Maryland coach DJ Durkin placed on administrative leave

Questions have surrounded Durkin’s program since lineman Jordan McNair’s death in June.

Maryland is putting head football coach DJ Durkin on administrative leave while an investigation continues into the circumstances surrounding the death of player Jordan McNair. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada will be the interim head coach.

Athletic director Damon Evans released a statement Saturday evening:

Dear Terps,

I am extremely concerned by the allegations of unacceptable behaviors by members of our football staff detailed in recent media reports. We are committed to fully investigating the program.

At this time, the best decision for our football program is to place Maryland Head Football Coach DJ Durkin on leave so we can properly review the culture of the program. This is effective immediately. Matt Canada will serve as interim head coach.

The external review into the tragic death of Jordan McNair continues, and we have committed to releasing publicly the report being prepared by an independent and national expert.

The safety and well-being of our student-athletes is our highest priority. These alleged behaviors are not consistent with the values I expect all of our staff to adhere to and we must do better.

You will be hearing from me as our work continues to rebuild the culture of respect in our football program.

The outside investigation into Maryland’s program has been expected to conclude in September. University president Wallace Loh said he was “profoundly disappointed.”

Durkin, 40, has been Maryland’s coach since the 2016 season. A former defensive coordinator at Michigan and Florida, Durkin was an understudy of both Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer. He improved Maryland’s recruiting considerably and made a bowl game in his first season before injuries and a hard schedule dropped the Terps to 4-8 in 2017.

He’s gone 10-15 in his two years, but his departure for the moment isn’t because of the on-field results. In June, McNair died after collapsing during a team workout on May 29.

McNair’s death brought more questions than answers about the program’s handling of his health. McNair, who was a listed 325 pounds as a freshman, struggled amid a series of 10 110-yard sprints in hot weather. The university commissioned an ongoing external review of the circumstances surrounding McNair’s death.

Things got worse for Durkin and the rest of his program in mid-August, when an explosive ESPN report detailed borderline abusive motivation practices within the program and a pervasive culture of pushing players dangerously beyond their limits.

“My heart is broken for the reason that we’re all even sitting here having this press conference,” Durkin said on June 14, a day after McNair’s death. “You look for reasons. It’s not reasonable that a 19-year-old should pass away. It’s not reasonable that a family, his parents Marty and Tonya, should ever have to go through this.”

Current Maryland athletic director Evans is not the man who hired Durkin. That was Kevin Anderson, the AD who went on what the school called a six-month “sabbatical” after reports of his sudden firing broke on the first weekend of the football season.

Evans was promoted to permanent athletic director in June, after McNair’s death but before ESPN’s reporting about Maryland’s culture.

Durkin is a former Urban Meyer assistant, having gotten his start in coaching as a Bowling Green graduate assistant under Meyer in 2001 and 2002. At Ohio State, Meyer is also on administrative leave as the season closes in.