Canada leaning on his insight

Experience coaching amid tragedies helps interim coach lead grieving Terps

COLLEGE PARK – If anyone on the Maryland football coaching staff understands the task of helping a team get through the emotional struggle of offensive lineman Jordan McNair’s death from heatstroke, it is new offensive coordinator and current interim head coach Matt Canada.

Canada, 46, has been part of one staff at Northern Illinois that had to prepare a team for a season while mourning the death of a player, and part of another staff at Indiana that had its head coach diagnosed with and eventually succumb to cancer.

Since third-year coach DJ Durkin was placed on administrative leave Aug. 11, Canada has been in charge. It means not only helpi ng prepare t he Terps for Saturday’s season opener against No. 23 Texas at FedEx Field, but trying to find the balance between going forward without forgetting what happened.

“We’ve been dealing with this for a couple of months and it’s been a very up-and-down situation,” Canada said Tuesday. “We deal with grief differently. Every player does, every person does, every family does. We’re never going to be done with that. It’s not like it’s ever going to go away and we’re not asking it to go away.

“But we do try to play football and I think our players did a great job last week talking about how they want to honor Jordan. When our players play, they want to play Season opener FedEx Field, Landover Saturday, noon TV: Fox Sports 1 Radio: 105.7 FM, 1300 AM Line: Texas by 131⁄