Maryland cornerbacks coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has reportedly been hired by UMass to serve as their defensive coordinator. Abdul-Rahim will join former Terps’ offensive coordinator Walt Bell, who was hired as Head Coach by the Minutemen in early December.
Abdul-Rahim had been on the Maryland coaching staff for three seasons, serving as defensive backs coach for the first two years and cornerbacks coach this past season. Prior to being on the Terps’ coaching staff, Abdul-Rahim had coached at Alabama in various defensive roles.
Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is renowned for being a fantastic recruiter, having many ties to the DMV-area. In 2018, 247Sports ranked Abdul-Rahim as one of the top ten recruiters in the Big Ten, and in 2017 both 247Sports and Rivals ranked him as a top 25 recruiter on the national level.
While new head coach Mike Locksley is working with Alabama ahead of their CFP semi-final against Oklahoma, he will have to start to fill out his coaching staff, as Abdul-Rahim is the second Terp assistant to go elsewhere, as defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh was hired to the same position by Colorado.
