Maryland to hire MI defensive coordinator DJ Durkin as next head

Dec 04, 2015, 00:19
Maryland to hire MI defensive coordinator DJ Durkin as next head

As new Maryland head coach DJ Durkin sat for an introductory press conference in College Park Thursday, he said one thing of particular immediate news value: He won't be coaching his former team, the Michigan Wolverines, in a bowl game.

With Durkin now gone, MI has started its search for a new defensive coordinator and will have to have someone else - perhaps a coach already on staff, or perhaps a permanent replacement - run the defense later this winter in the bowl game. He left the Pac-12 for the SEC to join the Florida Gators, becoming defensive coordinator in Gainesville in 2013 under then head coach Will Muschamp, replacing current Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. The Wolverines are fourth in the nation in total defense (281.3 yards per game) and 11th in scoring defense (17.2 points per game). Maryland had several other high profile candidates on their coaching list, but went with a young coach that the Terps hope can be the face of the program for several years to come. He served under Jim Harbaugh this season and from 2007 through 2009 at Stanford.

Durkin inherits a team coming off a 3-9 season and with questions at quarterback. It remains to be seen if Durkin would like to retain Locksley as the offensive coordinator.

SI.com and ESPN.com were the first to report Durkin's hiring. Many of Maryland's potential recruits are on board because of Locksley and Durkin does not want to lose those players. The Terps will graduate three of their four starters in the secondary, but they'll likely get back All-Big Ten cornerback Will Likely, a junior. Well, Durkin said that while recruiting, he's looking for "motivated guys with a chip on their shoulder and are competitors".

Only time will tell how this hire will pan out for Maryland.

Durkin's first head coaching gig comes with plenty of work to do, both to continue some of the success that Edsall had while also alleviating the ills that had plagued the program this fall.

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