Jimbo 2023: Watch.The.Tape.

[Bevo 13589]

33 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

yea the knock on him early on as a recruit was that most expected him to go baseball. He's a good player, 3/13 spring game not withstanding, i think he might already be better than King even with the limited experience.

I always thought that the biggest knock on him was that he signed with aggie.

[Longhornfrenzy 5781]

Just missed

[mannewers 551]

 

 

[Huckleberry 33039]

You know, I think there's a chance that "only elite players or don't take anyone" could very well be the strategy for A&M right now. I mean they think that their bullshit forfeit against Wake Forest actually worked. Maybe they're willing to only have a roster of 60 players in a couple of seasons and just forfeit all their games against decent teams.

[RomaVicta 29946]

Last year's class will win them two "nattys" all by themselves. Nothing to worry about. 

Jimbo knows how to win a national championship.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

This is going to be my last Randolph Duke-esque screed on here and yes, I'm extremely ashamed of all of this. But this time with links!

Since I got going on Steve Addazio the other day, I naturally drifted into DJ Durkin-land. When you go back and look at the old press on this guy, there are all these stories about how intense he is and the crazy shit he did. I suppose it’s all fun and games until some poor kid fucking dies on the practice field. After that, you just look like a lunatic. Which I'm fairly certain he is.

But anybody want to take a wild ass guess who was on Urban Meyer’s toxic and final (2010) Florida staff with our boy Steve Adazzio? Yep, it’s our good buddy DJ Durkin who has put together quite the resume for a 44 year old. His ties to Urban go waaaaaay back to 2001 at Bowling Green, from where he had just graduated and caught on with Meyer as a GA. Timing is everything and it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

This was what his interview with Urban was like, setting the groundwork for how a head coach is supposed to act:

Quote

“The first time I went in there, he ripped me up and down for 30 minutes. He tried to talk me out of it, made sure I wanted to do it. So then he was like, "Well, you need to think about this. Come back and see me in two days." So I came back and he's sitting behind his desk and he looked away from me when I walked in. The secretary told him I was here, so he looked when I walked in, but then never looked again. He was looking at his computer, doing something and was talking to me. "Are you sure?" "Yeah, coach, I'm sure." Then he suddenly [jumped up] and got this far from me. "ARE YOU SURE?" I didn't even know the guy at the time. I was like, "Uhhhh, yeah, O.K." I walked out of his office like, What the heck did I just do?

Urban is a psycho, example #4,927

Durkin then went on to GA for Tyrone Willingham during his dying days at Notre Dame. Willingham got shitcanned and Durkin went back to Bowling Green to take his first assistant coaching position under Gregg Brandon, who was Urban’s original OC there and had moved into the head job after Meyer left for Utah.  Note: it’s always better to get a head job.

After two years there, DJ caught on with Harbaugh’s first staff at Stanford. They were two assholes in a pod, and notably tried to beat the living shit out of each other on the basketball court:

Quote

During his time at Stanford, Harbaugh hit the basketball court with his young defensive ends coach -- 15 years his junior -- for a friendly game of one-on-one. About 90 minutes later, the friendliness stopped and the blood started pouring. Elbows. Shoves. Forearms. Shoulders. Just about everything but actual, you know, basketball. "It took like an hour and a half, and it ended 4-3 or whatever," recalls former Stanford offensive tackle Ben Muth. "Neither of them would call a foul. Someone did in the first five minutes, the other guy made fun of him, so it was on from there. It was like that James Caan 'Rollerball' movie, basically a fight to the death.”

cavemen play hoops

Furd was nothing but wine sipping pussies when Harbaugh and DJ took over, but as the great Charlie Strong and every Viagra commercial noted, “If something is soft, you can make it hard again.” DJ on his new BFF and mentor #2, Jim Harbaugh:

Quote

 

"It was absolute mayhem. It really was."

"Everything is for a reason, but he loves chaos. That's just how he operates. He loves confrontation, chaos, conflict. He doesn't want it to be everyone comfortable, this is the schedule. He just loves throwing a wrench in the works.

 

Quote

"Stanford was known as a soft, academic, wine-sipping program. Now it's the total opposite. He definitely imposed his will on the place."

Wine and books bad. Meathead good.

Not surprisingly, DJ was developing a bit of a reputation as an intense psychopath:

Quote

 

"He would be ranting and raving and walking back and forth just to prepare everybody for what was about to happen," said Alex Debniak, a special-teams player at Stanford during the last two years of Durkin's Stanford stint in 2007-09. "He wouldn't stop short of throwing markers at people, throwing stuff at people to get them to wake up.”

"He is the most intense coach I've ever seen in my entire life," Debniak said. "I've never seen anything quite like it before. It's as if he's playing on the field with you, but even another step above that. He wants the most from his players. You talk about a guy who's steaming from the mouth as he's coaching — he's got the vein in the forehead, he's red in the face, he expects and demands 110% out of you every single day. If you are not able to reach that level, he'll get it out of you, one way or another."

