Overshadowing Maryland football’s preseason preparation is the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who failed to recover from a running drill during an organized team workout May 29 and died two weeks later.

At the Big Ten media days in Chicago, coach DJ Durkin opened his press conference Tuesday by talking about McNair before shifting toward on-field topics, such as Maryland’s quarterback battle, recruiting in the DMV and his lofty ambitions for the program.

Questions about McNair’s death, and the circumstances surrounding it, will likely continue as the Terps get ready to open the season against Texas on Sept. 1 at FedEx Field. Still, as Durkin prepares for his third campaign in College Park, he has several others areas to focus on as well. Here are the major takeaways from his presser Tuesday.

“We’re a team playing for Jordan this year.”

When Durkin reached the lectern Tuesday, the final Big Ten coach to speak, he said he wanted to take a moment to share his thoughts on McNair.

“Jordan was a special member of our team,” Durkin said. “He had a unique way about him that was infectious to his teammates. He was loved by everyone. We have a team that’s all working through the grieving process together.”

[Read more: 911 records indicate medics didn’t recognize severity of Jordan McNair’s condition]

That grieving process has been the focus this offseason, Durkin said, for both staff and players.

Durkin also commented on McNair’s family, which recently hired the Baltimore law firm that represented Freddie Gray’s family. The university has not released McNair’s cause of death, but McNair’s family said the former offensive lineman died of heatstroke. Maryland hired a sports medicine consulting firm to conduct an external review.

“Jordan’s family are some of the finest people, starting with his mom and dad, Tonya and Martin,” Durkin said. “They will not be forgotten. They will always be a part of our program.”

Another quarterback battle

It felt like déjà vu, Durkin said, entering camp with a quarterback battle. It seems like a yearly occurrence for the Terps.

Max Bortenschlager started the majority of games in 2017. Kasim Hill and Tyrrell Pigrome are both returning from ACL tears and are expected to compete for the job. As long as everyone stays healthy, Durkin feels any option can emerge to lead the team.

“Obviously, keep guys healthy, that would be definitely good for us,” Durkin said. “It’ll be good competition, and we’ll carry into training camp as we did last year. At the appropriate time, [we’ll] announce who the starter is and what the plan is moving forward. I think the good thing is, the guys we have, we know we can win a lot of football games with.”

[Read more: Three takeaways from Maryland football’s 2018 spring game]

For a program that produced NFL wide receivers Stefon Diggs and DJ Moore, injuries to quarterbacks have hampered the Terps’ passing game in the past. Maryland had the third-fewest passing yards in the Big Ten last season.

Pigrome and Hill, though, showed flashes of promise in the short amount of time they were available. Pigrome, a redshirt sophomore, threw two touchdowns and ran for another against Texas before his injury. Hill, a redshirt freshman, completed more than 85 percent of his passes during his three games healthy.

“They’re tremendous leaders. Their teammates look at them that way,” Durkin said. “Those two guys, as well as Max Bortenschlager, will be continuing to compete.”

Recruiting and ambition

According to 247Sports, Maryland’s 2018 recruiting class ranks No. 28 nationally and at No. 5 in the Big Ten. That comes after the 2017 class was 18th in the country and fourth in the conference in 247Sports’ rankings. Durkin has upped the Terps’ recruiting prowess since taking over three years ago, at least in terms of rankings.

Durkin cited the school’s location in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area, one of the “best football talent areas in the country.”

“We’re going to continue to recruit in the DMV … like crazy,” Durkin said. “Do everything we can to keep as many of our guys here with us and represent their home town as we possibly can. And we’ll certainly branch out in different areas — I think we’ve done pretty well down south. … But that’ll be supplementing what our primary area is.”

In his first two seasons with the Terps, Durkin has gone 5-13 in the conference. Still, he displayed a conviction Tuesday for future Maryland success, something the program tries to instill in incoming recruits.

“Our goal is to compete and win the Big Ten,” Durkin said. “Back to recruiting area and the people that we’ve been able to bring into this program, we feel we’re doing it at the level that we need to to be able to accomplish that. Every guy that puts on a helmet for us, or wears a whistle, or is part of our program has that goal in mind.”