Maryland football cornerback Dontay Joyner returned to the team Wednesday after a mutual departure, directly conflicting with the “fresh start” that head coach Michael Locksley cited at media day in early August. 

Joyner was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to a charge of telephone misuse in July. 

“I was really glad to see our players make that decision,” Locksley said on Inside Maryland Sports’ 2026 season kickoff livestream interview. “That wasn’t a ‘Coach Locks’ decision.”

Joyner started every game for Maryland in 2025, earning an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and leading the team with eight pass breakups. He brings talent and experience to a defense that had multiple question marks heading into the high-pressure 2026 season. 

Locksley said senior leaders on the team approached him after Joyner spoke to the players and asked Locksley to allow Joyner back on the team.

Locksley said the players told him, “We feel like Dontay has a support system here at Maryland, which is us, and being here is the best thing for him,” during his Inside Maryland Sports interview.

The news comes after Locksley told the media that he and Joyner “mutually decided” that the senior defensive back needed a fresh start. Apparently, that fresh start is in Maryland, even though Locksley said this in August: 

“We just felt like, because of what he went through here in the state of Maryland,” Locksley said. He probably needs a fresh start.”

Locksley did mention that Joyner deserved another chance, and that the team was helping him find another place to use his final two years of eligibility, but he made it very clear that Maryland was not the place for Joyner anymore, yet here we are. 

“We all saw this as a positive because sometimes people, especially young people, make mistakes and a second chance can be life-changing, and, you know, we haven’t had a lot of these issues here,” Locksley said in his Inside Maryland Sports Interview.