 

Marker throwing, mouth steaming and vein popping

After the shit hit the fan at Maryland, some of the old Stanford guys came out of the woodwork to throw darts at DJ (and Harbaugh too):

 

 

Terrible Human Beings

After 3 years at Furd, he reunited with Urban at Florida in 2010 as LB coach after Charlie Strong went to Louisville and they re-tooled their defensive staff. 2010 was the year everything went to shit there and Urban quickly decided he needed to spend more time with his family or had headaches or whatever. All that was wrong there (inmates running the asylum, drugs, Aaron Hernandez, etc.) is well documented so I'm not getting into it, but both Durkin and Adazzio were in the middle of it all. Boom took over Gator, shoving Mack Brown's Head Coach in Waiting title straight up Mack's complacent butter infused ass. Boom got one look at Durkin and decided he couldn't live without him and kept Durkin on staff. Dan Quinn was DC.

So if you’re keeping score at home… his mentors look like the toxic masculinity all stars: Meyer, Harbaugh and Muschamp.

Quinn moved on to the Seahawks after three years and Durkin became DC at Florida under Muschamp for two years. When Boom got sacked, Durkin was interim coach for the bowl game. After which he moved on to become DC at Michigan, who had just hired Harbaugh from the Niners. Reunited and it feels so good!

He apparently made a big impression when he got to Michigan. Jabrile Peppers:

Quote

 

"Coach Durkin, he was a different guy, you know what I mean. His tactics were different. It felt extreme at times. I’m just as shocked reading all the stuff that’s going on now. I thought he was only like that because it was his first time coaching us. He was the defensive coordinator so he was just trying to get us to buy-in to how he wants his defense to play. I thought once he became a head coach that would calm down a little bit, become more of a people person, a player’s coach.

The way I would’ve described it was kind of like bully coaching."

 

bully coaching

Two years as Michigan DC and he lands the Maryland head job. Hooray, head job! His first hire is Rick Court as strength coach who he called, ”his most important hire.” Court goes all the way back with Durkin to the early 2000’s Bowling Green/Urban Meyer days. He’s the one who ultimately ended up getting most of the heat for the kid dying at Maryland. He seems like a gigantic piece of shit and a world class asshole, but on the plus side, he did take the fall for Durkin. Sort of.

Quote

“It's so important, I believe, that the strength coach and the head coach are directly in line with one another in terms of what's important, what's the message we're delivering, and Rick and I are. We're totally synchronized in that and so he's huge. He's critical to all we do.” -- Durkin

Always share hive mind with strength coach until somebody dies

Onto the Jordan McNair deal at Maryland… there’s a lot of shit to unpack for those of you not familiar. McNair was an OL participating in off season conditioning drills. He showed signs of heat stroke and then had a seizure around 5:00 pm. The Maryland training staff waited an entire fucking hour before calling 911. He ended up getting airlifted to the hospital, had a liver transplant and then died two weeks later.

After this tragic incident, Maryland got exposed by ESPN for its toxic culture under Durkin. Some of the highlights:

Quote

 

There is a coaching environment based on fear and intimidation. In one example, a player holding a meal while in a meeting had the meal slapped out of his hands in front of the team. At other times, small weights and other objects were thrown in the direction of players when Court was angry.

The belittling, humiliation and embarrassment of players is common. In one example, a player whom coaches wanted to lose weight was forced to eat candy bars as he was made to watch teammates working out.

Extreme verbal abuse of players occurs often. Players are routinely the targets of obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock their masculinity when they are unable to complete a workout or weight lift, for example. One player was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.

Coaches have endorsed unhealthy eating habits and used food punitively; for example, a player said he was forced to overeat or eat to the point of vomiting.

The current players said they had talked with multiple players who described similar views about the team's culture but feared repercussions if they talked publicly. The two players spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A former Maryland staff member said: "I would never, ever, ever allow my child to be coached there."

A second former staffer said that while he has seen and heard coaches curse at players, he'd never been on another coaching staff with this kind of philosophy. "The language is profane, and it's demeaning at times," he said. "When you're characterizing people in such derogatory and demeaning terms, particularly if they don't have a skill level you think they need to aspire to, or they may never get, then it's rough to watch and see because if it was your son, you wouldn't want anybody talking to your son that way."

"The way they coach us at Maryland, tough love -- it's really more tough than it is love," one former player said.

 

Tough love - more tough than love

So naturally, after the ESPN deal, Maryland lawyered up and conducted an independent investigation. They placed Durkin on leave while they did the investigation and Rick Court resigned. In the meantime, interim coach Matt Canada took a massive dump on Tom Herman’s debut as Texas head coach. Some of the highlights of the investigation:

Quote

 

Players were made to watch graphic videos while eating:

Multiple players anonymously complain that the coaching staff would subject teams during meal time to disturbing videos. According to Gus Little, this included videos of serial killers, drills entering eyeballs, and bloody scenes with animals eating animals. Another player says that there were videos of rams and bucks running at each other at full speed. Mr. Durkin maintains that horror movies were sometimes shown at breakfast to motivate and entertain players.

A player was removed from a team meeting for smiling. The report states there was a “preexisting rift” between the player and Durkin, who thought the player wasn’t paying attention.

