Maryland finished off last year’s disappointing season on a high note: beating Rutgers 46-41 to end the season 3-9. But it’s safe to say that quite a lot has happened since then.

For starters, there’s a new head coach…

Interim head coach Mike Locksley went 1-5 after replacing Randy Edsall. His performance was not enough for Maryland to keep him as head, so the Terps set out to find a new coach.

They made a strong pitch to former Georgia coach Mark Richt, who opted to coach at his alma mater Miami. There were also reports that the Terps would pursue Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen.

During the search it seemed clear that Maryland wanted an offensive mind, but they went the other way when they hired Michigan’s defensive coordinator, DJ Durkin.

Durkin had never before served as a head coach, but his resume was still noteworthy. He had spent the prior season with Michigan, where the Wolverines had held opponents to just 16.4 points per game, the sixth best defense in the country.

Another big selling point on Durkin was who he had worked with. Durkin spent the 2015 season coaching under Jim Harbaugh, a head coach he also worked with at Stanford from 2007 to 2009. He also got to work with Urban Meyer at Florida in the 2010 season.

…and new assistant coaches, too

Durkin brought in Arkansas State’s Walt Bell to lead the offense. Bell’s offense at Arkansas State was up-tempo and focused on running the ball, and that is the same offense he intends to use with the Terps.

Durkin originally hired Scott Shafer to be his defensive coordinator, but Shafer stepped down for personal reasons. He then turned to Andy Buh, who worked with Durkin and Harbaugh at Stanford and most recently coached at Kentucky.

Maryland’s coaching staff also posts two former head coaches. Special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Pete Lembo was a head coach from 2001 to 2015 at Lehigh, Elon and Ball State.

In addition to Lembo, Maryland’s staff boasts Mike London. After serving as the head coach at Richmond and Virginia from 2008 to 2015, London will now coach the defensive line and be the other assistant head coach.

Recruiting went pretty well for 2016…

The Durkin era started off on a sour note when it came to recruiting. Maryland lost out on four-star quarterback prospect Dwayne Haskins, who de-committed from Maryland once Edsall was fired and Durkin took over. He then committed to Ohio State, a case of the rich getting richer.

While the loss was a big blow, Durkin’s 2016 class still boasted two of the top ten prospects from Maryland, with offensive guard Terrance Davis and wide receiver Tino Ellis. Durkin and his staff also brought in four recruits from the highly regarded DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, a school that Randy Edsall failed to recruit.

…and it is going even better for 2017

Durkin’s 2017 class also is showing major potential. The star of the 2017 class is currently Joshua Kaindoh, ESPN’s No. 2 defensive end prospect in the country. Durkin also found a replacement for Haskins’ quarterback position in Kasim Hill, a four-star prospect.

While the national signing day for the 2017 class isn’t until February, Maryland’s class is currently ranked No. 17, higher than well-known and successful programs like Michigan State and Oregon.

Maryland will be missing some starters from 2016’s team

Maryland lost four starters from its offense, six from its defense and one from special teams.

On offense, the big loss will be running back Brandon Ross. He had the fourth-most career rushing yards in Maryland football’s history and came just short of getting 1,000 yards in his senior season. Trying to find a replacement for Ross will be important for Maryland in 2016.

The defense lost two starters early to the NFL Draft. Defensive linemen Yannick Ngakoue and Quinton Jefferson were drafted in the third and fifth rounds of the draft, respectively. The Terps also had defensive back Sean Davis get taken in the second round.

On special teams, Maryland will be without kicker Brad Craddock. Craddock had a phenomenal 2014 season, going 18-for-19 on field goals on his way to earning the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the best kicker in college football. He missed three games in 2015 but was 8-for-10 on field goals when he played.

Maryland will be missing the team leader in rushing yards and sacks from last season, as well as their starting kicker for the past four seasons.

…but they will also have plenty of starters returning

The biggest name Maryland has returning is Will Likely. Last year, Likely led the Big Ten in punt return yards and scored two touchdowns on punts in addition to getting another score from a kick return. He’s also been voted first team all-Big Ten the past two years as a defensive back.

In addition to defense and special teams, Likely previewed what he can do on offense last season. He averaged 8.5 yards per carry in his 11 rushing attempts and also caught five passes. There are plans to continue using Likely on offense this season. His decision to stay for his senior season and not enter the NFL Draft was a huge one for the Terps.

In addition to Likely, Maryland’s passing game remains in tact from last season. Both Perry Hills and Caleb Rowe will return as quarterbacks, with Hills the week-one starter. Maryland’s top four leading receivers will all also return.

Maryland’s offense had some major struggles when it came to passing the ball last season. However, Walt Bell’s up-tempo offense should give the returning quarterbacks and wide receivers a chance for more success.

Maryland will be playing in a renamed stadium…

Since it was opened in 1950, Maryland’s football stadium was named Byrd Stadium, after Harry “Curley” Byrd. Byrd was an influential figure at the University of Maryland, having served as a football coach, professor, athletic director and university president.

But Byrd was also a proponent of “separate but equal” segregation. Byrd’s racist views were deemed inappropriate to have a well-known part of campus such as the football stadium named for him, and university President Wallace Loh pushed to rename the stadium.

Urged by Loh’s recommendation, The University System of Maryland Board of Regents voted 12-5 in favor of changing the name of Byrd Stadium to Maryland Stadium in December.

…and they will soon be practicing in what used to be a basketball arena

From 1955 to 2002, Cole Field House was primarily used as the home of Maryland’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. After Xfinity Center became the home of Maryland basketball, the arena still found use through intramural sports, concerts and comedy shows.

But if you take a look at the arena today, you will see something that looks like this. Maryland football is planning to turn the arena into an indoor football facility, which is expected to complete its final phase of construction in June 2018.

Maryland has grand plans to make the former basketball arena into what Durkin said he believes will be one of the best football facilities in the country.