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Michigan assistant calls embattled Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin a ‘good guy’
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Jim Harbaugh has made it clear he doesn’t wish to talk about former Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, but one Wolverines staffer is willing to give the embattled Maryland head coach some positive press.
Safeties coach and special teams coordinator Chris Partridge served as UM’s director of player personnel, an off-field position, in 2015, Durkin’s lone season in Ann Arbor. The Terrapins head coach currently on administrative leave left a positive impression on Partridge.
“He’s a good ball coach,” Partridge said of Durkin to MLive.com’s Aaron McMann. “He was always really good to me. When he had gone to Maryland, he offered me and asked me to go — to come along with him.”
Partridge was asked about former Michigan standout Jabrill Peppers’ comments about Durkin being a “bully coach” saying he could be “extreme at times.”
“Not that I saw,” Partridge said. “Now remember, I was off the field (that) year. I wasn’t in all of those meetings. When I was able to be in meetings, I actually sat in the safety meetings with Greg Jackson then, and with John Baxter on special teams.
“So I wasn’t privy to everything that maybe Jabrill had seen or been around. But in my experience, no, I didn’t see him cross the line at all.”
Durkin is on administrative leave while Maryland completes its investigation into the death of OL Jordan McNair, who died from heatstroke after a May 29 team workout. Two bombshell ESPN reports on McNair’s death and the culture of the football program prompted ESPN to place Durkin and other staffers on leave. The school has fired strength and conditioning coach Rick Court.
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.