As a form of punishment, Court forced players to exercise on a stair climber with a PVC pipe across their shoulders for an hour. The investigation’s medical expert concluded this was “an appropriate exercise technique.”

Court also allegedly slapped food out of a player’s hands when he was told the player didn’t finish eating before a team meeting:

Mr. Court subsequently snatched the box out of the player’s hand, tossed it against the wall, and addressed the entire group on the importance of punctuality, saying “I was trying to set the tone for what that day was going to be.” Others say Mr. Court knocked the food out of the player’s hand onto the ground.

Court stated that players were told to eat before the meeting.

Multiple players told investigators that Court gave overweight players candy bars or snacks while others were working out:

Accounts vary as to whether Mr. Court placed the candy bars on the player’s lap, dropped them at his feet, hurled them at the player, or poured a bin of them on the player and then forced the player to eat them while the rest of the team worked out. Mr. Court says he threw a bag of the candy at the player’s feet. One player recalls that Mr. Court called the player “fat.”

ESPN’s report claimed a player was forced to eat until he vomited. A coach confirmed a player did vomit during a team meal, but it was unclear whether the player was forced to eat, or if he was simply eating and vomited.

But, speaking of vomit:

During the workout session, the player in question had gotten sick and vomited into the trash can. Some sources, including former players Michal (“Gus”) Little and E.J. Donahue, alleged that Mr. Court then shoved the player against a refrigerator in the gym and forced him to clean up his own vomit from the trash can, which Mr. Court had thrown across the weight room. Others state that Mr. Court just threw the can against the wall, without touching the player, and the spilled vomit was then cleaned by a staff member.

Court crossed a line of abusive speech toward the players, whether he believes he did or not.

This included challenging a player’s manhood and hurling homophobic slurs (which Mr. Court denies but was recounted by many). Additionally, Mr. Court would attempt to humiliate players in front of their teammates by throwing food, weights, and on one occasion a trash can full of vomit, all behavior unacceptable by any reasonable standard. These actions failed the student-athletes he claimed to serve.

 

Breakfast tastes better when you're watching horror movies!

The investigation itself came under some scrutiny because it was supposed to be voluntary and anonymous, but they set up the interviews across the hall from Durkin’s office so he knew who was participating. So all this crazy shit came out even with them intimidating the witnesses.

Quote

 

Players had to return early from their time off to meet with investigators on Aug. 1, two days before the first preseason workout. A sign-up sheet was posted on the office door of Jason Baisden, the team's assistant athletic director for football operations and equipment. Meetings took place in the offensive staff's meeting room in the Gossett Football Team House.

"They tried to interview players at the most inconvenient time, in Gossett, basically right in front of Durkin's office," one of the current players said.

"Basically anybody can walk by, any coach or whoever really wants to can walk by and see who signed up and see who's talking to the investigation," the other current player said. "They're singling us out even more when it's supposed to be an anonymous investigation."

The player said that each meeting was scheduled for only 15 minutes. Players were asked what they wanted to share about the May 29 workout and were advised to see counselors.

"It was a joke," the same player said.

 

I ain't signing up for shit

But the kicker… their investigation somehow, after all of this shit, came to the conclusion that the football program environment was “not toxic.” In one of the most tone deaf moves in the history of ever, they reinstated Durkin.

Quote

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to rejoin the team and very much appreciate having the support of the Board of Regents. Our thoughts have and will continue to be with Jordan’s family," Durkin said in a statement released by the school. "I am proud that the team has remained united and represented themselves and the University well during this difficult time.

Jordan’s family apparently wasn't really feeling DJ:

Quote

"I feel like I've been punched in the stomach and someone spit in my face," McNair's father, Martin, said.

tone deaf is an understatement

That bullshit lasted all of one day after the entire college football world (and the non college football world for that matter) completely freaked out. The University President fired him under immense public pressure.

After that… DJ took a sabbatical from the college game to become a consultant for the Atlanta Falcons for one year (aka a Dvoracek) , and then Lane Kiffin gave him a life line and hired him as co-DC at Ole Miss for two years. Where he did improve the hell out of their defense and nobody died.

Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said in a statement the university conducted a “thorough” background check on Durkin, speaking with several “highly respected college football coaches, administrators and school officials." He probably didn't get a chance to chop it up with Martin McNair, I'm guessing.

Quote

“We received consistently strong feedback about Coach Durkin’s strong character and work ethic and his positive impact on the communities and institutions where he was previously employed,” Carter said, “Once we had the chance to spend time with Coach Durkin, we were even more convinced that he is exactly the type of accomplished coach with strong football credentials who is also a proud and committed family man that will make him a great addition to our new staff.”

S-E-C! S-E-C!

Welcome to the SEC, I guess.

And then Jimbo hired him from Ole Miss after Elko bolted for the Duke head job. And yes, it’s still always better to get a head job.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Mitch Cumsteen

[HenryJames 66134]

I’m going to print this out, frame it, and then sell it to your wife to hang in your home.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

1 minute ago, HenryJames said:

I’m going to print this out, frame it, and then sell it to your wife to hang in your home.

