Changing The Narrative: Maryland Football Continues To Be At The Forefront Of Mental Health Awareness

As Rachel Baribeau remembers, it took coach Michael Locksley about three seconds to give a resounding yes to her offer to come to speak to his program about mental health.

"It felt like he jumped through the phone," Baribeau recalled. "He was like, 'Yeah, yes, yes.'"

Baribeau, a well-known speaker, author, and founder of I'm Changing the Narrative, and Locksley actually first met back when he was Alabama's offensive coordinator. Baribeau spoke to different teams and organizations about the importance of mental health awareness, and she stopped in Tuscaloosa. 

There, she came across Locksley, and his wife, Kia, and her speeches immediately resonated with the couple—the Locksleys were already painfully familiar with the need for increased mental health awareness and support.

The couple's first-born son, Meiko, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later schizoaffective disorder in 2012. In September of 2017, Meiko was fatally shot in Columbia, Maryland. 

As important as mental health was to Locksley and his family, the significance increased tenfold because of that tragic night.

"Obviously, it's a cause that is near and dear to me, having been affected by mental health with my son Meiko," Locksley said.

Locksley and Baribeau's paths crossed again in 2019—Locksley's first season as Maryland's head coach. Earlier that same year, Baribeau lost her mother to cancer and considered taking her own life out of grief. 

For Baribeau, that was her signal to turn her speeches from something she did on the side into a full-time passion, even if it meant giving up her promising career as a sports reporter. From there, her I'm Changing The Narrative campaign took off. 

Part of the movement included a partnership with Locksley and Maryland football that has brought Baribeau to College Park to speak with the team multiple times throughout the last four years. Baribeau also helped the Terps participate in multiple Mental Health Awareness games, first as part of one in Minnesota in 2019 and then hosting their own last year when Iowa came to town. 

On Saturday, against Michigan State, the Terps will host their second consecutive Mental Health Awareness game. Like in previous years, both teams will don green ribbon helmet decals, the symbol and color of mental health awareness. In addition, an in-game public service announcement featuring members from both squads and Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren will also air. 

And while Locksley and his program are ecstatic to raise awareness about such an important topic on the big stage, they're also sure to emphasize that this is much more than a seven-day commitment. 

"Mental health awareness is not just a one-week thing for our team, it's an everyday thing," Locksley said. "We always talk about, if you don't feel good, tell us. Damon Evans and Colleen Sorem, my bosses, have put tremendous amounts of resources into an understanding of just how important the mental health of our student-athletes are. So, it's not just this week even though this game kind of features that. This is something that's an everyday thing for our program."

Baribeau has seen that investment in the cause first-hand. 

"There's a lot of people that do what I do who come in, but then they're on the next flight out," she said. "Or they bring me in to talk about mental health and then, once I leave, the players go right back to a coach who's telling them to toughen up and not to cry. And you can do irreparable damage to a player doing that. That's not how Maryland and Coach Locksley have ever wanted to go about things.

"There are a few coaches that stand out amongst others when it comes to truly incorporating this stuff everyday and Locks is one of them," Baribeau added. "He uses his pain for purpose."

One of the most significant ways Locksley lives out the daily commitment to mental health is his open-door policy. All of his players, whom he refers to as his kids, are encouraged to visit him in his office whenever they have something weighing on them mentally that they want to get off their chest. 

"You can ask any of his players; they know that open door policy exists, and they can go in there and say, 'Coach, I'm not ok. Coach, I need some help, I need resources,'" Baribeau said. "He's affected countless lives because of that. I think his son in heaven would be so incredibly proud."

That pledge to invest in mental health isn't just confined to the football program. It extends to the entire athletic department and school. It is reflected in hiring accomplished individuals in critical mental health positions, such as Dr. Kristi Hall. She was hired in September to serve as the university's Director of Sports Psychology.

For Hall, few groups of people need pointed psychology efforts more than athletes do. 

