Dwayne Haskins opened up more about the circumstances that went into him decomitting from Maryland and choosing Ohio State. The Washington Redskins quarterback detailed what went into his decision while appearing on “Late Night with Locks” Instagram Live show with Maryland head coach Mike Locksley.
Haskins, who moved from New Jersey to the DMV in ninth grade, initially committed to Maryland as junior while playing at Bullis School (Potomac, MD). He didn’t understand why players from Maryland didn’t stay in-state to play for the Terrapins.
“The whole idea of it was bring everybody home because you go to Florida, everyone [wants to] go to Florida, everyone wants to go to Miami, everybody wants to go to the Florida schools. You go to Texas, everyone wants to go to Texas, Texas A&M and all of the schools like that. So why not everybody from Maryland want to go to Maryland, why is it so complicated everybody wants to go to the other schools?”
Dwayne Haskins / Late Night with Locks
Mike Locksley, who was then the offensive coordinator at Maryland, recruited Haskins heavily. But, Haskins was forced to reconsider his commitment following the firing of head coach Randy Edsall during the 2015 season.
Locksley wasn’t retained by incoming head coach DJ Durkin.
“The firing of Coach Edsall and then the recruiting process and trying to figure out what was going to happen with (Mike Locksley). Then you didn’t get retained and then from there it went south. I don’t want to talk about what happened with the other coaching staff.
“I was committed to the movement, committed to Locksley, committed to the idea of making a better Maryland. So, then that all changed and that’s why I had to change my decision.”
Dwayne Haskins / Late Night with Locks
Locksley ultimately went on to become the offensive coordinator at Alabama, where he helped lead the Crimson Tide to two national championships (2016 and 2018) before he was hired as Maryland’s head coach after Durkin was fired.
Meanwhile, Haskins flipped to Ohio State. After redshirting his first season and backing up JT Barrett his second, Haskins beat out Joe Burrow to become the Buckeyes starting QB as a redshirt sophomore in 2018. Haskins went on to throw for a Big Ten record 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns, leading Ohio State to a Rose Bowl victory. He was then selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Redskins.
So it’s safe to say it all worked out for both Haskins and Locksley. But, both admitted they took a lot of heat from fans when Locksley left and Haskins flipped his commitment.
Both have been afforded the opportunity to atone any ire with locals with Haskins playing for the hometown Redskins and Locksley putting the movement in play as the head coach for the Terrapins.
