Earlier this week Maryland received big news when 4-star defensive back Deon Jones decided to stay home, choosing the Terps over national powers like Clemson, Florida, Florida State and Georgia, among others. A 6-foot-1, 180 pound corner out of Oxon Hill, Jones will be expected to come in right away and compete for playing time from the moment he steps on campus.
While a commitment from a player of his level is always a cause for celebration, it’s also something that the Maryland football team is seeing on a much more consistent basis since D.J. Durkin took over as head coach in December.
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Here we will look at how D.J. Durkin’s recruiting has compared to Randy Edsall’s administration. It is important to note that there is a very small sample for Durkin so things could change fairly quickly. For this, all ratings will be based on 247sports. In addition, while I will discuss the 2011 and 2016 classes, the first for each coach, neither class was fully compiled under a single coach.
One thing that has really stood out since Durkin took over was the amount of blue-chip prospects (rated four or five stars) the Terps have attracted in the short time he has been in College Park. Jones is Maryland’s fifth commit in the class of 2017 that would be considered blue-chip, in addition to defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, offensive lineman Jordan McNair, quarterback Kasim Hill and defensive tackle Cam Spence. In addition, as he closed out the 2016 class Durkin managed to add a pair of 4-star offensive guards, Richard Merritt and Terrance Davis, bringing the number of blue-chip recruits to seven in his first eight months on the job.
Comparatively, it took Edsall more than 25 months to pull in his seventh blue-chip recruit when Yannick Ngakoue chose the Terps on National Signing Day in 2013. While blue-chip recruits aren’t indicative of a class as a whole and 3-star gems are better than 5-star busts, there is a definite correlation between the amount of blue-chip recruits on a roster and how good that team is.
A big part in Maryland’s recent success landing blue-chip recruits has been the attitude change within the program. Under Edsall the Terps seemed to be fine with being a second-tier program, choosing not to compete with college football powers for many recruits leading to less talented players coming on campus. And while Maryland still did attract some talent, most notably 5-star Stefon Diggs, it was nothing compared to what Big 10 foes Ohio State and Michigan were pulling in. And this is all with Mike Locksley recruiting for the last few years. In Edsall’s five recruiting classes Maryland finished ranked 52nd, 38th, 41st, 40th and 49th, not horrific; but not good enough for a program trying to rise to national relevance.
With Durkin at the helm Maryland hasn’t been afraid to go up against the nation’s top teams for the nation’s top teams for the nation’s top talent, sometimes even winning recruiting battles that nobody would have thought possible just a year ago. Durkin, who has received accolades for his recruiting ability as an assistant at some of the top programs in the country, has brought their winning attitude to Maryland. It is unlikely that under Edsall the Terps even would have offered Kaindoh, but now he is headed to College Park. So far this year Maryland has the 18th-ranked class in the country, significantly higher than at any point under Edsall, and it is in contention for several other highly-rated prospects like DeMatha studs running back Anthony McFarland and defensive end Chase Young. The fact that Maryland is a serious contender for players like these shows the culture change that has happened in College Park. And though it’s the wins and losses that will ultimately decide if Durkin is the right coach for Maryland, it sure looks like things are heading in the right direction.
Andrew Feather is a multimedia journalist from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Currently a broadcast journalism major at Elon University in Elon, N.C., Feather serves as the Assistant Sports Director of Elon Local News, the school’s award winning, student-run news broadcast.