Heat check: Mike Locksley is out of excuses. Why does he still have a job?

At some point, calling Maryland football unserious becomes an insult to unserious football.

The Terps have graduated to something worse.

Yet here we are, creeping toward November, and Mike Locksley is still collecting a paycheck. Calling it job security feels generous. Legalized theft feels more accurate.

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The 2026 coaching carousel might move slower than last year’s, especially with a potentially chaotic 2027 looming.

Doesn’t matter.

The wheel always spins. And sooner or later, Locksley is getting thrown off it.

Here’s USA TODAY Sports’ Heat Check: Backside discomfort.

Mike Locksley, Maryland

In the "Backside Bowl," Locksley went meekly into the night against Rutgers and Greg Schiano.

At home, Locksley guided Maryland to perhaps its most galling come-from-ahead loss. Up 23-13 at the half, the Terps were outscored 24-7 across the final 30 minutes.

Maryland deserves better — at every single level of its program. Locksley fired defensive coordinator Ted Monachino after the Rutgers loss. That's a Band-Aid when the patient is coding.

Deion Sanders, Colorado

Let’s get one thing straight: Buffs athletic director Fernando Lovo inherited the Coach Prime melodrama. He didn’t hire Deion Sanders. He didn’t hand him an extension.

That absurdity belongs to former Colorado athletic director Rick George, who handed out contracts worth millions that the Buffaloes are now struggling to cash.

Meanwhile, Sanders is learning what life looks like without Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter or his NFL quarterback son, Shedeur Sanders, around to cover the cracks.

Hey, Colorado almost cracked 400 yards of offense in its relatively narrow loss to Utah. Break out the balloons.

After all, the Buffs haven’t reached 400 yards against a single FBS opponent this season. Over their past 19 games, they have just two wins against Power Four competition.

Against Utah, they added two more turnovers and 10 more penalties to the résumé.

Is this really what $10 million a year is supposed to buy?

More: Deion Sanders broke his own rule after Colorado’s heartbreaking loss

Mike Norvell, Florida State

We’ve reached the charitable stage of Mike Norvell’s seemingly predetermined fate at Florida State, where an overtime loss somehow counts as coaching equity.

Or, at minimum, earns him a couple spots down the backside-discomfort chart.

That Florida State pushed now-No. 1 Miami to double overtime matters. The Seminoles clearly haven’t tuned out Norvell.

The problem is that listening to the message hasn’t made them any better.

FSU is now 5-21 in its past 26 games against Power Four opponents.

Sure, Florida State has no athletic director. It has mountains of debt. And the built-in recruiting advantages that once made Tallahassee a destination have eroded.

Those are explanations.

At some point, though, 5-21 demands something more than explanations.

Does Florida State still have an interest in winning?

More: Mike Norvell says officials provided no explanation on final play vs Miami

Lance Leipold, Kansas

The man is a winner, and it’s his energy and work that spurred unprecedented investment in Kansas football.

It’s also time for a changing of the guard. Leipold peaked with a nine-win season in 2023.

Otherwise in the shadow of the Phog?

Kansas under Leipold is 20-34. Worse yet, it is receding further and further from its two most important rivals: in-state foe Kansas State and border nemesis Missouri.

Scotty Walden, UTEP

He might lose 30 games in three seasons atop the Miners. Walden is 7-27 leading FBS programs.

Like Maryland and Locksley, UTEP has delivered as much commitment as possible to Walden’s program. He has failed to deliver.

Hot seat warming watch

Brent Venables’ reworked Oklahoma contract belongs in the museum of athletic department malpractice. The buyout alone should come with its own warning label.

Steve Sarkisian and Texas? Grab a display case for that one, too.

Venables, Sarkisian and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer share representation, which makes the punch line even better: The house keeps winning. The schools keep paying.

Frankly, initiate the riots.

Those three coaches are pulling in a combined $30 million this season to coach college football.

The return?

12-7.

Thirty million bucks for seven losses and a whole lot of explaining.

Don’t blame the coaches. Certainly don’t blame the agents. Blame the athletic directors who walked into the casino, bid against themselves and handed over the keys to the vault.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heat check: Mike Locksley is out of excuses. Why does he still have a job?