Maryland Football Scoop: A familiar face returning to College Park?
Maryland football's first staff addition became public last Friday, when it was reported that Mike Locksley had hired Pep Hamilton as his new offensive coordinator. Is another move coming?
Maryland football's first staff addition became public last Friday, when it was reported that Mike Locksley had hired Pep Hamilton as his new offensive coordinator. And there's more movement behind the scenes at Jones-Hill House earlier this week. Here's what I'm hearing on a familiar face returning to College Park.
It sounds like Andre Powell could be making a return to College Park. Powell, who served as the Terps running backs coach and special team's coordinator from 2011 to 2014, could return under Mike Locksley in those same roles. Outside linebackers coach James Thomas seems likely to stay but isn't expected to continue as special teams coordinator, leaving that spot open.
And I'm hearing running backs Latrell Scott, who scored Maryland's best haul in memory from Virginia in the 2025 class, could move to wide receiver's coach; that job was vacated by Josh Gattis.
The move hasn't been confirmed but appears close to being done.
Powell, 58, coached at Maryland from 2011-2014, the first three years of Randy Edsall's tenure. He produced kicker Brad Craddock, who won the Lou Groza Award in 2014, an honor given to the nation's best kicker. In ESPN's 2014 team efficiency rankings, his special team's unit was rated 11th nationally. He also was the primary recruiter for star cornerback Will Likely, but his coaching ability would be the motivation for the hire; Maryland's running backs and special teams both struggled last year, so he'd could help the team improve from a disastrous 4-8 season.
In addition to his role with special teams, Powell was responsible for mentoring the running backs. His experience and coaching acumen contributed to the development of the team's rushing attack, although specific statistical achievements during this period are not detailed in the available sources.
Powell's early career included stops at Indiana, South Carolina, and Virginia, where he coached stars Tiki Barber and Thomas Jones. Later, at North Carolina, he coached eventual NFL standout Willie Parker and his special team's kickoff unit ranked seventh nationally.
In 2007, Powell was hired by Clemson as the running backs coach and appointed special team's coordinator in 2008. There, he coached first-team All-American C.J. Spiller, who became the first running back in ACC history to record 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a single season and was named ACC Player of the Year in 2009. Clemson's kickoffs return team also consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally.
In 2015, Powell went to Pittsburgh as the running backs coach and special team's coordinator. During his time there, Quadree Henderson set a school record with seven kick return touchdowns and kickers Chris Blewitt and Alex Kessman became the two most prolific kickers in Pitt's history. He joined the ECU staff in 2023. New head coach Blake Harrell has been building his own staff, perhaps putting Powell in play for Locksley.
