Maryland Students Plan Rally to Protest DJ Durkin's Reinstatement as Head Coach

The University of Maryland student government will hold a protest Thursday after the school reinstated football coach DJ Durkin despite allegations he oversaw a toxic team culture.

"People are appalled at this," student body president Jonathan Allen told reporters. "When I spoke to stakeholders—media, alums, donors—over the last few months, as this has been transpiring, they all said there's no way Durkin comes back from this. And yet he's returning and the president is the one that's leaving?

"When the system fails, the next obvious step is a grassroots push, being vocal and showing the outrage and sentiments students have had with these decisions."

Durkin returned to work Tuesday on the recommendation of Maryland's board of regents. The school conducted an investigation into the football program following the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who died June 13 of a heatstroke suffered during a team workout.

More than 1,000 people have confirmed their attendance or expressed interest in the rally in an event posted on Facebook.

Allen will hold a meeting Wednesday night in which he will call on university president Wallace Loh to fire Durkin. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported Loh was threatened with termination if he did not reinstate Durkin at the recommendation of the board. Loh subsequently announced his intention to retire in June. 

"It could not have worked out better for chairman [James] Brady," Allen said. "He didn't need to buy out Coach Durkin's multi-million contract. He did not need to buy out Damon Evans' contract, did not need to fire a president and potentially have litigation if President Loh deemed there wasn't sufficient cause, bought out [former Maryland football strength coach] Rick Court, who was the root of many concerns, for $315,000.

"The only person who paid, as the McNair family's representative said, was Jordan, and that was with his life. That's why we're outraged."

Brady, the chairman of the board, said Durkin has been unfairly blamed for the team's culture despite the investigation's determination that Durkin failed to monitor the activity of strength and conditioning coach Rick Court. Brady also called Durkin a "good man and a good coach."