I'll buy it myself if you can get it done in needlepoint.

[Rickylovesweed 14527]

A&M needed to add a coach who killed a player to take some of the stink off Addazio. 

4d chess move. 

[Vermin 3055]

Mercenary out of state players that were stiffed are the least likely to respond positively to abusive tactics.

The aggy locker room implosion this season will be a sight to behold.

[Hozz 1017]

Making someone watch a drill going into an eyeball is some Clockwork Orange shit and whoever came up with that is a legit psychopath.

[HtownHorn 14753]

This is amazing to watch. They are going to follow up the best class of all time with a small class where they are missing their primary targets left and right. They are going to massive holes when some of those elite OOS guys leave after this season. This level of shitty roster management is how Jimbo ran FSU into the fucking ground. It's amazing to behold this close.

[Vertigo 20297]

21 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

This is amazing to watch. They are going to follow up the best class of all time with a small class where they are missing their primary targets left and right. They are going to massive holes when some of those elite OOS guys leave after this season. This level of shitty roster management is how Jimbo ran FSU into the fucking ground. It's amazing to behold this close.

If they think they are going to keep all 8 of those D Linemen in the class, they are dreaming. Assuming they get the money stuff worked out with Nolan, Dindy, and Stewart, and none of those guys leave, there will still be a big hole in talent behind them. If any of those three guys leave they are going to be hurting. 

 

[Tex Pete 20407]

1 hour ago, HtownHorn said:

This is amazing to watch. They are going to follow up the best class of all time with a small class where they are missing their primary targets left and right. They are going to massive holes when some of those elite OOS guys leave after this season. This level of shitty roster management is how Jimbo ran FSU into the fucking ground. It's amazing to behold this close.

It’s almost like a…roller coaster. 
 

“We run this state!” to “Fire that dark-skinned…….”

”Doesn’t matter, got Jimbo” to “#1 class!” to “Uh oh.”

I believe we refer to people like them as new money or white trash. 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Tex Pete

[Topper13 3378]

3 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

It’s almost like a…roller coaster. 
 

“We run this state!” to “Fire that dark-skinned…….”

”Doesn’t matter, got Jimbo” to “#1 class!” to “Uh oh.”

 

[Pato del Muerto 52532]

Whichever DL has the brother that they had to take also, I’m assuming the brother needs to be taken care of via cash and NIL also or else the good one will bolt.  Makes those type of takes more perilous, or at least more expensive. 

[Deej 76855]

8 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

It’s almost like a…roller coaster. 
 

“We run this state!” to “Fire that dark-skinned…….”

”Doesn’t matter, got Jimbo” to “#1 class!” to “Uh oh.”

I believe we refer to people like them as new money or white trash. 

[texifornia 57031]

16 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Whichever DL has the brother that they had to take also, I’m assuming the brother needs to be taken care of via cash and NIL also or else the good one will bolt.  Makes those type of takes more perilous, or at least more expensive. 

Crownover

[Hornlover 8830]

58 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Whichever DL has the brother that they had to take also, I’m assuming the brother needs to be taken care of via cash and NIL also or else the good one will bolt.  Makes those type of takes more perilous, or at least more expensive. 

 

41 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Crownover

I think you mean Lebbeus Overton. 

And his brother Micaiah Overton.

[texifornia 57031]

3 minutes ago, Hornlover said:

 

I think you mean Lebbeus Overton. 

And his brother Micaiah Overton.

Ah you're right, Dametrious and Earnest Crownover were 2020's brother and a spare pair.

Edited July 20, 2022 by texifornia

[SHOOTER12 8811]

2 hours ago, Tex Pete said:

It’s almost like a…roller coaster. 
 

“We run this state!” to “Fire that dark-skinned…….”

”Doesn’t matter, got Jimbo” to “#1 class!” to “Uh oh.”

I believe we refer to people like them as new money or white trash. 

But, but, but Jimbo, Jimbo,  Jimbo...

[irishtexan 11522]

This is going to be my last Randolph Duke-esque screed on here and yes, I'm extremely ashamed of all of this. But this time with links!
Since I got going on Steve Addazio the other day, I naturally drifted into DJ Durkin-land. When you go back and look at the old press on this guy, there are all these stories about how intense he is and the crazy shit he did. I suppose it’s all fun and games until some poor kid fucking dies on the practice field. After that, you just look like a lunatic. Which I'm fairly certain he is.
But anybody want to take a wild ass guess who was on Urban Meyer’s toxic and final (2010) Florida staff with our boy Steve Adazzio? Yep, it’s our good buddy DJ Durkin who has put together quite the resume for a 44 year old. His ties to Urban go waaaaaay back to 2001 at Bowling Green, from where he had just graduated and caught on with Meyer as a GA. Timing is everything and it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
This was what his interview with Urban was like, setting the groundwork for how a head coach is supposed to act:

“The first time I went in there, he ripped me up and down for 30 minutes. He tried to talk me out of it, made sure I wanted to do it. So then he was like, "Well, you need to think about this. Come back and see me in two days." So I came back and he's sitting behind his desk and he looked away from me when I walked in. The secretary told him I was here, so he looked when I walked in, but then never looked again. He was looking at his computer, doing something and was talking to me. "Are you sure?" "Yeah, coach, I'm sure." Then he suddenly [jumped up] and got this far from me. "ARE YOU SURE?" I didn't even know the guy at the time. I was like, "Uhhhh, yeah, O.K." I walked out of his office like, What the heck did I just do?

