Boardman's Durkin promoted to Florida's DC

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Will Muschamp wasted little time finding a replacement for departing defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

He didn’t have to search very far, either.

Muschamp promoted linebackers coach/special teams coordinator D.J. Durkin to the DC position Thursday, keeping some continuity during a hectic recruiting period. The Boardman High graduate will continue to serve as linebacker coach.

“D.J. and I will run the defense, continuing the way that Dan and I did for the past two years,” Muschamp said in a statement.

Durkin spent the last three seasons in Gainesville, one of the few holdovers from former coach Urban Meyer’s staff.

Durkin began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Meyer at Bowling Green in 2001 and later served stints as a defensive assistant at Notre Dame (2003-04), Bowling Green (2005-06) and Stanford (2007-09).

He was a four-year starter at defensive end/linebacker at Bowling Green (1997-2000) and was a team captain as a junior and senior.