The Perfect Candidate for Vacant Texas A&M Defensive Coordinator Job
As "Harbaugh Watch" closes its fourth week in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Texas A&M is still without a defensive coordinator.
Those two things could be related.
According to Ryan Autullo of the Austin American-Statesman, Florida defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin—who will serve as the Gators' interim head coach in the Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina—is waiting on Jim Harbaugh to make a decision regarding the vacant Michigan head coaching position before deciding his next step as a college coach.
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Durkin was a defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator for Stanford from 2007-2009 when Harbaugh was the head coach of the Cardinal.
If he doesn't step foot into Ann Arbor, it appears that College Station could be an option. According to the report, Texas A&M wants Durkin and, considering it has been without a defensive coordinator since the day after Thanksgiving, seems comfortable playing the waiting game.
As it should.
If Texas A&M's patience pays off and Durkin becomes its new defensive coordinator, it wouldn't just be a home run hire, it'd be a tape measure shot.
Durkin worked wonders in his five seasons at Florida, the first three as the linebackers coach and final two as defensive coordinator. Florida never finished out of the top five in the SEC in yards per play or total defense during Durkin's time in Gainesville and gave up an average of 19.6 points per game over the last five years.
For comparison, Texas A&M has given up an average of 29.9 points per game over the last two seasons under former defensive coordinator Mark Snyder.
The foundation of Florida's defenses under Durkin was a defensive line that, even if it didn't force stops behind the line of scrimmage, was disruptive in the backfield and forced opposing quarterbacks to make quick decisions and running backs to cut in the backfield.
Whether it was Dante Fowler, Dominique Easley, Sharrif Floyd or Jonathan Bullard, the Gators didn't just pay rent in the backfield, they paid the mortgage.
The same blueprint can be replicated at Texas A&M.
Freshman defensive end Myles Garrett exploded onto the scene in 2014, setting the SEC single-season record for sacks by a freshman with 11, posting 12.5 tackles for loss and notching 50 tackles for the Aggies. He's the biggest part of a defensive line that only has one senior on its entire two-deep.
Toss in freshman safety Armani Watts and sophomore linebackers Shaan Washington and A.J. Hilliard (who suffered a season-ending injury in the opener vs. South Carolina), and the foundation is there.
It just needs to be solidified, and Durkin is the guy to do it.
He's been at the helm of a plug-and-play defense that routinely is dealt blows by early entry to the NFL draft. Despite that, Florida's defenses have been as consistent as the sunrise.
Durkin would kill it at Texas A&M, and if head coach Kevin Sumlin's patience pays off and Durkin winds up in College Station, the Aggies defense will go from punchline to power in a hurry.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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