Locksley on Program's Connection with Steelers, Talks McFarland & Brooks
Maryland fans saw a pair of draft prospects get drafted on day three of the NFL Draft as running back Anthony McFarland and safety Antoine Brooks came off the board to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The familiarity between the two programs grew in the fall of 2018 when Shady Side (Pa.) wide receiver Dino Tomlin, the son of Mike, announced his commitment to Maryland under then-interim head coach Matt Canada. Tomlin remained a Maryland pledge through the coaching transition that ultimately led to Mike Locksley becoming the new head coach.
Canada, meanwhile, took the 2019 season off before being named the new quarterbacks coach the new Steelers’ quarterback coach on January 15, while current Maryland offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery worked under Tomlin for three seasons as wide receivers coach. The multitude of connections between the Steelers’ organization and the Terps’ made it possible for Brooks and McFarland to take the next step of their playing careers just four hours north.
“I do think having intimate knowledge on these guys, with Dino playing here for us and then the relationship of Scottie Montgomery who’s worked under coach Tomlin,” Locksley told Steelers.com late last month. “Matt Canada who served as the interim coach here and also coached for a couple of years with both these guys in his program, so to be able to have the type of information that I know an organization like the Steelers look for, they’re one of the organizations that do their homework on the players that come in, so I think it’s a little bit of both.” Pittsburgh had the opportunity to monitor the Terps’ draft prospects during Dino’s freshman season, but to Locksley, he recognized the father-son connection was something that was important to the Tomlins as separating football and coaching hits home. It’s a message that resonates with Locksley as just six years ago, he worked through navigating the recruitment of his son, Kai Locksley, while serving as Maryland’s offensive coordinator.
“Having been in that situation myself, I’ve had three sons that played Division-I football and separating dad and coach is really important and I know for Mike, it was important to him that when he came here to Maryland and to see Dino play, he wanted to be dad. Now obviously, he had an opportunity to really get to see our program up close and personal because of Dino being a part of it, where he was able to see Anthony McFarland, the impact he had on our team as well as Antoine Brooks. There’s no doubt being a dad was first and foremost in every visit that he had here and I know from him, it was really important to keep it that way.”
While the Steelers still return running backs James Conner, Jaylen Samuels and Benny Snell, the chance for McFarland to serve as a change of pace back gives him a chance to earn reps early. “I think the big thing is that it’s hard to put his skillset in a box. I’ve known Anthony since he was in seventh, eighth grade—he is a DMV legend here with his youth football exploits and how he came up and then at DeMatha, which is one of the top programs in the country year in and year out. His skillset was shown there a lot more than just the speed guy.”
McFarland’s final season was hampered by a high ankle sprain, a nagging injury that severely impacted the speed back despite appearing in all but one game. The injury allowed former running back Javon Leake to shine in an increased role, but to Locksley, he saw McFarland display toughness as he fought through the season. “What he showed me in that was that he was capable of playing through it. He played tough, he tried to fight through it and we actually as coaches actually made the decision to kind of shut him down in a couple of games because we wanted to try to get him back to as close to 100% as we could and with that high ankle sprain, time is the only thing you can do because it’s such a tough injury for a speed guy. What I think you’ll find with Anthony is his skillset as a receiver out of the backfield, a matchup problem for linebackers covering him. He does have a versatile skillset in that his speed is the name of his game, he’s a tough tackle in the open field but he also proved to me, the one year that I had him, was that he’s tough enough to run it in between the tackles and restrict his tackling surface and play bigger than his size. I was pleasantly surprised to see that part of his game.”
Meanwhile, three-year starter Antoine Brooks solidified himself as the heart of the Maryland defense as the passionate hybrid defender brought flare off the edge. After moving from outside linebacker to defensive back as a sophomore, the versatility on display gives the Steelers another strong open field tackler. “This past season, I think we showed and he showed that he’s capable of playing in the deep part of the field whether it’s a half-player or a thirds-player with his range of really good ball skills. He was a quarterback in high school, so the ball skills are there. When the ball is in the air, capable of making the play to come down with it but the thing I think is the best part of his game is his versatility and that he can drop down in the box as that hybrid rover type player. Brings a tremendous energy as a blitzer, really sure open field tackler and I think the thing that the Steelers are going to love about this guy is his energy level is always 100 miles per hour. He was the heartbeat of our team, heartbeat of our defense with the type of energy he brought to practice. He loves to play the game.”
