Changing The Narrative

Mental health awareness is a social cause that has seen rapid growth over the past few decades as businesses, government entities, and individuals with large platforms have spoken up about the importance of the issue. 

Providing necessary resources for those struggling with their mental health and advocating for those afflicted, the University of Maryland has been at the forefront of mental health awareness. 

There is no more prominent champion for the cause on the campus than head football coach Michael Locksley, and he is forging the change through grief, love, and the desire to honor his late son.

Meiko Locksley was everything Coach Locksley and his wife, Kia, could want in a son. He was smart, a talented piano player, and a star football player who played for his father at the University of New Mexico. 

More importantly to his parents, Meiko was a great older brother to his little brother Kai, and his little sister, Kori. 

“As a child, Meiko was extremely intelligent,” Kia said. “He was reading a little bit before age four. He was inquisitive, and just had a thirst for knowledge. He was everything you want your firstborn to be.”

With all that he had going for him, Meiko was not without his struggles as he got older. 

When Coach Locksley looked into his son’s eyes, he sometimes would not see the vibrant personality usually there. His son was “like he was a zombie,” as Coach Locksley put it. 

Meiko was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later schizoaffective disorder in 2012, and it changed Coach Locksley's outlook on mental health. 

The Locksley family began to dive deep into what their son was afflicted with and did everything they could to make his life more comfortable. For years, Meiko was doing better as he was happy and had a job. 

For the first time in years, the Locksley family was regaining their sense of normalcy.

All of that would come to a halt on Sept. 3, 2017. 

A soft knock on the door at 3 a.m. woke Kia from a deep sleep, to which she quickly alerted her sleeping husband to the visitor. Three police officers were there to deliver the worst news a parent could hear. 

The police informed them that Meiko was shot and killed in Columbia, Maryland. 

To this day, the Locksley’s and the police are unsure what transpired that fateful night. No one with information on the incident has come forward, and there has been no arrest.

Coach Locksley, with a higher profile as the head coach of the Maryland football program, can advocate a cause so near and dear to his heart. 

The Washington D.C. native treats his players as if they were his own children, and Locksley wants to help them both on the field and in the classroom, but mentally, as well. 

That is why when Locksley became the head coach, he decided to take the initiative and partner with well-known speaker and author Rachel Baribeau to make sure his team was on the right track. 

“She talked about taking off the mask that you’ve got to be this tough, gladiator hardcore guy, but beneath that mask is who you really are,” Locksley said. “We all have issues, we all have problems, and we all have things that maybe make us uncomfortable.”

Baribeau talks to numerous college programs across the country but has a kinship with Locksley as he has shown that his commitment to the cause is not just lip service. 

“Oftentimes, the hardest thing to do is to take off the mask and be vulnerable, and that's who he is,” Baribeau said about Locksley. “He's doing that. He doesn't turn down interviews. He talks about mental health. He talks about losing his son. It's one thing to bring a mental health speaker in, and it’s a whole other thing to walk the walk every other day that they're not there.”

Coach Locksley often wears a green ribbon to help raise awareness for Mental Health Awareness.

When the Terrapins take the field tonight against No. 5 Iowa, they do so while wearing a green ribbon on their helmets, as green is the color of mental health awareness. An in-game public service announcement video will also play, which will focus on destigmatizing mental health.

Having a Mental Health Awareness home game is something that Coach Locksley has wanted for years, and for it to coincide with a big game on national television in front of what should be a big crowd means the message will reach that many more people.

"I'm happy to partner with Rachel and her team again," Locksley continued. "We worked with I'm Changing the Narrative for a Mental Health Awareness game on the road in 2019, and now we get to bring it to The Shell to hopefully make a difference and raise awareness with our fans. We've had Rachel on our campus a few times to talk to our guys. She's become a close friend as our goals align in that we want, and that’s to shine a light on the importance of mental health awareness and supporting everyone that suffers." 

Locksley knows that curing mental disorders is not a realistic goal, but he hopes that with his team spotlighting these issues, they can destigmatize it and help people like Meiko who are being affected by it. 

Being entrusted with dozens of young men’s lives and getting to develop them into upstanding, productive citizens is what Locksley takes the most pride in. He loves being a father, and now he gets to be a father figure to all of his players.

“So, as a coach, I'm raising young men. And when your kids make mistakes, you don't just throw your own children out and say you're done, you're ticked off, you're out,” Locksley explained. “How do you teach grown young men to become men if you don't help them with learning through the mistakes that they may have made?”

High-level college football may be a results-based business, and while he desperately wants to win, Locksley knows that his job description means more than just a win/loss record.

Locksley has already lost more in his life than he could ever do on a football field. That mindset drives him to help his players develop and give them the resources and the outlets to get help if they need it. 

Regardless of what happens, Locksley will do what he has always done, persevere.

“I've been fired, I got up. I’ve lost big games, I got up. I lost a son, I got up,” Locksley said. “It's important for me as the leader of this program to talk about the things that affect our players, our community, and let it be known that it is okay to talk about. It's therapeutic for others like it has been for me.”