Urban is a psycho, example #4,927
Durkin then went on to GA for Tyrone Willingham during his dying days at Notre Dame. Willingham got shitcanned and Durkin went back to Bowling Green to take his first assistant coaching position under Gregg Brandon, who was Urban’s original OC there and had moved into the head job after Meyer left for Utah.  Note: it’s always better to get a head job.
After two years there, DJ caught on with Harbaugh’s first staff at Stanford. They were two assholes in a pod, and notably tried to beat the living shit out of each other on the basketball court:

During his time at Stanford, Harbaugh hit the basketball court with his young defensive ends coach -- 15 years his junior -- for a friendly game of one-on-one. About 90 minutes later, the friendliness stopped and the blood started pouring. Elbows. Shoves. Forearms. Shoulders. Just about everything but actual, you know, basketball. "It took like an hour and a half, and it ended 4-3 or whatever," recalls former Stanford offensive tackle Ben Muth. "Neither of them would call a foul. Someone did in the first five minutes, the other guy made fun of him, so it was on from there. It was like that James Caan 'Rollerball' movie, basically a fight to the death.”

cavemen play hoops
Furd was nothing but wine sipping pussies when Harbaugh and DJ took over, but as the great Charlie Strong and every Viagra commercial noted, “If something is soft, you can make it hard again.” DJ on his new BFF and mentor #2, Jim Harbaugh:

 
"It was absolute mayhem. It really was."
"Everything is for a reason, but he loves chaos. That's just how he operates. He loves confrontation, chaos, conflict. He doesn't want it to be everyone comfortable, this is the schedule. He just loves throwing a wrench in the works.
 

"Stanford was known as a soft, academic, wine-sipping program. Now it's the total opposite. He definitely imposed his will on the place."

Wine and books bad. Meathead good.
Not surprisingly, DJ was developing a bit of a reputation as an intense psychopath:

 
"He would be ranting and raving and walking back and forth just to prepare everybody for what was about to happen," said Alex Debniak, a special-teams player at Stanford during the last two years of Durkin's Stanford stint in 2007-09. "He wouldn't stop short of throwing markers at people, throwing stuff at people to get them to wake up.”
"He is the most intense coach I've ever seen in my entire life," Debniak said. "I've never seen anything quite like it before. It's as if he's playing on the field with you, but even another step above that. He wants the most from his players. You talk about a guy who's steaming from the mouth as he's coaching — he's got the vein in the forehead, he's red in the face, he expects and demands 110% out of you every single day. If you are not able to reach that level, he'll get it out of you, one way or another."
 

Marker throwing, mouth steaming and vein popping
After the shit hit the fan at Maryland, some of the old Stanford guys came out of the woodwork to throw darts at DJ (and Harbaugh too):
 


 
Terrible Human Beings
After 3 years at Furd, he reunited with Urban at Florida in 2010 as LB coach after Charlie Strong went to Louisville and they re-tooled their defensive staff. 2010 was the year everything went to shit there and Urban quickly decided he needed to spend more time with his family or had headaches or whatever. All that was wrong there (inmates running the asylum, drugs, Aaron Hernandez, etc.) is well documented so I'm not getting into it, but both Durkin and Adazzio were in the middle of it all. Boom took over Gator, shoving Mack Brown's Head Coach in Waiting title straight up Mack's complacent butter infused ass. Boom got one look at Durkin and decided he couldn't live without him and kept Durkin on staff. Dan Quinn was DC.
So if you’re keeping score at home… his mentors look like the toxic masculinity all stars: Meyer, Harbaugh and Muschamp.
Quinn moved on to the Seahawks after three years and Durkin became DC at Florida under Muschamp for two years. When Boom got sacked, Durkin was interim coach for the bowl game. After which he moved on to become DC at Michigan, who had just hired Harbaugh from the Niners. Reunited and it feels so good!
He apparently made a big impression when he got to Michigan. Jabrile Peppers:

 
"Coach Durkin, he was a different guy, you know what I mean. His tactics were different. It felt extreme at times. I’m just as shocked reading all the stuff that’s going on now. I thought he was only like that because it was his first time coaching us. He was the defensive coordinator so he was just trying to get us to buy-in to how he wants his defense to play. I thought once he became a head coach that would calm down a little bit, become more of a people person, a player’s coach.
The way I would’ve described it was kind of like bully coaching."
 

bully coaching
Two years as Michigan DC and he lands the Maryland head job. Hooray, head job! His first hire is Rick Court as strength coach who he called, ”his most important hire.” Court goes all the way back with Durkin to the early 2000’s Bowling Green/Urban Meyer days. He’s the one who ultimately ended up getting most of the heat for the kid dying at Maryland. He seems like a gigantic piece of shit and a world class asshole, but on the plus side, he did take the fall for Durkin. Sort of.

