Three-Star Defensive Back Flips From Florida State To Maryland, Joining Two Other Recruits

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Mike Locksley and his staff added another recruit to their 2026 recruiting class. Cornerback Sean Johnson, originally committed to Florida State University, announced this past Friday that he'll now be attending Maryland.
Johnson is a 6'1 defensive back who hails from Severn, Maryland, and, like current Terps quarterback Malik Washington, attends Archbishop Spalding High School.
๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ : ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ง - ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ค (๐-๐/๐๐๐), ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ (๐๐) ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐
โ Cสแดแดแด แด แดแดษขสแดs โช (@ChuckDouglas_) November 29, 2025
Johnson is a Top 14 ranked player in theโฆ pic.twitter.com/Q6tK0dHHq1
Funny enough, it was never stated or publicly announced if the Terps made an official offer to Johnson or if he ever visited.
However, Brian Dohn of Inside Maryland Sport had sources that told him Johnson was at Maryland at the end of November, and he said that the Terps' persistence was the factor in getting him to visit. His official flip was also garnered by NIL, playing in the Big Ten and in front of the home crowd.
247Sports Composite has Johnson tagged as the No. 46 cornerback in the 2026 class and the 14th-best player out of Maryland.
The Terps have been active on the recruitment portal in recent weeks. Johnson now joins two other players who have flipped and are making their way to College Park: defensive tackle Cameron Brickle and quarterback Nathan Bernhard.
In terms of Brickle, the Terps swayed him away from conference foe Ohio State after he previously committed to the Buckeyes on June 28. Brickle had visited the Terps back on June 13th, about two weeks before his initial commitment.
Maryland Football in the last week has flipped the following Commitments:
โ Cสแดแดแด แด แดแดษขสแดs โช (@ChuckDouglas_) November 29, 2025
-- ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฆ - ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ (๐๐) - (๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฐ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ)
-- ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ - ๐๐ด๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ (๐๐) - (๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ข๐ฏโฆ pic.twitter.com/lZejvVDzFL
Brickle is a 6'2 defensive lineman who attended the high school powerhouse, IMG, rated a three-star prospect out of the 2026 class, and also the 64th best defensive lineman by 247Sports Composite.
247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins described Brickle's playing style stating;
" He's a powerful kid with heavy hands and knocks guys backward. Has quick feet in the box and plays behind the line of scrimmage. Strong at the point of attack and can move well laterally. Can disengage from a blocker and shows the ability to run down plays from behind. He's a true nose guard who can take on double teams and still make plays. "
It will be nice to see him play alongside the likes of Zahir Mathis, Sidney Stewart, and fellow 2026 committee five-star edge, Zion Elee, forming an elite front four that could cause havoc in the backfield.
The final prospect that flipped was quarterback Nathan Bernhard, who had decommitted from Appalachian State on Nov. 24th and switched to the Terps.
CONGRATULATIONS BERNIE โฆ
โ ArrowPride (@pride_arrow) November 24, 2025
6โ6โ 240-lb QB Nathan Bernhard (Ashland High School, OH) has officially flipped his commitment to Maryland Terrapins Football. Once an Arrow Always an Arrow ๐นGO TERPS ๐๐ข pic.twitter.com/Lifi8lUhN5
Bernhard had an amazing Senior year at his high school, Ashland, throwing for 2,878 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and two interceptions, while also rushing for 674 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns.
Bernhard fits the mold of a strong dual-threat quarterback who provides experience and stability within the depth of the Terps' QB room.

Jaden's sports journalism career began at the College of Southern Maryland from 2022-2023, where he was brought in to cover baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball at CSM. In late 2023, he began interning at the University of Maryland Athletics Department as a contributing writer to help develop feature stories and game recaps. He also creates his own sports media content on professional Washington teams with LegacyMaker Sports Network.