As Tennessee embarks on its fourth coaching search in ten years, here’s a quick look at Vols coaching candidate D.J. Durkin.
D.J. Durkin’s coaching experience (39 years old)
This is Durkin’s second season at Maryland, where he’s trying to turn around the Terrapins. He was 6-7 in his first season and is off to an okay start this year. He was 1-0 as the interim head coach at Florida. He was a graduate assistant at Bowling Green and Notre Dame before becoming a defensive assistant at BGSU in 2005-06. From 2007-09, he was a defensive assistant under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and moved on to Florida where he coached linebackers and special teams from 2010-12 before taking over as defensive coordinator in 2013 and ’14. He was Michigan’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2015 under Harbaugh before getting his first head coaching opportunity.
GRT taxonomy of college football coaches: Great Coordinator (with some (mediocre, so far) Power 5 head coaching experience)
Why the Tennessee Vols might want D.J. Durkin
Yes, Durkin is an under-the-radar hire that may be down UT’s list, but he’s a great defensive mind who has done a good job as a head coach despite a 11-11 overall record. Maryland isn’t a bad job, but it was in disarray when he took over. He’s doing a good job recruiting there, too. He’s young, and he’s had a lot of experience in the SEC during his days at Florida. Several coaches would vouch for him, including Urban Meyer (who was his boss at Bowling Green), Harbaugh (boss at Stanford and Michigan) and Will Muschamp (like that matters). Another underrated-but-natural advantage is Durkin likely would bring bright, young innovative offensive coordinator Walt Bell with him. Bell is going to be a coaching star with an opportunity to be a head coach sooner rather than later. Bell is from Dickson, Tennessee, and went to MTSU. He’s done an incredible job as an offensive assistant at North Carolina, Arkansas State and now Maryland.
Why the Tennessee Vols might not want D.J. Durkin
Is he ready? There are definitely worse options out there, but the Tennessee fan base wanting a rock star wouldn’t be happy with the equivalent of a talented guy playing the club circuit. That’s what Durkin is right now. He may actually kill it at UT because he’s a good recruiter, a young guy who can relate to players, has a dynamic offensive coordinator and has a strong defensive acumen. But he’d have to handle the grumbling masses because he’s not Gruden or even Mullen for that matter. He also hasn’t managed his own program very long; this is only his second year. It’s a gamble.