If any program in the country doesn’t need former Maryland coach D.J. Durkin’s help to win a national championship, it’s Alabama.
And yet, if any program in the country would leap at the opportunity to bring in a coach who disgraced the profession and whose so-called culture might have contributed to the death of a player, it’s — you guessed it — also Alabama.
Just because we are no longer surprised that Nick Saban is so willing to debase Alabama’s reputation so that he can run a halfway house for coaching rehab doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. And it certainly doesn’t mean that Saban, even with six national championships in tow and perhaps a seventh coming in a few weeks, gets to make that kind of decision without confronting the scorn that every other head coach in America would and should get in a similar situation.
Though Alabama has neither confirmed or denied it, AL.com reported Thursday that Durkin has been "helping Alabama this past week in a consultant-like capacity," according to unnamed sources.
This news comes exactly six months after Jordan McNair, an offensive lineman under Durkin’s care at Maryland, died of heatstroke during an offseason workout.
It comes four months after an ESPN report, largely based on anonymous sources, that shed light on a disturbing atmosphere at Maryland in which players were allegedly mocked and bullied and dehumanized for the sake of motivation.
And it comes six weeks after Maryland was forced to fire Durkin, but only after a massive public backlash to the Maryland Board of Regents' initial decision to bring him back.
Thus, the question that Saban needs to answer — and as of Thursday afternoon, an Alabama spokesman hadn’t responded to specific questions posed by USA TODAY Sports — is why.
Unless Saban believes Durkin was treated unfairly by Maryland in being paid $5.4 million to go away, what possible upside would there be for Alabama? Unless Saban has examined all the evidence and is willing to conclude publicly that Durkin was wronged and railroaded, why would he want to bring someone so radioactive into his organization?
Maybe it’s as simple as Saban believing Durkin, known as a defensive guru, can help him scheme and scout for a matchup against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. But how can that possibly be worth it? With or without Durkin’s input, Alabama is probably going to be just fine.
Though Alabama fans will surely note that Saban has done this kind of thing before with Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian and even attempted it last summer with Hugh Freeze before the Southeastern Conference office squashed it, this is a materially different situation.
Kiffin’s reputation as the leader of a program might not have been very good after getting fired from Southern Cal, but there was never any insinuation that his behavior had been destructive to anyone but himself.
Same deal with Sarkisian, who parlayed one year as an analyst at Alabama into becoming the offensive coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons. And even with Freeze, though he had been fired from Ole Miss amid massive rules violations in his program and a personal imbroglio, the NCAA had essentially given him a clean bill of health to resume coaching.
Still, that was too much for the SEC and Commissioner Greg Sankey, who might not have explicitly ordered Saban to stand down but absolutely made it known throughout the league that they did not want anyone to touch Freeze for at least another year.
If Sankey can put his thumb on the scale like that to stop Freeze from coming back to the SEC, why not for Durkin?
Of course, he shouldn't have to in the first place. Saban surely knows better.
It’s one thing to have compassion for people who might need a reboot professionally, but there’s a time and place for that — and Durkin having a hand in Alabama possibly winning a national championship just isn’t it.
Saban’s judgment on second chances has failed him before, most notably in 2015 when he brought Jonathan Taylor, who had been indicted on felony domestic violence charges, into the program as a transfer. Alabama had to part ways with Taylor shortly thereafter when Taylor was charged with domestic violence again, although the accuser recanted her story and the charges were dropped.
“I’m not sorry for giving him an opportunity,” Saban said at the time. “I’m sorry for the way things worked out. I’m not apologizing for the opportunity we gave him. I wanted to try to help the guy make it work.”
But make no mistake, that was an all-systems failure at Alabama, and an unnecessary one at that. Even without Taylor, Alabama won the national championship that season.
It goes without saying Saban’s record has given him unparalleled power and leeway with his administration to take chances on personnel and make controversial hires. But if you’re going to bring Durkin into the program in any capacity, the following questions need to be answered, and they need to be answered today:
1) What exactly are Durkin’s responsibilities?
2) Is he being paid, and if so, what?
3) What kind of contact is he having with athletes?
4) When did his employment begin, and is there an expiration on his employment or is it indefinite?
5) Why it is appropriate for him to be part of the Alabama program at this point in time given the circumstances under which he was fired from Maryland?
6) Will he be traveling with the team to the Orange Bowl and receiving championship rings should Alabama win the national title?
And that’s just the beginning.
Saban might be the king of college football, but bringing in a coach whose program was credibly accused of borderline and outright egregious treatment of players is a clear overreach of his unbridled power.
Durkin might very well get an opportunity at some point to explain himself and work again in college football. But doing it under the protection of Saban’s dominance is not the kind of message America’s gold standard program should be sending.
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