Maryland fires Randy Edsall

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Maryland has fired coach Randy Edsall, the school announced in a statement Sunday.

Maryland is 2-4 this season after falling at Ohio State 49-28 on Saturday. The Terrapins hung tough early, but the Buckeyes pulled away in the second half. That loss followed two blowouts: 45-6 at West Virginia and 28-0 at home to Michigan in which the Terrapins managed just 105 yards of offense.

“We appreciate Randy’s tireless commitment to the University of Maryland,” athletics director Kevin Anderson said. “This was a difficult decision, but ultimately this is the best course of action for our football program moving forward.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Locksley has been named the interim coach for the remainder of the season. Also relieved of duties: assistant head coach/outside linebackers coach Lyndon Johnson.

“Having spent more than a decade with the Maryland football program over the course of his career, I feel Mike is best suited to effectively guide our program through the remainder of the 2015 season,” Anderson said. “Mike has previous head coaching experience and is well-respected both locally and nationally.”

The notion that a coaching change might be warranted came as early as Week 2, when Maryland lost 48-27 to Bowling Green in front of more than 20,000 empty seats. Speculation began swirling last week that Edsall would be let go after the Ohio State game.

Edsall, who experienced significant success in his previous stop at UConn, was 22-34 at Maryland. In June, Edsall received a contract extension that was to begin in January 2017 and was worth up to $7.5 million — though only $500,000 was guaranteed (Maryland will owe Edsall a little more than $3.1 million as a buyout, per his contract).

Maryland played in two consecutive bowl games after going 2-10 and 4-8 in Edsall’s first two seasons. The Terrapins finished 7-6 in 2014, including 4-4 in their first season in the Big Ten.

The contracts for each of Edsall's assistant coaches, except Locksley, includes this clause: "Termination shall occur in the event and on the day that Randy Edsall's service as Head Coach of the Team shall end."

The Maryland job could be intriguing to a number of candidates given its location and support from Baltimore-based Under Armour, whose CEO Kevin Plank is Maryland's top booster and is helping the school build millions of dollars in new facilities.

Maryland has a bye this week before facing Penn State in Baltimore on Oct. 24.

Locksley played college football at Towson in Maryland from 1988-91 and later coached at Towson. He was a running backs coach at Maryland and also served as a recruiting coordinator.

He was head coach at New Mexico from 2009-11, going 2-26, before returning to Maryland to 2012.

Contributing: The Associated Press