Less than a year after being placed on administrative leave and ultimately fired at Maryland, DJ Durkin has resurfaced in the NFL. The former Terps head coach will serve as a guest coach for the Atlanta Falcons during training camp.
Durkin worked with Falcons head coach Dan Quinn at Florida from 2011-12, when Quinn was the Gators’ defensive coordinator and Durkin was the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. It’s important to note that Atlanta hasn’t hired Durkin; Quinn emphasized that his former colleague is simply a guest.
“The fact that I know this coach firsthand, and I know what his character is, and then the due diligence that goes with that,” Quinn said, “I would certainly hope that anyone covering the team or the fan base knows that I always have the team’s best interest in mind and would never put anybody into a space that would be otherwise.