Starter at a position of transition leaves Maryland football program
The latest news on the Maryland football beat.
Maryland football needs its offensive line to make big strides after it struggled throughout the 2024 season, but it'll have to do it without one of its starters. Offensive tackle Andre Roye has left the program, a school spokesperson confirmed to Inside Maryland Sports.
Roye, a 6-6, 294-pound redshirt sophomore from District Heights, started seven games at left tackle last season, his first time getting regular playing time. No reason was provided for his departure, but Roye struggled with penalties and breakdowns last season and was set to face heavy competition from promising young tackles Ryan Howerton and Terez Davis and a couple of experienced transfers who arrived recently after Terps coach Mike Locksley added two highly regarded tackles from the transfer portal, Rahtrell Perry (Central Connecticut State) and Jayvin James (Akron).
Maryland has talent at tackle in those two transfers, returning starter Alan Herron and youngsters Howerton and Davis. Locksley has viewed both as potential high-level bookends and made sure both got significant reps last season as true freshmen.
"We're still trying to figure it out. I mean, Andre [Roye] is working himself back, obviously, from the injury in the Minnesota game. Terez, as I said, is one of the talented freshmen. He and both Michael Hershey, who now is healthy, and it's great to have that back because it creates a little more depth. We're hopeful that we can get Andre Roye back because of the experience that he had as a first-time starter this year," Locksley said late in the season.
"Just having him out there gives us depth to where now we can play Terez 30 plays and not have to play him 55 or 60, which the more plays young guys play, the more opportunities they have to get better but also they get exposed a little bit. And that's where the depth that we had going into the season, we've struggled up front because of some of the injuries we've faced."
Roye was the No. 45 offensive tackle and the No. 11 prospect in Maryland in the 2022 class when he flipped from Penn State to Maryland as a senior at Baltimore powerhouse St. Frances Academy. An impressive athlete for his size, he switched his focus from basketball to football as a high school junior and was viewed as a developmental prospect with upside because of that athleticism.
Maryland's tackles will have a new coach this season after Maryland announced longtime NFL coach Hal Hunter has been hired to coach tight ends and tackles.
