Maryland football moves Shane Cockerille from quarterback to linebacker at spring practice

Maryland rising redshirt junior Shane Cockerille has changed positions from quarterback to linebacker during spring practice, marking the third positional swap of his career in College Park.

Cockerille began working at linebacker during Maryland's spring practice on Tuesday, head coach DJ Durkin said, after moving from quarterback to fullback under Randy Edsall and back to quarterback late last season under interim coach Mike Locksley. Cockerille was recruited as a high three-star dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2013, and Locksley had been perhaps his strongest advocate at that position.

Durkin said Maryland would do more positional changing as the spring goes on.

"We'll do a couple more as we keep going through spring. Now's the time to do it. Find out what guys can do. There's no sense in wondering about it or waiting and then trying maybe in the fall when a guy gets hurt or something, you need a guy to move and all of a sudden, you're put in a position you're not ready for," he said. "We'll do a bunch of it as we keep going through spring but I thought for his first day at it, Shane did a good job."

Cockerille appeared to work mostly as an outside linebacker on Tuesday, although spring practice positions aren't exact indicators of how players will line up once the season begins, and 7-on-7 drills don't exactly mimic any real defensive system. He looked explosive in one-on-one drills, battling a few times with running back Wes Brown in a pass-rushing and protection drill in front of assembled media and recruits.

Last season marked Cockerille's first action at quarterback since he came out of Gilman in Baltimore three years ago. He was 11-of-23 in a handful of relief appearances, for 82 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.