“It's so important, I believe, that the strength coach and the head coach are directly in line with one another in terms of what's important, what's the message we're delivering, and Rick and I are. We're totally synchronized in that and so he's huge. He's critical to all we do.” -- Durkin

Always share hive mind with strength coach until somebody dies
Onto the Jordan McNair deal at Maryland… there’s a lot of shit to unpack for those of you not familiar. McNair was an OL participating in off season conditioning drills. He showed signs of heat stroke and then had a seizure around 5:00 pm. The Maryland training staff waited an entire fucking hour before calling 911. He ended up getting airlifted to the hospital, had a liver transplant and then died two weeks later.
After this tragic incident, Maryland got exposed by ESPN for its toxic culture under Durkin. Some of the highlights:

 
There is a coaching environment based on fear and intimidation. In one example, a player holding a meal while in a meeting had the meal slapped out of his hands in front of the team. At other times, small weights and other objects were thrown in the direction of players when Court was angry.
The belittling, humiliation and embarrassment of players is common. In one example, a player whom coaches wanted to lose weight was forced to eat candy bars as he was made to watch teammates working out.
Extreme verbal abuse of players occurs often. Players are routinely the targets of obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock their masculinity when they are unable to complete a workout or weight lift, for example. One player was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.
Coaches have endorsed unhealthy eating habits and used food punitively; for example, a player said he was forced to overeat or eat to the point of vomiting.
The current players said they had talked with multiple players who described similar views about the team's culture but feared repercussions if they talked publicly. The two players spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A former Maryland staff member said: "I would never, ever, ever allow my child to be coached there."
A second former staffer said that while he has seen and heard coaches curse at players, he'd never been on another coaching staff with this kind of philosophy. "The language is profane, and it's demeaning at times," he said. "When you're characterizing people in such derogatory and demeaning terms, particularly if they don't have a skill level you think they need to aspire to, or they may never get, then it's rough to watch and see because if it was your son, you wouldn't want anybody talking to your son that way."
"The way they coach us at Maryland, tough love -- it's really more tough than it is love," one former player said.
 

Tough love - more tough than love
So naturally, after the ESPN deal, Maryland lawyered up and conducted an independent investigation. They placed Durkin on leave while they did the investigation and Rick Court resigned. In the meantime, interim coach Matt Canada took a massive dump on Tom Herman’s debut as Texas head coach. Some of the highlights of the investigation:

 
Players were made to watch graphic videos while eating:
Multiple players anonymously complain that the coaching staff would subject teams during meal time to disturbing videos. According to Gus Little, this included videos of serial killers, drills entering eyeballs, and bloody scenes with animals eating animals. Another player says that there were videos of rams and bucks running at each other at full speed. Mr. Durkin maintains that horror movies were sometimes shown at breakfast to motivate and entertain players.
A player was removed from a team meeting for smiling. The report states there was a “preexisting rift” between the player and Durkin, who thought the player wasn’t paying attention.
As a form of punishment, Court forced players to exercise on a stair climber with a PVC pipe across their shoulders for an hour. The investigation’s medical expert concluded this was “an appropriate exercise technique.”
Court also allegedly slapped food out of a player’s hands when he was told the player didn’t finish eating before a team meeting:
Mr. Court subsequently snatched the box out of the player’s hand, tossed it against the wall, and addressed the entire group on the importance of punctuality, saying “I was trying to set the tone for what that day was going to be.” Others say Mr. Court knocked the food out of the player’s hand onto the ground.
Court stated that players were told to eat before the meeting.
Multiple players told investigators that Court gave overweight players candy bars or snacks while others were working out:
Accounts vary as to whether Mr. Court placed the candy bars on the player’s lap, dropped them at his feet, hurled them at the player, or poured a bin of them on the player and then forced the player to eat them while the rest of the team worked out. Mr. Court says he threw a bag of the candy at the player’s feet. One player recalls that Mr. Court called the player “fat.”
ESPN’s report claimed a player was forced to eat until he vomited. A coach confirmed a player did vomit during a team meal, but it was unclear whether the player was forced to eat, or if he was simply eating and vomited.
But, speaking of vomit:
During the workout session, the player in question had gotten sick and vomited into the trash can. Some sources, including former players Michal (“Gus”) Little and E.J. Donahue, alleged that Mr. Court then shoved the player against a refrigerator in the gym and forced him to clean up his own vomit from the trash can, which Mr. Court had thrown across the weight room. Others state that Mr. Court just threw the can against the wall, without touching the player, and the spilled vomit was then cleaned by a staff member.
Court crossed a line of abusive speech toward the players, whether he believes he did or not.
This included challenging a player’s manhood and hurling homophobic slurs (which Mr. Court denies but was recounted by many). Additionally, Mr. Court would attempt to humiliate players in front of their teammates by throwing food, weights, and on one occasion a trash can full of vomit, all behavior unacceptable by any reasonable standard. These actions failed the student-athletes he claimed to serve.
 

