Maryland Football: Terps hire D.J. Durkin as their head coach

The Maryland football team has hired D.J. Durkin to be the next man in charge at College Park

The guessing game is now over for Maryland football fans as they have finally made their selection on who will guide the Terrapins into the future.

Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated said earlier today that Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin will take over the coaching duties for the Terps. The 37-year-old replaces Randy Edsall, who was fired in October.

Durkin becomes head coach at Maryland with a lot of familiarity of the Big Ten coaches. He served under Jim Harbaugh this season and from 2007 through 2009 at Stanford. He was also a linebackers and special teams coach under Urban Meyer, before being promoted to defensive coordinator when Will Muschamp took over at the University of Florida.

He served as defensive coordinator for the Gators for two seasons before Muschamp was released at the conclusion of the 2014 regular season. Durkin was named the interim head coach for the Gators in the Birmingham Bowl, defeating East Carolina, 28-20.

He did a fantastic job as coordinator this season for Michigan defense that ranks fourth in the country in total defense. He is also a great recruiter, which earned him Rivals.com Recuiter of the Year honors in 2012.

The hiring of Durkin isn’t the big name that many wanted the Terps to land. Earlier in the week, I wrote how Mark Richt would be a great hire and the two sides did speak about the opening. 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.

It remains to be seen what is the future of Mike Locksley, who took over for Edsall on an interim basis for the team’s final six games. Many of Maryland’s potential recruits are on board because of Locksley and Durkin does not want to lose those players. It’s possible that Locksley sticks around in some capacity, but that remains to be seen.

Next: Terps, UNC Square Off In Top-10 Battle

Durkin’s first order of business will be to get those prospects to come to a College Park. Then, they can focus on getting this team back into being competitive again.