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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The upcoming season will be huge for Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, and the program suffered a huge loss in training camp that will affect the power of the defense this fall.
Per Pete Nakos of On3, defensive end Zahir Mathis suffered a season-ending injury during Wednesday's practice. It was not immediately clear what kind of injury Mathis sustained.
Mathis had a strong freshman season for Maryland in 2025. The six-foot-six, 220-pound athlete earned 22 tackles, six sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. His six sacks were the second-most on the defense behind Sidney Stewart, who had seven sacks in his freshman season.
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Keeping Mathis was a priority for Maryland this offseason amid questions about Locksley's future in November. Locksley has a 37-49 record during his eight seasons with the program. Maryland went 4-8 in its last two campaigns, winning just two Big Ten games.
Maryland athletic director Jim Smith told ESPN in November that the program planned to prioritize roster retention and recruiting to help its head coach. Mathis, Stewart, and quarterback Malik Washington were a key core of freshmen last season that made promising starts to their college careers with the Terrapins.
"We are working to strengthen our NIL support for 2026 and beyond and have already seen success for next year," Smith said . "We are prioritizing roster retention, recruiting and competing in the transfer portal... We are optimistic about the young talent in our program and where we are in recruiting."
Without Mathis, Maryland will need to rely on Stewart to have a big sophomore season. UM will also have sophomore defensive end Nahsir Taylor and redshirt sophomore defensive end DD Holmes to rush the passer.
Maryland will open its season against Hampton at home on Sept. 5. The Terrapins will then finish their non-conference schedule by playing at UConn on Sept. 12 and hosting Virginia Tech on Sept. 19.
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