Chat Sports' very own Mack Ferguson broke the news earlier this month that San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh will return to his alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines, barring a last-minute change of heart.
If Harbaugh indeed takes over as Brady Hoke's permanent replacement on the sidelines in Ann Arbor, the Austin American-Statesman reports that current Florida Gators interim head coach and defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is a solid bet to join his former boss as the newest defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan, replacing Greg Mattison in that role.
Durkin is currently being pursued by Texas A&M for their defensive coordinator position, but the 36-year-old doesn't appear willing to make a move until Harbaugh makes his final decision on the Michigan head coaching job. Provided that Harbaugh remains steadfast in his desire to come back to the Wolverines program, Durkin is a likely candidate to head to Ann Arbor with him.
After playing for four years at Bowling Green University (1997-2000), Durkin stayed with his alma mater for the next two years as a graduate assistant to then-head coach Urban Meyer. When Meyer left for Utah prior to the 2003 season, Durkin traveled to South Bend to finish his graduate assistant work under Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame (2003-04).
Durkin returned to Bowling Green in 2005, taking over as the program's defensive line coach at the impressively-young age of 27. He'd work with Bowling Green's linebackers and special teams unit the next season, before picking up his first big break when Jim Harbaugh took over at Stanford in 2007.
Despite Durkin still not yet having reached his 30th birthday, Harbaugh pegged the young defensive mind as his defensive line/special teams coach when assembling his staff prior to his first year as the Cardinal's head coach. Stanford would blossom from Pac-12 also-ran to the cusp conference title contention in those three years (2007-09) before Durkin accepted a job at Florida to become the program's linebackers/special teams coach prior to the 2010 season under one of his old mentors, Urban Meyer.
Meyer would only stay in Gainesville for just one more season, before Will Muschamp took the reins in 2011. Durkin would continue to help build one of the more impressive defenses in the SEC over the next two seasons, before finally being given his first shot at being a defensive coordinator in 2013.
When the story of Will Muschamp's tenure at Florida is fully examined in retrospect, his inability to get the offense consistently clicking will be cited as his downfall. Defensively, Durkin has led his unit to two top-ten regular-season finishes in total defense (#8 in 2013, #9 in 2014), including finishing one spot ahead of the Wolverines' own celebrated defensive unit this season.
Now, will Will Muschamp gone and new head coach Jim McElwain reportedly telling him he won't be retained next season after coaching the Gators in their bowl game, Durkin is now a hot young candidate in the NCAA's defensive coaching ranks. If Jim Harbaugh does as expected and comes home to the Michigan Wolverines, there's a lot more than a puncher's chance that Durkin will come along for the ride.
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