DJ Durkin is Headed to Texas A&M

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss’ co-defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is headed to College Station Texas to join Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Texas A&M.

Texags.com’s Billy Liucci was the first to report that the Aggies’ are hiring Durkin on Wednesday afternoon. 

Durkin has been on Lane Kiffin’s staff at Ole Miss over the past two seasons. The Rebels are coming off a 10-3 overall record following a 21-7 loss to the No. 7 Baylor Bears in the Sugar Bowl.

The defense held their opponents to an average of 24.69 points per game. Only one team scored more than 50 points against Ole Miss, which occurred when Arkansas came to town for homecoming and resulted in a down-to-the-wire 52-51 win for the Rebels.

Ole Miss surrendered an average of 190.4 on the ground and 230.0 yards in the air.

Durkin arrived in Oxford after spending 2019 as a consultant with the Atlanta Falcons. He served as head coach at Maryland for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He doubled the Terrapins’ win total during his first season at the helm and excelled on the recruiting trail, bringing in consecutive top-30 signing classes for the first time in program history during his two seasons in College Park.

Prior to Maryland, Durkin served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Michigan, leading a nationally-renowned defensive unit that ranked fourth in the country. Under Durkin, the Wolverines limited opponents to 17.2 points per game in 2015, in addition to shutting out three consecutive opponents – the longest such streak at Michigan in 35 years.

He was the defensive coordinator at Florida from 2013-14 and led the Gators to consecutive top-15 rankings in total defense with the 15th-best mark in the country in 2014 (329.0 ypg) and the eighth-best (314.2 ypg) in 2013. The 2014 team finished the year ranked in the top 10 in the nation in yards allowed per play (4.45), yards allowed per rush attempt (3.16) and yards allowed per pass attempt (5.9).