BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Respect is not given, it is earned. If you listen to the players D.J. Durkin coaches, respect for their interim headman oozes from them. That’s the ultimate goal for a coach according to Durkin.
“Spending five years here with our guys and with this team I guess the respect of the players or the mutual respect we have between players and coaches means about everything. That’s what you do this for,” he said.
In his five years at Florida, he’s walked with players like redshirt senior linebacker Mike Taylor for their entire UF careers, and he does his best to work with them as much off the football field as he does on it, for that they’re appreciative.
But the familiarity also made the transitional period between former head coach Will Muschamp and new head coach Jim McElwain a little bit easier to handle for players.
Durkin tried not to change much about the way the Gators went about their business, the only noticeable differences to onlookers are minimal, like playing music throughout practice sessions instead of just during stretching.
“He knew the whole defensive side of the ball and we knew what to expect from him,” Taylor said. “The fact that he had a relationship with Mack Brown, Quinton Dunbar, Trenton Brown, players like that. It made it easier for us because we had a coach that we knew what to expect from him and how he was going to go about his business as a coach.”
Durkin won’t be around Gainesville next season with the hire of Mississippi State’s Geoff Collins to take his place as defensive coordinator.
His landing spot is unknown currently. He was tied to job openings at LSU and UNC, both of which have been reportedly filled by other candidates, but he remains a hot commodity for a defensive coordinator position and, according to Buck linebacker Dante Fowler, a shoe-in for a head coaching position as soon as possible.
Upon hearing his best pass-rusher’s words of support, Durkin joked that he wished Fowler were an athletics director somewhere.
But like Taylor said, Durkin’s reach extended across to the other side of the ball.
While center Max Garcia was sitting out a season due to transfer from Maryland, he had quite a bit of interaction with Durkin. He was a scout team lineman, tasked with simulating opponent’s tendencies for the first team UF defense. Garcia jokingly said their interactions were both “good and bad” but he remembered a specific practice distinctly.
“One practice, the linebackers got really mad at me because I was getting after them. Coach Durkin was like, ‘don’t get mad at him, he’s just doing his job, giving you a great look,’” Garcia said. “When he was put in the position to be the head coach, it was all good. I respect coach Durkin a lot and respect the way he handles his enthusiasm towards the game, he’s always fired up. He was a great person to be the interim.”
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
UF interim head coach D.J. Durkin speaks during a press conference at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday.
