Who is Auburn interim head football coach DJ Durkin?

Photo of DJ Durkin from Auburn University

Here’s more about Auburn defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, who has been named the team’s interim head coach following the firing of Hugh Freeze.

DJ Durkin is in his second season as defensive coordinator at Auburn. In his first season, Auburn had its best rushing defense since 2010 (117.8 ypg), the best total defense since 2017 (330.8 ypg) and the best scoring defense since 2019 (19.5 ppg).

Durkin came to Auburn after spending the previous four seasons in the SEC, including the last two as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. Before that he coached linebackers at Ole Miss.

In his two-plus decade coaching career, Durkin was also head coach at Maryland in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

As a player, Durkin played at Bowling Green as a starter at defensive end and outside linebacker from 1997-2000. He led the team in sacks in 1998 and served as a team captain for two seasons. Durkin was honored with numerous team awards, including the Ken Schoeni Award for Character and Toughness.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Bowling Green in 2001 and his master’s degree in educational administration and supervision in 2004 from Bowling Green.

Durkin is a native of Youngstown, Ohio. He and his wife, Sarah, have one daughter, Abigail, and one son, Luke.