coaching changes
dj durkin

Source Report Sources: Durkin to Maryland Comment Count

Brian

[Bryan Fuller]

In seemingly done but not official news that would have been way more disappointing last week:

I think we all assumed that Durkin would be a head coach sooner or later, but not after one year, and not in Michigan's division. At least Durkin gets away from Ohio State's offense, though. Yeah.

Unless there's an 11th-hour switch here, Michigan needs a new DC and/or a LB/DL coach. Mattison can handle either unit in the front seven and could get bumped back up to the main job; Greg Jackson might be a DC possibility as well—the job he and Zordich did with Michigan's DBs was terrific.

Steve Lorenz has three DC names to watch that includes a familiar name: former Michigan DC and Syracuse HC Scott Shafer. Shafer did get a really raw deal here the first time around.

Comments

Scottwood88

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^

Worried about the impact on recruiting in the short term. However, after seeing the defense and strategy against Indiana and OSU, I think we can do better at DC.

Joined: 11/29/2015

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ak47

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:28 PM ^

Any insights into how this will impact recruits?  Also next hire needs to be a good, one Harbaugh identifies good coaching talent but he isn't a d coach and needs a good one to have a good d.

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DetroitBlue

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^

I'm pretty pissed about this. He comes up with that abortion of a game plan last week and bolts for a new job this week. I'm going to enjoy watching him struggle in an increasingly difficult division



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DetroitBlue

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^

I was all for those. But that doesn't change the fact that his mid-week move to a 3-3-5 was a complete failure. We were going to lose regardless, but he turned it into an embarrassment. And all this after he interviewed for the job during the week of the game. That rubs me the wrong way and nothing anyone says will ever change that.
On top of that, he goes to a shit program in a great division and he'll probably get fired in 4 or 5 years. It's just a dumb move for a guy who was going to get a lot better offers in the relatively near future



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Stringer Bell

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^

So what?  Doesn't mean we have to be happy about it.  He was here all of 1 year and completely failed his biggest test of the season.  If word is true that he was interviewing the week of The Game, then he didn't give his all to Michigan.  Good coach and recruiter, but not irreplaceable.

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lilpenny1316

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^

People shitbag the defense, but we only scored 13 points.  Considering the job done this season with injuries along the D-line and gameplanning around our own deficiencies at LB, Durkin did a great job.

Durkin failed the OSU test.
Drevno failed the OSU test.
Harbaugh failed the OSU test.

Everyone deserves some blame.

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Stringer Bell

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^

OSU has a really good defense, particularly pass defense (which pretty much negated our strength on offense).  Defensively we had the personnel to make it a close game, against an OSU offense that had been underachieving all year long and was just held to 14 points by the MSU defense.  Of all the coaches that failed, Durkin failed the hardest, and I suspect his focus on whether or not he was gonna take the Maryland job played a big part.

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jmblue

December 2nd, 2015 at 3:00 PM ^

The offense moved the ball fairly well against OSU (20 first downs); it just struggled to finish drives in the redzone.  You could say it had a bad day because of the point total, but it was a lot closer to having a good day than the defense, which gave up touchdowns on essentially six consecutive drives (if we exclude the clock-killing drive at the end of the first half).  

 

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westwardwolverine

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^

I don't think you grasp the issue.

I said this in another thread: If he was taking the Illinois job or the Minnesota job...by all means, go for it man. You're going to a place where you actually have a chance of succeeding. 

Instead, he's going to a place that just screams "You will be fired after 3-4 years!!!". 

He's being incredibly short-sighted taking a job in a division where Maryland will be the 5th best team in the division AND the top three teams are all looking to be very stable programs going forward. 

Look at it this way: Last year was probably the best shot Maryland had at success in the East as Michigan and Penn State were total shit shows. They went 7-6. That's unlikely to happen again and coming off a 3-9 (1-7) season, its not likely to happen before he gets to the point where he is fired. Then where will he be? Scrapping for another DC job and hoping a low-level shot opens up for him. 

