O'Gara: DJ Durkin got yet another SEC defensive coordinator job, which continues to baffle me
It’s not fair for me to call out Auburn for hiring DJ Durkin as its next defensive coordinator. That’s not what I’m here to do today.
After all, he’s held that title at 4 different SEC schools in the past decade. A quarter of the nation’s most competitive conference was willing to let Durkin run the defense, the last 3 teams were at programs with offensive-minded head coaches, meaning that he got full autonomy of the defense. Shoot, there was reportedly interest that Nick Saban would’ve hired Durkin as Alabama’s next defensive coordinator if he didn’t retire.
(Saban had allowed Durkin to, as he said, observe “for professional development” at Alabama back in December 2018 after he was fired with cause at Maryland for events that we’ll dig into later.)
I’d like to think of myself as an understanding person. I listen to viewpoints that aren’t my own. I don’t block people on X/Twitter because I think muting is a much more effective tool. I even listen to solicitors at the front door waaaaay longer than my wife thinks that I should.
But for the life of me, I can’t understand how Durkin continues to get these coveted jobs.
Let’s start with just the on-field stuff. That’s what the SEC is all about. We’ll have plenty of time to dig into Durkin’s affinity for graphic videos and/or horror movies at breakfast.
What has Durkin not been about? Leading elite defenses since he got his big break to become a head coach at Maryland in 2016.
- 2016 (Maryland HC) — No. 74
- 2017 — No. 120
- 2018 — Suspended, No. 78
- 2020 (Ole Miss DC) — No. 118
- 2021 — No. 51
- 2022 (Texas A&M DC) — No. 25
- 2023 — No. 36
I’d add that while Durkin was part of solid units as the DC at Florida (2013-14) and Michigan (2015), both units improved immediately after he left. Oh, and the best unit that he led during that stretch from 2016-23 (2022 A&M) was No. 3 in the country before he arrived. Yes, that 2022 group was replacing a lot of talent. No, Durkin didn’t improve that unit in Year 2 (2023) even though it ranked No. 10 in FBS in percentage of returning defensive production.
By the way, A&M allowed an average of 31 points per game in the 9 matchups against teams that finished in the AP Top 25 during those 2 years with Durkin as the DC. And perhaps his most impressive defense, 2021 Ole Miss, surrendered an average of 38 points per game in those 3 matchups vs. AP Top 25 finishers.
Not impressed? Maybe this will do it.
From 2016-23, here’s where Durkin’s units ranked in yards/play allowed:
- 2016 (Maryland HC) — No. 62
- 2017 — No. 66
- 2018 — Suspended, No. 54
- 2020 (Ole Miss DC) — No. 115
- 2021 — No. 61
- 2022 (Texas A&M DC) — No. 36
- 2023 — No. 40
(Not included in there is the fact that Durkin had 1 unit in that 2016-23 stretch finish among the nation’s top 30 in the under-discussed but significantly valued “opposing plays of 20 yards” stat, and it was the 2022 A&M defense, which still regressed by 5.3 points/game.)
Do those numbers suggest that Durkin is a total on-field liability? I wouldn’t go that far. But do they suggest that he’s a legitimate asset? I don’t believe so.
If Durkin was someone who was cranking out top-30 defenses regularly, I wouldn’t have to search for reasons as to why he continues to get defensive coordinator jobs. I’d default to the numbers and realize that SEC programs are willing to overlook his Maryland exit in ways that I personally wouldn’t. I could understand they’ve earned the right to make those decisions.
But of all the people who continue to get the benefit of the doubt, why is it Durkin? Is he that well-connected as a former assistant to Jim Harbaugh and Will Muschamp? Or is he quietly some master recruiter even though he’s only been credited with signing 1 top-100 recruit since his Maryland fallout?
That’s the part that I can’t wrap my head around. I can understand how teams negatively recruit against Durkin. Just Google “Jordan McNair death.”
His 2018 death occurred 2 weeks after he collapsed during Maryland’s offseason workouts, which first launched an ESPN investigation into the “toxic” culture that Durkin led as the Terps’ head coach. The subsequent investigation and 192-page report into Durkin’s program dismissed that word, but instead found these things went on under Durkin’s watch:
- Durkin forced players to watch horror movies or graphic videos — former player Gus Little said they were shown “videos of serial killers, drills entering eyeballs, and bloody scenes with animals eating animals” — while eating as “motivation”
- Strength coach Rick Court threw a garbage can full of vomit during a workout session
- Court threw weights and food at players and directed homophobic slurs at them
- Overweight players forced to eat candy bars during workouts as form of humiliation
Note that this only came to light when players on Maryland’s roster at the time of McNair’s death came forward, which led to interviews with them, Maryland staffers and assistants. A former Maryland assistant also told ESPN that they would “never, ever, ever allow my child to be coached there.”
This wasn’t 3 decades ago. This all went down 5 1/2 years ago at a major public university, and yet, what were the consequences for Durkin? He got fired from his job — Maryland initially reinstated him for a day after an indefinite suspension was lifted but then fired him a day later after backlash (rightfully) ensued — and then has landed a trio of 7-figure positions in the SEC (I’m assuming he’ll make at least $1 million after his predecessor earned $1.4 million).
Now is the part when you remind me that forgiveness and grace are important values that we need more of in our world. Agreed. Like, 100%. Maybe we don’t all need to listen to the entirety of a 10-minute pitch from a solicitor at our front door, but there’s probably something more kind than slamming the door shut with a middle-finger salute while yelling obscenities.
I can forgive a remorseful Durkin for the role that he played in cultivating that culture at Maryland. But forgiving someone as a human being is an entirely different act than rewarding someone with a 7-figure job in college athletics.
This isn’t the part when I suggest that we should expect Freeze to show grace after he climbed his way back up the coaching ranks following his own national scandal. Nope. What Freeze was fired for at Ole Miss wasn’t the byproduct of an internal investigation of a bullying culture after the death of one of his players. I refuse to pretend that those are 2 of the same indiscretions.
Some Auburn fans might refuse to acknowledge Durkin’s past and instead pretend that his future will be nothing but restoring the great defensive tradition on The Plains.
I get fan optimism. I certainly get it more than yet another SEC team rolling out the red carpet for Durkin.