Maryland football assistant Mike London officially hired as head coach at Howard

Mike London’s tenure with Maryland football was never going to be a long one.

He accepted a position on DJ Durkin’s staff as associate head coach/defensive line coach after resigning from his spot as Virginia’s head coach following the 2015 season. This was always going to be a pit stop on London’s path. Thirteen months after he came aboard, London’s time as a Terp has come to an end.

He’ll be introduced as Howard’s new head coach at a press conference on Monday, the program announced.

"I wish Mike London the best on his new coaching endeavor at Howard,” Durkin said in a statement. “We appreciate all of his contributions to the Maryland football program."

The Montgomery County Sentinel’s Brandy Simms was first to report the news.

Howard’s an FCS school the Terps throttled in Week 1 this year. It’s also a program that fits right with London’s expertise in a couple of ways. He wasn’t going to get another high-profile coaching job after just one season at Maryland, but he’s still a big name in the DMV area. London coached at Richmond before taking over at Virginia, and specialized in recruiting the state during his time at Maryland.

While he was only in College Park for a little over a year, London seemed to make an impact on Maryland’s recruiting efforts, especially in Virginia. He was a part of Durkin’s “all-star team,” the group of former head coaches hired to help support the first-year head coach in his first year with Maryland. One of those coaches, Scott Shafer, left last spring due to “personal reasons.” With London gone too, that leaves former Ball State head coach Pete Lembo as the only one left.