Mike Locksley is the head coach at Maryland. But when it comes to making a lasting impact on the game of college football, Locksley is getting involved off the field.

ESPN recently published its list of “biggest power brokers and advocates” working to shape the landscape of college football for the future. That list of 11 individuals included commissioners, coaches and business people.

Locksley’s inclusion on the list is due to his work in diversity and inclusion. In 2020, Locksley formed the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches.

“I’m the head coach at Maryland, that’s already enough work to do,” Locksley said. “But I feel like it’s time for me to give back to football what football gave to me.”

The goal is to prepare Black assistants for head-coaching opportunities across all collegiate levels and raise awareness among those hiring.

Locksley went on to say the organization is focused on improving the processes as opposed to pure numbers of head coaches. In time, Locksley believes that will pay off with better representation in the head coaching ranks.

“Every year, if we get one more than what we had the previous year, we’ve done our job,” Locksley said. “I learned from being under the umbrella of Nick Saban, the success won’t be measured by the scoreboard. It’s the process that you have. And I feel like we’re putting together a pretty good process to help get some of these minority guys that are prepared and qualified to have opportunities in the near future.”