Maryland: Student Reporters Covering the Locksley Exit Were Reported to Police, University Cites First Amendment Rights
The University of Maryland announced on Oct. 21 that it had parted ways with head football coach Mike Locksley, as previously reported by GSM. That same day, two reporters for the student outlet Testudo Times, Nolan Rogalski and Jude Wilkenfeld, waited outside the team's Jones-Hill House training facility hoping to ask players about the coaching change. According to Rogalski's post and video on X, an athletics staffer photographed the two and police were called over “suspicious activity”; two police cars arrived, an officer recorded their student IDs and asked them to leave. Rogalski said they were standing in a public area, and in the video reported by USA Today an officer responded, “I don't disagree with you.”
Maryland Athletics and the University of Maryland Police Department later issued a joint statement: police were contacted on Oct. 21 about two individuals outside Jones-Hill House; security around athletics facilities had been increased because of heightened concerns for staff and player safety around the football program in recent weeks; an officer learned the two were with a campus media organization, recorded their student IDs, and no report was taken. “UMPD and Maryland Athletics respect the First Amendment rights of all journalists reporting in public spaces,” the statement said.
Locksley, Maryland's head coach since 2019, was let go after a 2-5 start (0-4 in the Big Ten) and a 30-37 home loss to Rutgers on Oct. 17, finishing 39-54 at Maryland. Defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is serving as interim head coach; the team is on a bye week and next hosts Illinois on Oct. 31.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：马里兰大学橄榄球主教练 Mike Locksley（2021年资料图）。摄影：All-Pro Reels，CC BY-SA 2.0（Wikimedia Commons）。Photo: Maryland head football coach Mike Locksley (file photo, 2021). Photo by All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
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- 2026-10-22Maryland: Student Reporters Covering the Locksley Exit Were Reported to Police, University Cites First Amendment RightsThis story
