D.J. Durkin joins the coaching staff at the University of Mississippi

D.J. Durkin, who was the head coach at Maryland when offensive lineman Jordan McNair died weeks after an offseason workout, will join the football staff at the University of Mississippi.

Durkin was fired in October 2018 by the University of Maryland president one day after the school’s board of regents voted to reinstate him.

Three months earlier, McNair, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman, was taken from the field after struggling during sprints. McNair had heatstroke and two weeks later he died at a hospital.

Ole Miss Athletics Director Keith Carter said the department did its due diligence, doing a background check and speaking with coaches.

“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.”

Last year, Durkin, 41, was a consultant with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

Before Durkin’s two full seasons at Maryland, in which his teams went 10-15, he also coached at Michigan, Florida and Stanford.

McNair’s father, Marty McNair, said he hoped the coach learned from his son’s death.

“We wish the best for him and his family and hope he’ll take what happened at Maryland as a serious life lesson in dealing with other people’s kids,” he told ESPN.

Jordan McNair’s death prompted two reports in 2018, one into the how he was cared for on the day he was hospitalized and another into the culture of football at the University of Maryland.

An independent medical report found several issues with the treatment of McNair, including failure to assess his vital signs, not having proper cooling devices and failure to recognize quickly he was having heat illness.

More than an hour passed before a University of Maryland football trainer called 911 after McNair, 19, first showed symptoms of heatstroke on May 29, 2018, according to the report. McNair died on June 13.

Dr. Rod Walters, who submitted the medical report, said he did not make a determination as to whether McNair’s death was an accident or due to negligence.

Durkin and others were put on administrative leave in August 2018 and the board of regents was set to bring him back after the report on the team’s culture was finished.

It found the Maryland football team did not have a “toxic culture” but “did have a culture where problems festered because too many players feared speaking out.”

But then-university President Wallace D. Loh fired Durkin.

“This is not at all a reflection of my opinion of Coach Durkin as a person,” Loh said. “However, a departure is in the best interest of the university.”

Ole Miss went 4-8 last year in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference. Lane Kiffin was hired in December as head coach. Durkin is listed on the team’s website as an assistant coach as are Joe Jon Finley and Chris Partridge, who were part of the announcement of Durkin’s hiring.