"People always think of athletes, and especially football players, as being so tough, but, in fact, they are probably one of the most fragile groups," Hall said. "They have so much stress on them, they have entire organizations thinking they're gonna change the entire culture or they have all these people around them expecting them to make it to the pros. That's a lot of pressure and oftentimes they internalize that pressure and that creates a never-ending voice telling them they have to be better."

She fondly recalls a recent conversation with a transfer student-athlete who talked about how their former school didn't have a sports psychology department and how much of a difference it has made having one at Maryland. 

"Mental health and mental awareness are so vital and I'm just happy Maryland is a place that is genuinely in support of that," Hall said. 

Hall met Locksley during her first day on the job, and he welcomed her with open arms into the program. Now, Hall stands on the sidelines during practices and travels with the team when they're on the road—she is just as much a part of the program as any other staff member. 

"I've felt so backed since day one," Hall said. "There's just really strong support in that the players know they won't be off the team or looked at any differently if they come talk to me."

Perhaps the best signal of the school's pledge to mental health awareness is how empowered the student-athletes feel to speak out about their internal struggles. 

For the football team, that openness directly reflects Locksley and his candor. 

"Just like with everything, it starts with the leader," Hall said. "And if Coach Locksley, as the leader, is saying it's ok and you should go to talk to her, then it trickles down to the team that seeking help is an ok thing."

"I think (Locksley's) been so raw and open and vulnerable with his players that it just gives them the freedom to be raw, open and vulnerable themselves," Baribeau added. "It's little things he does like emphasizing that going to see (Hall) is not weak, it's actually the strongest thing you can do."

Some of Locksley's players have gone further than talking about their mental health in closed-door settings. For example, during Tuesday's press conference, senior linebacker Vandarius Cowan was candid about his mental struggles during his previous stops at Alabama and West Virginia.

"Mental health is a serious thing, especially playing here with Coach Locksley who lost his son," Cowan said. "We take that very seriously here. I know myself, dealing with injuries, being at multiple schools, I've had some mental problems myself. I've worked on that. Mental health is not a joke."

Additionally, Anthony Pecorella has been an outspoken advocate and leading voice for mental health awareness, specifically among student-athletes. The senior punter started an Instagram account last year called Healthy Minds, where he encourages athletes to share their battles with mental health. He also works hand-in-hand with Baribeau on a mental health coalition with approximately 40 current student-athletes across the country who meet to discuss their mental health journeys.

Baribeau can't help but get emotional when discussing Pecorella and all he has added to the cause. 

"I only exist as the founder of this movement to empower others, to empower athletes, to empower everyday people to change the narrative around mental health," Baribeau said. "When I see someone like Anthony, leading on this campus and starting his own movement, there's so much pride in that, so many happy tears."

Baribeau partners with all kinds of teams, organizations, and people. However, her work with football players is particularly powerful due to the hyper-masculine connotation surrounding the sport.

"The more we have coaches and football players saying, 'I'm not ok, (I need to) seek help,' the more the stigma goes away and the more we normalize conversations about mental health," she said. 

Baribeau refers to that phenomenon as radical vulnerability, which is the concept that people feel better about themselves and their struggles when they hear from people around them who are going through similar things. 

"When a group of masculine, strong, tough football players and their coach talk about their mental health, man, we bust down some big ole barriers," she said.

On Saturday, the Terps will focus on the Spartans and securing their first Big Ten win of the season. However, when they come out of the locker room donning the green ribbons on their helmets, the game won't be the only thing on their minds. 

"I'm ecstatic that we're pushing mental health because that's a real tough topic to talk about and it's real important," redshirt senior linebacker Ahmad McCullough said. "People suffer and suffer in silence. As long as we make it more comfortable as a topic, we'll get better." 

"We're definitely going to represent for that (cause) on Saturday and we're going to play hard for it," Cowan added.

For Baribeau, this game serves as a sign of all the progress that has been made in recent years to destigmatize mental health and the conversations around it and a reminder that the work is not finished. 

"Five years ago, there were no mental health games," she said. "There were people doing what they do behind the scenes, but we weren't talking about it. I celebrate that, but I also recognize there's so much more to be done."