Maryland will conduct finalist interviews for its head-coaching vacancy on Sunday and Monday, meeting with three candidates: Matt Canada, who served as the Terrapins’ interim head coach this season, Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and Michigan quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The interviews will take place locally with athletic director Damon Evans, university president Wallace Loh and other school officials.
Both Canada and Hamilton were among those who already interviewed with the school in Atlanta, sources said. Locksley has been preparing Alabama for Saturday’s SEC championship game against Georgia.
The Washington Post first reported the names of the finalists.
A hire could come by the middle of next week, a source said.
Canada, 46, was brought in as Maryland’s offensive coordinator in January and went 5-7 as interim head coach this season. He took over after DJ Durkin was placed on administrative leave in August as the school investigated allegations of a toxic culture within the football program. Maryland fired Durkin on Oct. 31.
Locksley, 48, served as a Maryland assistant from 1997 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2015. He was the Terrapins’ interim head coach in 2015 after the firing of Randy Edsall. The Washington, D.C., native has strong support among Maryland’s top donors and local high school coaches, sources said. Locksley went 2-26 in two-plus seasons at New Mexico, his only FBS head-coaching stint.
Hamilton, 44, has served as Michigan’s assistant head coach, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the past two seasons. He has coached quarterbacks for four NFL teams, most recently the Cleveland Browns in 2016, and was offensive coordinator at Stanford in 2011 and 2012. He began his coaching career near Maryland at Howard University.