A day after reinstating DJ Durkin, the school has fired him.
Maryland president Wallace Loh has announced the move to Maryland faculty.
Maryland brought Durkin back against the wishes of school president Wallace Loh -- who effusively praised AD Damon Evans at a Tuesday press conference, but did not mention Durkin by name -- because Durkin won over the board at an in-person Friday meeting.
“We believe that Coach Durkin has been unfairly blamed for the dysfunction in the athletic department,” board chairman James Brady said. “And while he shares some responsibility, it is not fair to place all of it at his feet.”
But after 24 hours of torrential negative publicity, the school has reversed course.
The Maryland student body planned a protest of Durkin for Thursday, and on Wednesday two prominent Maryland politicians called for Maryland to reverse course and fire Durkin.
And now that's what they've done. As for Durkin's buyout, being fired without cause means Durkin will be owed about $5.5 million and half of that is due in a lump sum within 60 days of his termination date with the rest to be paid out through the remainder of his latest contract, which ran through December 31, 2021, all via Steve Berkowitz.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.