DJ Durkin has now been Maryland football’s head coach for a full year

Exactly one year ago, Maryland hired DJ Durkin as the 36th head football coach in school history. He came over from Michigan, where he was defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh, with notable previous stops at Stanford at Florida.

It’s been a busy 366 days. Durkin has now coached a full football season, going 6-6. He scrambled to close out one recruiting cycle, and his first full class is on track to be the best in school history (even after the decommitment of Joshua Kaindoh).

By almost all accounts, Durkin has handled every tough situation admirably—from Wes Brown’s suspension to JC Jackson’s academic issues to Isaiah Davis’ late hit to the curious case of Lorenzo Harrison, D.J. Turner and the BB gun incident.

He’s always energetic. Always. Even in press conferences after disheartening losses. It seems like that energy has rubbed off on the players; if this continues with his own recruits, he could be on to something special.

Here’s to one year, and to many more.

In other news

Maryland women’s basketball won a thriller at No. 7 Louisville on Thursday. The No. 5 Terps withstood a late charge by the Cardinals in the fourth quarter, and are now 7-0 with only mid-majors standing between them and four-time defending champion Connecticut on Dec. 29.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones were named to the 25-player Wade Watch List, one day after finding themselves on the 50-player Naismith Watch List.

Just three days after Kaindoh’s decommitment, Maryland found a new defensive end in local prospect Lawtez Rogers.

Check out the Testudo Times podcast, where we seek answers after Maryland basketball’s loss to Pitt.