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ak47

December 2nd, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^

Lol you guys over rate the top teams in the big ten so much.  A good coach with the talent that comes out of md isn't going 0-3 vs msu, osu, and michigan every year.  Sure its a tough job but like 3 years ago people said the same thing about ole miss, they've done ok and beaten bama.  Sure he probably isn't going to win a national title at md but if he goes 8-4 consistently he is getting a better job in the future.  James franklin managed to turn 4-4 in the sec into the penn state job despite never beating a ranked team.

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funkywolve

December 2nd, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^

In his 4 years at OSU, Meyer has lost 2 big ten games. 

In the last 3 years MSU has lost 2 big ten games.

3 of those losses are to each other:  MSU has beaten OSU twice and OSU has beaten MSU once.  So in the last 3 years, Nebraska is the only team to beat either OSU or MSU in Big Ten play.  If you take out the OSU/MSU head to head battles, these two teams have gone 44-1 against the rest of the Big Ten the last 3 years.

How long's it going to take Durkin to get that talent in there?  I don't think Maryland is some program that is just on the cusp of being a contender in the division and all they need is a little boost.  They need a pretty big rebuilding job.  

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pescadero

December 2nd, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^

How long's it going to take Durkin to get that talent in there?

 

Well - it's a talent rich area than for the B1G footprint, and they have more financial resources than about 80% of the teams in the B1G.

 

They need a pretty big rebuilding job - but outside Michigan and OSU they may have one of the easier paths to get there in the B1G, and "there" doesn't even mean ever winning the B1G.

 

Honestly - other than tradition, it's a significantly better job than Nebraska.

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westwardwolverine

December 2nd, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^

Maryland isn't gonna pull the same kind of recruits that Ole Miss does because they don't have the deep booster pockets. And Vanderbilt is a historically bad doormat. Maryland at least had the Fridgen years. 

This is the absolute worst time one could possibly take the Maryland job and its going to show in the next 3-4 years. 

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Stringer Bell

December 2nd, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^

Well, if he made this move solely based on money, then he's not very smart.  Maryland is not a good job for a coach to start his head coaching career.  He would've been better off in the MAC or something, learning the ins and outs while building up a solid record against lesser competition.  Instead he goes to the worst team in a stacked division.  He likely has a losing record, gets fired after a few years, giving him the reputation of good coordinator, failed head coach a la Will Muschamp.

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KBLOW

December 2nd, 2015 at 4:42 PM ^

Solely based opn money then he IS pretty smart.  He'll have enough in the bank (and the rest coming in a buyout) where he would never have to work again. Ever.

Now, if he's worrried about his reputation as a coach or moving up the ranks to a bigger and better program, then he's screwed...unless he pulls some serious magic out of his butt.

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skurnie

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:31 PM ^

Shame we have to lose him after only one season but I get why he'd want to take a Power 5 job. It'll be tough for him going up against Meyer, Harbaugh and Dantonio every year, though.

I trust Harbaugh to hire a suitable replacement.

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BigOzzy86

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^

and good luck. I'm sure his dream has been to become a head coach... Now onto a replacement.. Mattison is the short term replacement... who could also step in for the bowl game and not skip a beat... Harbaugh I'm sure already has some outstanding candidates in his rolodex...

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Frank Drebin

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^

I've heard some rumblings that he may be taking Fisch with him. If I remember correctly, we were able to get Fisch for $200,000 this season becasue he was still getting something like $1.5 million from Jacksonville after he was fired. He took the job cheap to allow him to coach with Harbaugh while still getting the other $1.3 million from Jacksonville, as the clause in his contract said the buyout was lowered if he took other employment. I had figured he'd only be here this year anyways due to this, but I feel this will also be a big loss if he leaves with his ties to the south for recruiting and his knowledge of a strong passing offense, which I feel is evident after the progress of our QB and WRs as the year progressed.

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Jonesy

December 2nd, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^

Fisch was a great hire, I'll take a young rising star coach who's an offensive coordinator at a moribund NFL team for our college passing game coordinator every time its available.  It was unbelievable we were able to snag him for such a demotion.

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Amaizing Blue

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^

Nice to have coaches on our staff other teams covet for higher jobs.  I know I didn't spend a lot of time the last couple years thinking "Yeah, Brady's not a very good coach and our program is spiraling downward-but at least I don't have to worry about him bolting to the NFL to coach the Cowboys!"

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