Maryland fires Durkin day after reinstating him

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — DJ Durkin’s return as Maryland’s football coach lasted one day.

Durkin was fired Wednesday evening, just over 24 hours after being reinstated by the school.

Instead of resolving the issues facing the program, the decision by the University System of Maryland board of regents on Tuesday to retain Durkin and athletic director Damon Evans created a different set of problems in the wake of a player’s death and discontent engulfing the football team.

Several state officials called for Durkin to be fired, and one called the decision to retain him an “embarrassment.”

Maryland President Wallace Loh fired Durkin after conferring with the leadership of the Student Government Association, the Senate Executive Committee, deans, department chairs and campus leadership.

“The overwhelming majority of stakeholders expressed serious concerns about coach DJ Durkin returning to the campus,” Loh wrote in a statement.

Loh’s action was met with approval by Maryland Congressman Anthony G. Brown.

“Dr. Loh’s firing of Coach Durkin is the right decision and the decision that had to be made if the UMD community was going to ever move forward,” Brown said.

Durkin’s dismissal comes while he was in the third season of a five-year, $12.5 million contract he signed A groundswell of discontent by campus officials, students and politicians resulted in DJ Durkin being fired as Maryland coach. in December 2015. He will be owed about $5.5 million, according to buyout terms of his contract.

Matt Canada is expected to resume the role of interim coach. Maryland is 5-3 heading into Saturday’s home game against Michigan State.

Hired after serving one season as defensive coordinator at Michigan, Durkin had a 10-15 record at Maryland. The Terrapins went 6-7 in his first season, losing to Boston College in the Quick Lane Bowl, then fell to 4-8 in 2017 while coping with injuries to three different quarterbacks.

Durkin was placed on administrative leave Aug. 11 while the board of regents waited for the results of an investigation on the culture of the program.

After receiving that report, the board decided to bring him back, saying he was “unfairly blamed for the dysfunction in the athletic department.”

Prior to the news of Durkin’s dismissal, Gov.

Larry Hogan demanded the board and Loh participate in a public meeting to explain how they arrived at the conclusion to retain the coach.

“The University System of Maryland has let down the University of Maryland community and the citizens of Maryland,” Hogan said in statement, “and now is the time to fix it.”

Hogan’s opponent in the November election, Democrat Ben Jealous, wrote in a statement, “The University of Maryland has

become a national embarrassment for putting the agenda of a few wealthy football boosters ahead of the health and safety of its student-athletes.”

The decision to reinstate Durkin did not sit well with students, either.

On Thursday, the Executive Board of the Maryland Student Government Association planned an on-campus rally after saying it was “outraged with the decisions made by the board of regents.”