Controversial coach named as possible DC hire for Alabama
After defensive coordinator Kevin Steele's retirement, the Alabama Crimson Tide needs to hire one of the top jobs on the team and more than one person thinks a coach with a controversial past may get the role.
D.J. Durkin has been named as a potential candidate, which makes sense given his recent track history. For the past two seasons, he served as Texas A&M's defensive coordinator, and before that, he was co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.
Prior to landing the Ole Miss coordinator position, however, Durkin was essentially a college football pariah, receiving heavy criticism in the college football world and elsewhere due to the death of one of his players after a workout.
Until 2018, Durkin was head coach at Maryland, though his tenure ended after offensive lineman Jordan McNair collapsed after a workout, was hospitalized with heat stroke and died about two weeks later.
Durkin was suspended and then initially reinstated before public outcry led to his firing. Despite the events of 2018, Brandon Marcello of 247 Sports noted Monday that Durkin could be "a name to watch" for Nick Saban's next big hire.
AL.com's Matt Stahl also listed Durkin as a candidate, though Stahl noted that "Durkin does have baggage."
It's too early to say that Durkin is surely headed to Tuscaloosa, as 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge's Matt Moscana reported that Durkin is also a candidate for the defensive coordinator position at LSU.
However, one thing is clear: While Durkin will almost definitely get a high-level job in college football, McNair's death still hangs over him, and any school considering Durkin will have to account for that when making their decision.
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