Maryland nearing choice on head coach
Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and Michigan assistant Pep Hamilton reportedly have emerged as front-runners for the Maryland coaching job.
Matt Canada, who served as the Terrapins interim coach this season after former coach DJ Durkin was placed on administrative leave, also is expected to be interviewed.
Locksley, 48, served as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Maryland from 1997 through 2002 and as offensive coordinator from 2012 through 2015.
Hamilton, 44, joined Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan staff in January 2017 after serving as quarterbacks coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2016. An assistant under Harbaugh at Stanford, Hamilton was mentioned early on as a candidate at Maryland when Durkin was hired in 2015.
Maryland’s next coach likely would try to retain the top recruiters on the staff, wide receivers coach Chris Beatty and cornerbacks coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim.
North Carolina
New Tar Heels coach Mack Brown is adding Dre’ Bly, Tim Brewster and Tim Cross to his staff. The school announced the hirings along with the decision to retain Tommy Thigpen. Bly was an All-American under Brown for the Heels in the 1990s before an 11year NFL career. He’ll coach cornerbacks. Brewster will coach tight ends. He coached with Brown at North Carolina and Texas. Cross will coach the defensive line after five seasons at Air Force. He also worked under Brown at Texas. Thigpen will be co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.
Iowa
Hawkeyes junior tight end Noah Fant is leaving school to enter the NFL draft, he announced on his Instagram. Fant caught 39 passes for 519 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns this season, good for first-team All-Big Ten Conference honors. His 19 touchdowns are a school record for tight ends.
UAB
Coach Bill Clark will become the best-paid coach in Conference USA. Athletic director Mark Ingram said Clark agreed to a five-year deal. Clark’s pay would start at $1.45 million and rise to $1.65 million by 2023-24, pending approval.