COLLEGE PARK — When you recruit a quarterback to save your program, you don’t hide him under a bushel.

Make no mistake: That’s why Malik Washington is in College Park. The teenage phenom and four-star prospect who helped turn Archbishop Spalding into a football powerhouse is now an early-enrolled freshman at Terps spring football, where Maryland hopes he’ll enact a similar gilding effect.

A player with those hopes and dreams riding on his shoulders, even at 19, is irrepressible, which is why, for the first time in seven seasons, coach Mike Locksley allowed a true freshman to speak to the media.

“This is part of me changing and evolving,” Locksley told reporters Tuesday afternoon following practice. “It’s an opportunity for me to open a door for you guys to see a small snapshot of what Malik Washington can be.”

Washington has been center stage for a while. He was in the middle of an oddball yet undeniably viral “Free Grandma” recruiting push for the Terps. When attending Terps basketball games this past season, he flashed on the Jumbotron to uproarious applause even though he has yet to play a snap. People who caught even glimpses of him for the undefeated, three-time MIAA champion Cavaliers this past season have let their imagination run wild about what the 6-foot-4 passer might do in the Big Ten this fall.

While he faces some lightly experienced competition for the starting job this fall, Washington carries himself with the confidence of someone who is ready to be thrown in the fire — especially after Locksley compared his demeanor to Super Bowl winner Jalen Hurts, who started as a freshman at Alabama when he coached in Tuscaloosa.

“I love it,” Washington said of the QB competition. “Iron sharpens iron. So being out here with the best guys elevates me even more.”

The hope is for Washington to elevate the whole program — one teetering on irrelevance in its own conference and needing an injection of energy and excitement after last year’s dismal 4-8 campaign. The direction of the program and its leadership may hinge on how ready a teenager is to step under center.

Larger forces than the Terps’ quarterback room are stirring uncomfortably, especially after the departure of athletic director Damon Evans (who hired Locksley in 2018) and a public flare-up raised by outgoing men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard. Although no Maryland fan will give Willard style points for his slithering escape from the program, he undermined Locksley and (by implication) raised questions about the university’s deepening investment in a football program that has gone 33-41 in his stewardship.

The Terps rake in money thanks to their B1G conference switch, but in practice Maryland functions as the wooden plank for Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State to chop through on their path to the College Football Playoff. The Terps’ football attendance dropped to a reported 36,040 per game this past season, second fewest in the conference (and that estimation, based on how full 51,802-seat SECU Stadium looked on Saturdays, seems fairly generous).

The upside of the program may factor into decisions about how the department splits its revenue share with other sports, including its basketball teams. Given that men’s and women’s basketball both just cracked the Sweet 16, pivoting more resources to hoops might seem a more prudent move to an incoming AD.

Locksley has recruited well and won the respect of his players, but the real difference between his winning and losing seasons is simple to diagnose. His three winning seasons ending in bowl berths all featured Taulia Tagovailoa — who finished as Maryland’s all-time leading passer — at quarterback.

Locksley started recruiting Washington when the quarterback was in eighth grade and, viewing how he impacted Spalding, he believes that his newest star will have a similar floor-raising effect to Tagovailoa.

“He has natural leadership, and we always define leadership as having a positive impact on others,” he said. “I think probably the most surprising is how quickly he’s been able to have that impact on our team and the players in our program.”

Without a clear answer at quarterback last season, the Terps regressed and wound up replacing a host of offensive coaches. Locksley’s latest contract extension runs through at least 2027, but another losing season (which would be his fourth in seven years) and a new AD looking to make a splash could put him on the hot seat.

The program’s discord influenced Washington’s prep for coming to College Park. Instead of reading playbooks, Washington committed to diagnosing coverages while waiting on a replacement. Locksley wound up hiring Pep Hamilton, a well-traveled quarterbacks and passing coach who has worked with Andrew Luck and Justin Herbert, among others.

Washington did what the Terps hope he’ll do this fall: He adapted quickly to the new circumstances.

“He makes it really easy for us to understand as quarterbacks,” Washington said. “The offense is very quarterback friendly, so it allows me to go through my reads pretty fast and play fast.”

By the available accounts of Maryland’s largely closed practices, Washington has shown his teammates he merits the hype.

“He’s really good at feeling where the pressure is coming from,” defensive lineman Dillan Fontus said. “Not only that, he’s an explosive player. So he’ll be looking on one side of the field and then zips the ball to the other side.”

The Terps are hoping Washington can read the blitz that well come fall. Otherwise, Locksley and Maryland football will be the ones feeling the heat.