously coached for the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars.

A Defense That Could Not Get Stops

The numbers explain the decision. Maryland ranks 127th nationally in scoring defense, 83rd in total defense, 84th in pass defense and 85th in rush defense. The Terrapins have allowed at least 35 points in five straight games, and Saturday’s Homecoming loss to a Rutgers team that was also searching for its first Big Ten win of the season was another blown opportunity. Maryland led 23-13 at halftime before Rutgers outscored the Terrapins 24-7 over the second half.

Co-defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, who coaches the cornerbacks and is in his second stint at Maryland, will take over defensive play-calling as interim coordinator. Inside linebackers coach Zac Spavital will also add the co-defensive coordinator title. Maryland is off this week and returns to action on Halloween weekend at home against Illinois, followed by a trip to Purdue on Nov. 7.

The bigger question is Locksley. After back-to-back 4-8 seasons in 2024 and 2025, he entered this year needing roughly seven wins to build a case for 2027. Maryland has not beaten a Power Four opponent in more than a calendar year, and Locksley is 2-20 in Big Ten play since the start of the 2024 season. Rather than move on from the head coach before the open date, the program has taken a patient approach, and letting Locksley make a staff change first suggests he is safe for now.

What the Betting Market Says About Locksley and the Terrapins

Oddsmakers are treating Locksley’s job security as close to a coin flip. According to one post-Week 7 “next coach fired” board, Locksley sits at +110, an implied probability of about 47.6 percent, shortened from +150 a week earlier. That same tracker had him at +250 after the Nebraska loss and +600 before that, so the price has moved steadily in one direction as the losses piled up. Florida State’s Mike Norvell was next at +250, with South Carolina’s Shane Beamer at +600. A caution is warranted: that board was published by a betting news site and is not a live sportsbook price, so bettors should confirm current numbers at a licensed book before relying on them. A separate odds-tracking page published a week earlier had Locksley at +125 as the favorite, ahead of Norvell at +175.

The firing also arrives against a backdrop of poor results against the number. Maryland closed as a 5.5-point favorite against Rutgers, a line that opened at -4.5 and moved toward the Terrapins, and the Scarlet Knights not only covered but won outright as a +180 moneyline underdog. One analytics site lists Maryland at 3-4 against the spread this season. The 67 combined points also cleared a total that was listed between 55.5 and 56 at most books, a reminder that Maryland’s defense has been a reliable friend to the over.

The next test for Locksley’s reworked defense is Illinois on Oct. 31. As of Monday, major odds pages had not yet posted a spread, total or moneyline for that matchup, so there is no market read yet on how oddsmakers view the post-Monachino Terrapins. Bettors will want to watch how the opening number is set, and whether it moves once the market digests the coaching change.

Whether a defensive coordinator swap changes anything in the short term is an open question. Interim play-callers have produced mixed results, and a bye week gives Abdul-Rahim and Spavital time to simplify the scheme. But with the nation’s 127th-ranked scoring defense and a limited number of games left, the margin for error is thin. For the coach-fired market, the key dates are Maryland’s remaining Big Ten games. Another lopsided loss would likely push Locksley’s price even shorter, while a win over Illinois would be the Terrapins’ first Power Four victory in more than a year and could cool the market considerably.