Why Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze landed on DJ Durkin to be his DC
For the third time since he was ousted at Maryland, DJ Durkin has become a defensive coordinator at an SEC program. This time, it'll come under coach Hugh Freeze at Auburn football.
The school officially announced the move Wednesday afternoon, and Freeze spoke to reporters for the first time since making the hire at the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama: “I’m excited," Freeze said of getting Durkin, according to video published by Auburn Undercover. "John Cohen has been so supportive. I said, ‘John, I’m going to take my time, now. I’ve got to get this right.’ There was so much interest in it from people I really like.
"I loved (Durkin's) interview, I loved the time that we spent with he and his wife, Sarah. They’re great individuals and people that I think are going to add so much experience and value to our building and to our defense. I’m really excited about having DJ.”
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Asked specifically about what led him to hire Durkin over other candidates, Freeze mentioned the simplicity of his scheme: "It probably came down to in his interview — I’ve often felt like defensive guys in today’s time should maybe coach defense, verbiage wise, more like us offensive guys," Freeze said. "He was one of the first ones that — I had the entire staff, our offense and defense, and everyone was like, ‘His verbiage is the most simple.’
"It’s multiple, but it’s so easy to understand what’s going on once you get the base. It probably was that. Multiplicity. Can do it all. Odd, even. Three down.”
Freeze added: "We really felt comfortable with he and Sarah as people. That they fit with our culture. I love his passion and his drive. I think our practices will look quite different with him because I’ve watched some of his practice tape, and he’s pretty into it and energetic. I love that about him."
Durkin, who's time with the Terrapins came to an end after the university received backlash for reinstating him after an investigation into the program following the death of 19-year-old Jordan McNair and a subsequent ESPN report detailing a "toxic culture" under his watch, will be working alongside Charles Kelly.
Kelly was hired Jan. 12 as a co-DC.
“If I was in Charles’ shoes 10 years ago, I would’ve been clamoring: ‘I’m the guy, man. I’m the one that you should hire.’ I wish I was more like Charles, because that would’ve been me," Freeze said. "Charles went all the way through it, and he would sit through the interviews with me. If it was me after the interview, I would’ve been trying to poke holes into everything and make sure you knew I was the best fit for it.
"When I watched him and how he handled everything, the humility that he exhibited. His whole deal all long was, ‘Coach, get the best guys in the room. However you want my role to be, you just tell me what you want my role to be. But I came to serve. I wanted to be with you coach and I wanted to be at Auburn. If you tell me how to do this, great. If you tell me it’s to do something else, great.’ He was able to have such humility and leadership. So glad we have him.”
With Durkin's hire official, Freeze's on-field staff of 10 assistants is complete.
“To know DJ’s speciality is the front and Charles Kelly’s speciality is the backend, I feel really comfortable with those two guys," Freeze said.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why Auburn football's Hugh Freeze wanted to hire DJ Durkin as DC
