Multiple Terps opt out of 2020 football season

Six Maryland football players, including three who started multiple games last year, have opted out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, head coach Michael Locksley announced on a Zoom call with media members August 7.

Senior quarterback Josh Jackson, senior center Johnny Jordan and sophomore offensive guard Austin Fontaine combined for 21 starts in 2019. All three have opted out. Both Jordan and Fontaine were expected to start along the offensive line to begin the 2020 season, while Jackson would have been one of just two scholarship quarterbacks available to start camp while the Terps await the status of Alabama transfer Taulia Tagovailoa.

Others that chose to opt out include sophomore defensive lineman Jalen Alexander, sophomore defensive back Vincent Flythe and JUCO transfer linebacker TJ Kauti.

"We’re in complete support of each and every one of their decisions for their own individual reasons,” said Locksley. “We’ll continue to support those guys as best we can. Some guys may be exhausting eligibility, those things are still a big question because the NCAA hasn’t necessarily ruled on those things. And others we expect to return once they have a comfort level of where we are."

Also lost for the season due to an undisclosed medical condition is junior tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo, who started three games, was second on the team in with 19 receptions and third on team with 201 yards while catching two touchdowns last year. Big things were expected of Okonkwo, who was named to the 2020 John Mackey Award preseason watchlist just last month, in the upcoming season.