DJ Durkin, ousted as Maryland’s football coach after the death of one of his players, is working as a training camp assistant coach with the Atlanta Falcons.
Durkin was one of four camp-only coaches announced by head coach Dan Quinn, ESPN reported Monday.
Maryland fired Durkin after an investigation into circumstances surrounding tackle Jordan McNair, who fell ill during a practice on May 29, 2018, and later died. Durkin was put on administrative leave on Aug. 11, 2018, following an ESPN report that described the culture in the Terrapins program as “toxic.” He was reinstated in late October and fired the following day amid an uproar.
Last December, Alabama coach Nick Saban brought in Durkin as a short-term consultant for the Crimson Tide.
While he called McNair’s death an “unfortunate situation, of course,” Quinn defended his decision.
“I know DJ firsthand, about what he is as a coach,” Quinn said. “I’ve coached with him. And I know what his character is. We did all of our due diligence of calling everybody at Maryland and had our own follow-up to there. So what I would know is, in the past, we’ve had Ron Wolf come to help me with another set of eyes. Last year, Darrell Bevell coming into the same role.
“I think it’s a huge advantage that you can have somebody of respect and can look at some certain things to help your team in the evaluation.”
Durkin, 41, was an assistant coach at Florida for five seasons. In two of those seasons, Quinn was the defensive coordinator for the Gators.
“It’s not that unusual for me to have people come to be a part of our program and add value to it for a smaller period of time,” Quinn said. “I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again in the future.”