Breakfast tastes better when you're watching horror movies!
The investigation itself came under some scrutiny because it was supposed to be voluntary and anonymous, but they set up the interviews across the hall from Durkin’s office so he knew who was participating. So all this crazy shit came out even with them intimidating the witnesses.

 
Players had to return early from their time off to meet with investigators on Aug. 1, two days before the first preseason workout. A sign-up sheet was posted on the office door of Jason Baisden, the team's assistant athletic director for football operations and equipment. Meetings took place in the offensive staff's meeting room in the Gossett Football Team House.
"They tried to interview players at the most inconvenient time, in Gossett, basically right in front of Durkin's office," one of the current players said.
"Basically anybody can walk by, any coach or whoever really wants to can walk by and see who signed up and see who's talking to the investigation," the other current player said. "They're singling us out even more when it's supposed to be an anonymous investigation."
The player said that each meeting was scheduled for only 15 minutes. Players were asked what they wanted to share about the May 29 workout and were advised to see counselors.
"It was a joke," the same player said.
 

I ain't signing up for shit
But the kicker… their investigation somehow, after all of this shit, came to the conclusion that the football program environment was “not toxic.” In one of the most tone deaf moves in the history of ever, they reinstated Durkin.

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to rejoin the team and very much appreciate having the support of the Board of Regents. Our thoughts have and will continue to be with Jordan’s family," Durkin said in a statement released by the school. "I am proud that the team has remained united and represented themselves and the University well during this difficult time.

Jordan’s family apparently wasn't really feeling DJ:

"I feel like I've been punched in the stomach and someone spit in my face," McNair's father, Martin, said.

tone deaf is an understatement
That bullshit lasted all of one day after the entire college football world (and the non college football world for that matter) completely freaked out. The University President fired him under immense public pressure.
After that… DJ took a sabbatical from the college game to become a consultant for the Atlanta Falcons for one year (aka a Dvoracek) , and then Lane Kiffin gave him a life line and hired him as co-DC at Ole Miss for two years. Where he did improve the hell out of their defense and nobody died.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said in a statement the university conducted a “thorough” background check on Durkin, speaking with several “highly respected college football coaches, administrators and school officials." He probably didn't get a chance to chop it up with Martin McNair, I'm guessing.

“We received consistently strong feedback about Coach Durkin’s strong character and work ethic and his positive impact on the communities and institutions where he was previously employed,” Carter said, “Once we had the chance to spend time with Coach Durkin, we were even more convinced that he is exactly the type of accomplished coach with strong football credentials who is also a proud and committed family man that will make him a great addition to our new staff.”

S-E-C! S-E-C!
Welcome to the SEC, I guess.
And then Jimbo hired him from Ole Miss after Elko bolted for the Duke head job. And yes, it’s still always better to get a head job.

Did you google “DJ Durkin asshole” or “DJ Durkin shithead” as your primary search term?

[The Original Greaser Bob 2842]

"Furd".

You sound like a fucking retard.

[MIkeHoncho 1929]

5 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

You know, I think there's a chance that "only elite players or don't take anyone" could very well be the strategy for A&M right now. I mean they think that their bullshit forfeit against Wake Forest actually worked. Maybe they're willing to only have a roster of 60 players in a couple of seasons and just forfeit all their games against decent teams.

<aggy>UNDEFEATED!!!!  I knew Jimbo was the right guy!! </aggy>

[JesusSweatDuck 17784]

1 hour ago, The Original Greaser Bob said:

"Furd".

You sound like a fucking retard.

Don't worry, I'll Furd on your chest later tonight 

[UDontKnow 10447]

13 minutes ago, JesusSweatDuck said:

Don't worry, I'll Furd on your chest later tonight 

I guess Jesus also invented the Cleveland Steamer. I had no clue its origins were biblical in nature.

[Hank Scorpio 17729]

Putting aside the aggie hate, Durkin should legitimately be banned from college coaching. He is just as bad as Briles, not only because of his (in)actions but because he creates a culture of abuse and fear when dealing with kids. Jordan McNair was 19 years old for fucks sake. 

[Chuckie Finster 22702]

It’s pretty crazy that straight up killing a kid is less detrimental to your future college coaching prospects than just being Tom Herman.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

10 hours ago, The Original Greaser Bob said:

"Furd".

You sound like a fucking retard.

Furd has been used on college football message boards for what, 20 years now? Of course it sounds retarded, you mongoloid. That's the point. 

Out of that entire long cat of a post, that was your takeaway? Solid contribution, sport. Feel free to lurk more. 

[Fud 9552]

 

Ainias Smith got popped for a DWI, unlicensed gun, and weed. Sam Houston's defense dodges a first quarter bullet. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Fud

[MonkeyDoughnut 10329]

8 minutes ago, Fud said:

 

Ainias Smith got popped for a DWI, unlicensed gun, and weed. Sam Houston's defense dodges a first quarter bullet. 

Wasn't he one of the player reps with Jimbo at SEC media days going on now??

