Austin Curtright, USA TODAY Wed, October 21, 2026 at 5:09 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maryland's Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is tasked with leading Maryland football for the rest of the season after the program mutually parted ways with eighth-year coach Mike Locksley on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The Terrapins dropped their 12th consecutive Big Ten game in Week 7, suffering a 37-30 loss to Rutgers, which in return won its first conference game since Nov. 8 of last season, which coincidentally also came against Maryland.
REQUIRED READING: Who will replace Mike Locksley? The top candidates Maryland should consider
Abdul-Rahim, Maryland's co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season in Lockley's absence.
The 49-year-old coach from Washington D.C. is well-connected to the DMV and has been a part of two separate coaching staffs at Maryland.
Here's what to know of Abdul-Rahim, who's taking over coaching duties for the Terrapins :
After his playing career, Abdul-Rahim founded the football program at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington D.C., turning the new program into a powerhouse high school program in the area. He developed over 100 future Division I players from 2004-13 before he was hired as an analyst at Alabama in 2014 under Nick Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, now the head coach at Georgia.
After winning a national championship as the assistant direction of player personnel at Alabama in 2015, he was hired as the defensive backs coach at Maryland under D.J. Durkin, a position he held from 2016-18 before spending one season as the defensive coordinator at UMass.
Abdul-Rahim was then at Boston College from 2020-2023 until being added to Maryland's staff again, this time as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach from 2024 until now, when he was named interim head coach.
Abdul-Rahim played three seasons at San Diego State from 1997-99 after transferring from Mesa Community College, where he played one season. He later played three seasons for the San Diego Riptide, a former arena football league team, from 2000-02.
He also starred at Dunbar High School in nearby Washington D.C.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Aazaar Abdul-Rahim? What to know of Maryland interim head coach
Source: Sports
