State Street

December 2nd, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^

Dino Babers was a much better fit there.  Maryland hiring a defensive minded HC is laughable. 

Best of luck to Durkin, I guess.  Lord knows he will need it. 

Wolverine Devotee

December 2nd, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^

I really don't know how to feel about this. 

I think he should've waited for a better job at a place that actually cares about football and a place where it doesn't appear (for now) that he has a very very long shot of ever winning the division, much less the B1G but I'm just a 5-10 white guy on the internet.

Congrats, DJ. Hopefully you stay and coach the bowl game here.

jblaze

December 2nd, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^

I mean Narduzzi proved himself to be a solid coach at Pitt and that was the best job he could get (a middle-tier ACC team). It's not like one of the big boys would have hired DJ, without experience and really, is MD a worse job than Indiana, Illinois, or Purdue?

WorldwideTJRob

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^

Stop this...we act like he would've gotten a job at Texas or Georgia. You usually have to get your feet wet at a lower-tier P5 job in order to move up. Dan Mullen left Florida for Mississippi St. which is probably on equal footing with the Terps when it comes to difficulty in a tough division. All he did was get them to a #1 ranking last year. If you can coach and recruit you can win anywhere. If he's good enough to be our DC then he is qualified to coach Maryland.




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M-Dog

December 2nd, 2015 at 5:38 PM ^

It's not him . . . it's Maryland.  They are delusional.  They fired Friedgen immediately after he led them to a 9-4 season and ACC coach of the year honors.

He took them to 7 bowl games (after years of them not making bowls), and won 5 of them.  He won the ACC, finished 2nd two more times, and finished second in his division another two more times.  

Folks, that's a damn good record for Maryland which has no tradition, mediocre facilities, a band-wagon fanbase (just as many Michigan fans at the game Maryland game this year as MD fans), and is an ACC basketball school at heart.

He was no Tim Beckman.  But they fired him any way.

Durkin would be better off at a place where he can have room to breathe and get established.  Maryland in the Big Ten East is not it.

alum96

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

Durkin wont be judged on winning the East.

He will be judged on getting to that 9 win plateau in 3 years and then jumping to a premier program.

It's not a destination job.  It's a platform job.  He will be 40-41 years old and if he takes Maryland to a point it wins all the games it should (i.e. 8 games a year) then swipes 1 against the "big 3 (4 with PSU if they ever get their head out of their ass)" to get to 9 wins two years in a row he will among the hottest commodities in CFB and be in line for blue blood jobs.

No one is going to expect him to go 11-1 at Maryland.

p.s. I disagree Purdue is a good job, and yes I know what Tiller did there.  I do think Illinois could be a very good job - they should be the MSU of the West division.  They seem like a chronic underachiever program that could be very good with the right guy at the top.

look up see blue

December 2nd, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^

Maryland's schedule the next two years includes:

2016: @Penn State, Michigan State, @Michigan, Ohio State, @Nebraska.

Then in 2017 they have: @Texas, @OSU, @Wisconsin, Michigan, @MSU, Penn State.

Even in 2018... they have to play Texas, @Michigan, @Iowa, MSU and end the season with games against OSU and @PSU. Now I understand why Brian thinks Maryland is a terrible job.

sj

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^

I agree. The key point is exceeding expectations. This is why Georgia and LSU are so rough - they literally expect a national championship every few years. If Durkin just makes Maryland respectable - not impossible given the recruiting area and newfound money - there won't be any naive fans trying to get him fired (or fans, period) and there will be top-tier ADs who recognize that as a big accomplishment.

bronxblue

December 2nd, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^

I'd take Illinois or Purdue in terms of competitiveness year in and year out just because of the division.  And with Illinois, they should be better than they are.

Also, Narduzzi had been a DC for years; Durkin has only been in this role for a year at UM, and only a year-ish as a co-DC at Florida, if memory serves me right.

ChalmersE

December 2nd, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^

Yes -- at least as to Illinois and probably Purdue. The fan base (and the local area) cares nothing about Maryland football.  It's just something to keep folks busy until the basketball seasons starts.

Bob The Wonder Dog

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^

-Bo Schembechler

 

This guy's going to be spending every second from now 'till January trying to put together a recruiting class for Maryland. Why would we want him to coach in the bowl game? How much time do you honestly feel he will put into a game plan?

WorldwideTJRob

December 2nd, 2015 at 3:31 PM ^

No the point is losers make excuses for losing. If it couldn't be used as an excuse for a team playing for higher stakes than we were how can we then use it as a reason we were beat. They outplayed us on both sides of the football. This same defense gave up a ton of yards to IU, I doubt Durkin was interviewing at another place then.




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wesq

December 2nd, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

Low expectations is sometimes a good thing. He'll get more time to build his program. He's in a talent rich area and really good UA connections. If they win there's a ton of football fans within driving distance of College Park. Seems like a great opportunity for a coordinator to me.

M-Dog

December 2nd, 2015 at 5:43 PM ^

there's a ton of football fans within driving distance of College Park.

That is true.  But they only care about the Redskins.

Friedgen hsd that program rocking in the 2000's, winning the ACC and the Orange bowl.  But they still could not consistently fill a <50,000 staduim.

 

M-Dog

December 2nd, 2015 at 5:48 PM ^

Even when they were let go, nobody would take them.

When was the last time one of our coaches left Michigan for a better position and not a lesser position?  This is the first one I can think of in forever.

it's just like recuiting 5-stars and losing them to the NFL as Juniors.  It hurts, but it beats the alternative.  And it of course begets more 5-stars.  You've become a destination.

If you are a 5-star recruit or a "5-star coach", you are going to want to be part of Harbaugh's team, even if it is only for a few years. 

FlexUM

December 2nd, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^

Good luck to him. Hate to see him go but I have no doubt harbaugh will find someone good to replace him. Durkin is a great guy know him from back in the BG days.