Maryland fired head coach D.J. Durkin on Wednesday.
Durkin was suspended in August as the school investigated the June death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair and player mistreatment allegations. He was reinstated on Tuesday in a decision that received heavy internal and external criticism. And just 24 hours later, Durkin was fired.
Here are six candidates to be Maryland head coach in 2019:
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Matt Canada
Current Position: Interim Head Coach & Offensive Coordinator – Maryland
Canada did and said a lot of right things as interim head coach and led the Terps to a 5-3 record in his first shot at leading a program. Once one of the game's rising stars, his coaching stock plummeted last year at LSU and landed in College Park as offensive coordinator.
If Maryland doesn't clean house, Canada makes a lot of sense. That's a huge "if."
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Mike Norvell
Current Position: Head Coach – Memphis
Mike Norvell can do better than a low-level Big Ten program reeling from a tumultuous six months. But he could be a great fit.
The 37-year-old third-year Memphis coach skyrocketed through the ranks, going from Division-II grad assistant to FBS head coach a decade. His stock has cooled with a mediocre season — after 18 wins in his first two years — but he's calm, calculated and, from all accounts, just an awesome guy.
If Maryland has the money, Norvell must be called.
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Charlie Strong
Current Position: Head Coach – USF
Charlie Strong will get another Power Five shot. It's a matter of when and where.
Even with a couple more strong seasons at USF, he won't get a high-level job but he could grab a second- or third-tier job. Might he be interested in cleaning up a program like Maryland?
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Mike Houston
Current Position: Head Coach – James Madison
Mike Houston seems like a perfect candidate at North Carolina — assuming the Tar Heels fire Larry Fedora — but could Maryland put on the full-court press for highly regarded FCS coach who's done a brilliant job building on a foundation left by Everett Withers?
It won't be the high-profile hire that Terps' donors and fans want, but they need someone who will take his time with a culture rebuild. Houston could be that guy.
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Mike Locksley
Current Position: Offensive Coordinator – Alabama
Locksley was on Randy Edsall's Maryland staff from 2012-15 and was interim head coach for six games after Edsall's dismissal in 2015. The 48-year-old Washington, D.C., native also spent six years with the program under Ron Vanderlinden from 1997-2002.
Prior to his second stint in College Park, he had a disastrous run 28-game run as New Mexico head coach (2-26) from 2009-11, which shoved the once-sought-after coordinator off the national radar. He's been at Alabama for three years, including the last two as co-offensive coordinator (2017) and offensive coordinator (2018).
He's not a sexy name and the head-coaching record is ugly, but Saban assistants are usually an easy sell if that's what Maryland wants.
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Jeff Monken
Current Position: Head Coach – Army
Maryland will never consistently compete in the Big Ten East without doing something different. Jeff Monken's triple-option system is different.
Monken can do better. His system is a turn-off to most programs but three straight seasons with at least eight wins at Army can't be ignored. However, if Maryland can make an attractive offer — not just monetary; they must create a new leadership model — it wouldn't be stunning to see the fifth-year Army coach take a shot in the Big Ten.
Maryland could use some actual leadership for once.
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