DJ Durkin explains his approach to building a defense

First year Texas A&M defensive coordinator DJ Durkin has made his fair share of coaching stops throughout his career from Ole Miss to Maryland to Michigan, and was asked if his approach in building his defense in College Station would be similar to his past stops.

“I think wherever you are, any job all that, it’s really about, especially this day and age, about creating buy in. It’s about a group of coaches and a group of players all coming together for one common goal, and learn to be a part of something bigger than just themselves which is a hard thing nowadays,” Durkin said.

Durkin’s perspective on the game is inspirative, as he hopes to maintain the strong defensive culture that’s been built at A&M recently through getting his coaches and players to buy into the team as a collective.

“That’s what I love about the game of football, I love about coaching is it’s one of those opportunities where I think there’s very few anymore where you can really teach team concept and teach guys my actions, my words, the things I chose to do affect more than just me. And so really getting guys to be there for one another and buy into that, and the quicker you’re able to do that with coaches and players all alike, obviously the more success you’ll have,” Durkin said.

DJ Durkin reveals initial impressions of Texas A&M defense

New Texas A&M defensive coordinator DJ Durkin likes what he’s seeing so far from the Aggie defense during fall camp, as he detailed how his defense has been adjusting to a new defensive system and playing within the new scheme.

“I love our daily approach and attitude to what we’re doing, our guys really grasp learning new terminology and calls and all that, they’ve done a good job handling all that. It’s the day-to-day of coming to practice ready to go and maybe it’s something that carries over from before, maybe it’s something new, but there’s buy-in right now and they’re working really hard at it. Anytime you have that I think you have a really good chance to be successful, we have a talented team so when we get guys on the same page, I think we’ll be good,” Durkin said.

Durkin is a veteran defensive coach that has over 15 years of experience, including multiple stints in the SEC, and a coach of his caliber is already speaking highly of his defense is definitely a great sign for the Aggies. Durkin has already vocalized that he’s building the scheme of the defense around the personnel and talent on their roster, hoping to put his players in positions that best match their skillsets and that they can succeed in. If the A&M defense can continue to make strides during camp under Durkin, they will certainly maintain the high standard they set last season, if not improve even more.