[ClubWhatever 12153]

14 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Wasn't he one of the player reps with Jimbo at SEC media days going on now??

That's right, Monkey.

 

[Viper 12109]

1 hour ago, Fud said:

 

Ainias Smith got popped for a DWI, unlicensed gun, and weed. Sam Houston's defense dodges a first quarter bullet. 

what is an unlicensed gun? I wasn't aware you needed a license to own a gun in Texas.

[BornAndRaised 12300]

2 minutes ago, Viper said:

what is an unlicensed gun? I wasn't aware you needed a license to own a gun in Texas.

Likely concealed. Open carry is legal without a permit. Concealed still requires a permit.

[Fud 9552]

3 minutes ago, Viper said:

what is an unlicensed gun? I wasn't aware you needed a license to own a gun in Texas.

I probably misspoke

[Fondren & Main 6726]

3 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

Likely concealed. Open carry is legal without a permit. Concealed still requires a permit.

Not in a car it doesn’t.  However, DUI with a gun is a big deal.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Fondren & Main

[Harvdog 2299]

That’s baby shit!  It’s less than 2 Oz.  That will be the first half against Sam Houston St suspension. This was all apart of the “get Evan” to 20 catches by November campaign. Aggie works in sneaky ways. 

[RGBIII 22840]

2 minutes ago, Fondren &amp; Main said:

Not in a car it doesn’t.  However, DUI with a gun is a big deal.

You can have a gun in your car, you just cant have a gun in the car when you do illegal shit. If he wasnt drunk the gun wouldnt be a big deal....now its a felony

[Pato del Muerto 52532]

I thought constitutional carry meant open or concealed is allowed.  And the Texas concealed carry license is really just to have reciprocity with other states that don’t do constitutional. 

[Laxtonto 12090]

Just now, RGBIII said:

You can have a gun in your car, you just cant have a gun in the car when you do illegal shit. If he wasnt drunk the gun wouldnt be a big deal....now its a felony

Gun, alcohol, and drugs...

So what 2....... quarters seems like a good suspension length right? Or lets let the team vote on it..

[texifornia 57031]

6 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

Gun, alcohol, and drugs...

So what 2....... quarters seems like a good suspension length right? Or lets let the team vote on it..

How long was Mckinnley Jackson out? Just halve that.

13 minutes ago, Fud said:

I probably misspoke

Dude was driving drunk and high with a gun in a bathrobe? Are we sure it wasn't Big Lebowski trivia night at the Dixie Chicken and we was just getting in character?

[Fondren & Main 6726]

17 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

You can have a gun in your car, you just cant have a gun in the car when you do illegal shit. If he wasnt drunk the gun wouldnt be a big deal....now its a felony

I think we’re agreeing.  I guess my statement was a little confusing with how I worded it.  

[JesusSweatDuck 17784]

13 minutes ago, texifornia said:

How long was Mckinnley Jackson out? Just halve that.

Dude was driving drunk and high with a gun in a bathrobe? Are we sure it wasn't Big Lebowski trivia night at the Dixie Chicken and we was just getting in character?

[Vermin 3055]

Quote

Smith was pulled over for speeding a little after 2 a.m. Wednesday on University Drive near the Northgate bar district and arrested for DWI, according to a probable cause statement. A search of his vehicle then turned up a “rolled joint of marijuana” and a handgun with a “full magazine and a round chambered” in the center console, according to the police report.

An officer then interviewed Smith at the Brazos County Jail, where he’d been taken for the DWI arrest, and he denied owning the handgun or the marijuana, according to the report. A passenger who was released also denied owning the gun or marijuana, according to the probable cause statement. 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/college/article/Ainias-Smith-Aggies-arrested-DWI-weapons-charge-17316853.php

I wonder who the other person was.

[HtownHorn 14753]

2 minutes ago, Vermin said:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/college/article/Ainias-Smith-Aggies-arrested-DWI-weapons-charge-17316853.php

I wonder who the other person was.

[texifornia 57031]

Baxter

Edited July 20, 2022 by texifornia

[The Deuce 1094]

40 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

You can have a gun in your car, you just cant have a gun in the car when you do illegal shit. If he wasnt drunk the gun wouldnt be a big deal....now its a felony

I got a DWI in Travis Co about 8 years ago with a Tavor (bullpup) and 1000 rounds in the backseat. It stayed a misdemeanor and didn’t increase the severity. Laws may have changed since then, but I didn’t get a felony up-charge. The cops freaked out and brought 5 more units out. I told them it was there from the jump🤷🏼‍♂️ 

[Elmer_Fudd 22304]

Didn't Clemons get arrested for something similar last year?  Think he only missed one game.

[Getafix 28685]

1 hour ago, Fud said:

Ainias Smith got popped for a DWI, unlicensed gun, and weed.

 

 

"Coach, you told me to be a triple threat this year ... "

 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10329]

1 hour ago, ClubWhatever said:

That's right, Monkey.

 

At least reporters will have something else to ask Jimbo on whether he brings or doesn't bring Smith.

"So how's team leadership this year...."