Terps have new offensive coordinator in Walt Bell

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D.J. Durkin has his offensive coordinator.

The new Maryland head coach announced Sunday that Walt Bell, formerly the offensive coordinator at Arkansas State, will have the same role with the Terps.

This season under Bell, Arkansas State has one of the country's top-15 scoring offenses, averaging 40 points a game.

“Walt is one of the brightest offensive minds in college football, and I’m excited to have him on my staff,” Durkin said in the announcement. “He has a track record of being part of some of the most potent offenses in college football, and he’s going to bring that exciting brand of football to Maryland.”

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An exciting brand of football was exactly what Maryland has been looking for, saying as much when the search for a new head coach was announced. Athletics director Kevin Anderson said he hoped to bring in someone who could run an uptempo and high-octane offense. That's not the direction Maryland ended up going with its head-coaching hire, with Durkin being a former defensive coordinator. But the Terps could still get that desired type of offense with Bell on board.

This was the second straight season in which the Bell-coached Red Wolves finished in the top 20 in the country in scoring offense.

Prior to his two-year stay at Arkansas State, Bell was an assistant at North Carolina and Southern Miss and worked at Louisiana-Lafayette, Memphis and Oklahoma State.

Durkin already had his defensive coordinator in place in former Syracuse head coach Scott Schafer.

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