Dan Durkin could hardly believe what he’d just heard. Sure, his son, DJ Durkin, had always been regarded as a leader among friends and teammates. But DJ was just months into his tenure as Bowling Green’s graduate assistant. He barely knew anything about coaching.
But Falcons coach Urban Meyer was steadfast when he pulled Dan and his wife, Marianne, aside at a 2001 fundraiser in Boardman, Ohio. He insisted that DJ was going to be a head coach one day.
“I looked at him and said ‘Coach, c’mon.'” Dan recalled. “He said, ‘I’m being very serious with you. Your son is going to be a head coach.'”
Fast-forward about 14 years to Dec. 3. Dan is sitting in the front row at Glazer Auditorium, watching as his son is introduced as the new head coach of the Terrapins football team. Athletic Director Kevin Anderson champions DJ as a man with a “winning attitude” and an “innovative football mind,” the perfect fit to try to turn around a program searching for an identity.
“Unbelievable the way these kids just attract themselves to DJ,” Dan said. “He’s just that kind of a person.”
READ MORE: Durkin looks to turn around Terps program
After the Terps started the 2015 season 2-4, Anderson found himself in Ann Arbor, Michigan, looking for a new coach. The Randy Edsall era had resulted in little success. The Terps needed a change from the disciplinarian.
Enter DJ, Michigan’s 37-year-old defensive coordinator who led a Wolverines unit that finished fourth in the country in total defense. Michigan also increased their win total from 2014 to 2015 by four entering the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
DJ’s success, Dan said, is a product of his son’s desire to succeed and his comfort in a team setting. When DJ was younger, his friends would often congregate at his house. They looked to him for advice.
After all, DJ frequently made sacrifices for the team. A trip to the doctor before his junior year at Boardman High School, in Boardman, Ohio, revealed his ACL had disintegrated from years of wear and tear.
But instead of opting for reconstructive surgery that would’ve ended his season, DJ chose to play. He put on a brace. He couldn’t let his teammates down.
“[DJ] played his whole junior year without an ACL,” Dan said.
He went on to play defensive end and outside linebacker at Bowling Green, serving as a captain his junior and senior seasons. As DJ’s career neared its end, Meyer offered to keep him on as a graduate assistant.
DJ initially rejected the offer, choosing to pursue a career in marketing. But he couldn’t stand being away from the game and returned to the Falcons.
Known as a quality recruiter and a likable coach, DJ eventually landed at Stanford under coach Jim Harbaugh. And after three years with the Cardinal, Meyer rehired him to serve as an assistant at Florida.
When Will Muschamp replaced Meyer as the Gators’ coach, he wasn’t sure what to make of DJ. That changed when Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops called Muschamp to ask if he was going to retain DJ.
“If you’re not keeping him, call me first,” Dan recalls Stoops saying. “I’ve got a spot for him. I want him.”
Muschamp decided to keep DJ on as the linebackers and special teams coach, wanting to see what else he could offer. DJ thrived, especially on the recruiting trail. He was named the 2012 Rivals.com Recruiter of Year.
By the end of the 2014 campaign, Muschamp announced he would step down. In his place, DJ was tasked with leading the team into the 2015 Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina.
After the Gators won, 28-20, defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. approached Dan on the sideline and placed him in a friendly headlock.
“Your son’s been coaching us for the last two and a half weeks,” Fowler said. “He’s been coaching us like he’s going to be here for the next 10 years. Never once did he mention he didn’t have a job. Never once did he mention ‘I’m out of here.’ He said we were his guys.”
Now DJ has his own guys, with a five-year contract and the resources to construct a program in his vision. His first test to capture a Big Ten win will come Oct. 1 against Purdue.
A little more than a month later, he’ll walk to the middle of Maryland Stadium and engage in a postgame handshake with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, the architect of the 2015 national champions.
Fourteen years ago, Meyer saw something in DJ. Terps fans certainly hope he was right.