Michael Hershey: Central Commander

Maryland’s center is no stranger to grit, hard work, physicality and perseverance. Michael Hershey’s upbringing and hobbies have welded him into the commander of the Terps’ new-look offensive line that’s quietly become a strength of the team.

“It starts with our leadership,” Hershey said. “Over the summer, we emphasized going back to our principles: toughness, effort, being relentless and taking pride in what we do. When we put all those together, we’re successful and that’s what we’ve shown as an offensive line group."

Improvement on the offensive line was a focal point of Maryland’s offseason efforts, especially when adding in a true freshman quarterback getting his first look at collegiate defenses. So far, it’s been an incredible success; the offense is averaging over 380 total yards of offense per game entering conference play. 

“Guys have bought into the program,” Hershey said. “There’s a lot less negativity this year. Guys buy into the program and want to be here and want to be great.”

Hershey’s strive for greatness was built on a lifetime of athletic competition. Aside from being a three-star football prospect, Hershey strung an impressive wrestling career together, building relationships that are still benefitting him today. 

“They’re both competitive sports,” Hershey said. “They both have another level of intensity. Practices are hard, but you bond working as a team.”

Two of his high school coaches, Tony and Ryan Miller, have made the trip to College Park to watch Hershey compete at the collegiate level. 

“I look up to those guys and they obviously support me,” Hershey said. “I’m so grateful to have them in my life and to have them come to the games.”

Despite being alone on the mat, Hershey enjoyed the team aspect of high school wrestling, a format that rewards overall team success above individual performance.

“Wrestling relates a lot to football,” Hershey said. “In wrestling, you’ve got to rely on your 107-pounder just as much as your heavyweight, just like in football, where you depend on your left tackle, right guard, receiver, quarterback, or whoever it may be.”

On his offensive line, Hershey has his assignment, but his success is only measured by the strength of his unit — one that hasn’t allowed Washington to be sacked through the first three games of the season. 

“Hershey’s a great communicator,” Washington said. “When they put the ball down and get set, he’s making his calls and getting it done quickly. That way, we’re able to operate fast.”

Relationships are a key component of Hershey’s life both on and off the field. As the leader of the offense, he spent the summer and fall camp molding relationships with his team. 

“I have the highest amount of confidence in him,” Junior offensive lineman Rahtrel Perry said. “He’s very smart, very intelligent. He’s a guy that really puts in a lot of work off the field and on the field. Seeing him compete as a high-level center is a great thing to see.”

Off the field, he’s leaning on the relationships he’s had for years for support, inspiration and a reminder of his values. Hershey is blessed with a consistent flow of support. From his girlfriend, Mackenzie, his former coaches, his family and friends and his current teammates and coaches, Hershey always has someone rooting for him and instilling the values he holds dear. 

Perhaps his biggest supporter is none other than his brother, Cameron, who’s following Hershey’s size 14 footsteps. 

“He's about five years younger than me,” Hershey said. “We grew up together. We do everything together, and he looks up to me, and is aspiring in football right now as a ninth grader. He looks at me as a role model, and really wants to be around me whenever he can.”

Most of their time spent together is back home in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, with their friends on their property with plenty of space for all the blue-collar activities they’ve come to love. 

“Anytime we got the chance, we’d be outside,” he said. “Obviously, I have a busy schedule of school and football and everything, but summers are always fun because we always get out almost every day, just whatever it is. We’ll go kick the ball in the backyard or go hunting and sit in the tree stand.”

Countless adventures with his friends in rural Pennsylvania featured dirt biking, paintball and hunting birds, foxes and coyotes.

“It relaxes your mind and gets you in-tune with nature,” Hershey said. “Not many people get to experience being outdoors and having a lot of land to explore. It just brings you closer to nature and gets your mind off football or wrestling.”

He started a Bible study group with two of his hometown friends, Levi and Teage. Levi sends them daily devotionals. Hershey says it helps to keep him grounded throughout the busy season and he’s gained wisdom about how his faith can apply specifically to his playing career.

“Going throughout your day without faith is a hard thing to do,” Hershey said. “To keep pushing past the mental barriers of all the practices and stuff, you need to have faith in your life.”

When he’s not playing football or hunting with his friends, he’s building, welding and constructing anything he can get his hands on. His experience ranges from Christmas ornaments to picture frames to lamps. One particular creation, a table and chairs, served as a class project for Hershey back in high school. 

He took a maple log, worked in a few walnut pieces (the dark bow-tie looking chunks) for stability and pinned it all down. He and his family then added the legs, painted and coated the top. It sparked another blue-collar hobby to fill his limited free time. 

From there, Hershey’s dabbled with woodworking, forging and making knives, amongst other unique crafts and trades. He and his dad plan on building a gun this winter to take out hunting with them, something Hershey values the quality-time of doing. 

“I want to thank my family, too,” Hershey said. “They've done a lot for me. They've always been at my sporting events and supported me.”

Now, he has the full faith and trust of his coaches and teammates as he takes on a leadership role on Michael Locksley’s 2025 squad. 

“Recruiting him, he was one of those guys that earned the right to have a scholarship here because of what did, not just as a football player,” Locksley said. “He’s one of those guys that we saw leadership qualities in early and was thrust in there as a true freshman a year ago.”

Unlike some of his teammates who were also two-sport athletes in high school, Hershey believes the physicality of wrestling helped better prepare him for trench life in the Big Ten. Still, it wasn’t easy picking a path when the time came. 

“It was a difficult decision,” he said, “Wrestling is a very hard sport to compete at the collegiate level, especially the Division I level, so I just saw a better future with football, and I wanted to focus on one sport. I just knew I wanted to stick with football.”

He’s fully committed to the program he’s quickly become a foundation of, but that doesn’t mean he’s not aware of the traits wrestling gave him.

“I definitely miss it,” he said. “It built a mental toughness that not a lot of people have. I wasn’t the best wrestler growing up, but once I got to high school, it really prepared me for the football field, conditioning wise. I got mentally tough.”

He’s thankful for every hand that touched him on his journey to College Park. He strives to make the hard work of him and his supporters worth it. 

“I just want to shout out my high school wrestling coaches,” he said. “Tyke Conover, Tony and Ryan Miller, Dakota Laughman and everybody else that helps out. They've played an important role in developing me in the wrestling room as well on the football field. They've helped me with recruiting and gotten me to where I am right now.”

Right now, that location is the middle of an offensive line ready to take on Big Ten competition and make a statement in the conference.

“I’m looking forward to conference play, but we’ve got to take it one game at a time,” Hershey said. “I’m looking forward to seeing where we are when we play Wisconsin and then go on from there.”

Until he has time to tinker in the workshop again, he’ll continue to construct a brilliant sophomore season and the relationships that continue to propel Terrapin football forward.