Michigan, Michigan State football among teams facing great unknown as transfer portal opens

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Mike Locksley doesn’t bemoan the current state of college football. Instead, he has come to accept it, and yes, maybe even embrace it. Sure, it is chaotic, unpredictable, messy and a bit crazy. But that’s life in this new age, and Locksley is determined to manage it the best he can.

“We’ve just got to stay creative and figure out solutions,” Locksley, Maryland’s head coach, told the Free Press in early April.

Locksley is not going to rest until he does. Perseverance is deep in his core. It helped him become a career survivalist, who against all odds, rebounded from a calamitous 2-26 tenure at New Mexico to build a winning team at a lower-tier Big Ten school over the past five seasons.

This past winter, the Terrapins earned their third consecutive bowl victory, marking the first time that has ever happened in their 131-year existence. They also gave Michigan football one of its toughest tests during the Wolverines’ undefeated run to a national championship.

To get Maryland to a point where it could compete with the sport’s established powers required a grand vision, a methodical process and patience above all. But Locksley acknowledges he no longer has the luxury of time he once did. His world, the one he inhabits with the rest of his coaching peers, has sped up and become increasingly volatile, much like the planets in the outer reaches of our solar system.

Maryland head coach Mike Locksley watches a play against Michigan during the second half at the Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022.

“Everything is year-to-year,” said Locksley. “The team you construct can and will sometimes look very different than the one you had before.”

It could even change dramatically within the brief period between the final spring practice and the start of preseason camp during the dogdays of summer….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-michigan-state-football-among-100645201.html

Author : Detroit Free Press

Publish date : 2024-04-14 10:06:45

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