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Wisconsin Football: 10 Things to know about the Maryland Terrapins

By Noah Seligman

COLLEGE PARK, MD - NOVEMBER 07: Quarterback Perry Hills
COLLEGE PARK, MD - NOVEMBER 07: Quarterback Perry Hills /
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ANN ARBOR, MI – NOVEMBER 05: Head coach D.J. Durkin of the Maryland Terrapins celebrates a made field goal with Richard Merritt

Q: What’s the opinion of DJ Durkin? Right man for the job?

A: It’s only been one season under Durkin, but he’s already proving to be the perfect hire. One of the biggest areas that Maryland came up short recently was local recruiting. Randy Edsall let a lot of the DMV’s top talent escape the area, but that’s not happening on Durkin’s watch.

The Terps had a top 25 class in 2017 and are well on their way to another in 2018. It also doesn’t hurt that Maryland has a brand new practice facility that is near completion. Durkin has more enthusiasm than I’ve seen in a long time. If he can get the right talent in place, there’s no reason why the Terps can’t move themselves into the conversation of the conference’s elite teams.

Badger of Honor Reaction:

There is of course a natural inclination to rush to judgment on every new coach.  But its usually judicious to give a new college football coach about four years to make a fair assessment.

Of course some type of disastrous performance or behavior on the field and repeated problems off the field should shorten that timeline. But those four years are important because that gives you one complete recruiting class to evaluate.

Barry Alvarez went 11-22 in his first three seasons in Madison before going 10-1-1 and winning the Rose Bowl in his fourth season.  Alvarez of course went on to win three Rose Bowls and compile a 119-74-4 in 16 full seasons and two emergency relief coaching appearances in bowl games.