Maryland is expected to hire Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin to be the program’s next head football coach, according to Pete Thamel of SI.com.
Durkin, 37, is a native of Youngstown, Ohio, and is in his first season as the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator. Under his watch, Michigan was the sixth-ranked defense in the country in terms of points per game (17.2) and fifth in the country in yards allowed per play (4.2).
Against Maryland this season in College Park, the Wolverines allowed just 105 total yards and shut out the Terrapins.
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In coming to Ann Arbor, Durkin reunited with head coach Jim Harbaugh, who he worked for on staff at Stanford from 2007-09. He left Stanford in 2010 to join the staff at Florida, where he eventually became the team’s defensive coordinator.
After the firing of head coach Will Muschamp last season, Durkin served as the interim head coach and led the Gators to a bowl win over East Carolina in the Birmingham bowl.
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In a feature story in the New York Times, Durkin was described as a “type-A personality” and someone who “approaches the game the same way Jim [Harbaugh] does.”
At the start of Maryland’s search for a coach, president Wallace Loh noted that Maryland wanted to hire someone with an “outsized personality” to be the program’s next coach.
That personality seems to pay dividends on the recruiting trail. In 2012, Rivals.com named Durkin the Recruiter of the Year for the class he helped to put together at Florida.
Three years later under head coach Jim McElwain, the Gators are 10-2 and set to face Alabama in the SEC title game.
As it currently stands, Michigan's 2016 class is ranked No. 3 in the nation with nine four-star recruits.
Maryland has been in search of a coach since firing Randy Edsall on Oct. 11 after the team's loss to Ohio State. Edsall was replaced by offensive coordinator Mike Locksley on an interim basis to finish the season.
Under Locksley's watch, the Terrapins were 1-5 -- winning their season finale against Rutgers with the help of a 21-point comeback. It is unclear immediately if Locksley will return to Maryland or in what capacity if he does.