COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland Head Coach DJ Durkin met with the media after today's practice, the second of the spring for the Terps. Here's what the first-year head coach had to say.

On being back on the field:
“Yeah I guess it's business as usual. We're back coaching and the best thing is that we made improvements from day one to day two.”

On how he determined the spring depth chart:
“We determined it solely off the winter workouts. We looked at the guys who we thought were doing the best and providing a great work ethic. It had nothing to do with whether they were a senior or a freshman. It was solely based on how, since I've been here, how they've conducted themselves.”

On guys who performed well in winter workouts:
“I think defensively, Jermaine Carter is a guy that stands out that really goes hard for us. Offensively, D.J. Moore is a guy that had a really good offseason for us. Perry Hills has stepped up as a leader and competes like crazy. He really has a feel of the offense and what we're doing. There is about 12-14 guys that we ranked as our champion level, which are guys that compete at a championship level. That's a good number of players practicing at that level for this part of the year.”

On how the coaches are evaluating the players this spring:
“We are evaluating every single thing they do. We at any time, have about 8-10 cameras on that field. We are looking at everything they do, evaluating everything they do and making changes accordingly. There's a lot that has changed from day one to day two. We just practiced yesterday morning and there's a lot that changed today. We look at if there is any mental fatigue that they display. I want them to know that practice is important, what they do is being put on their resume and they have to make the reps count.”

On Trey Edmunds:
“Trey (Edmunds) is a tough worker. He had a great winter for us. Obviously, he's an experienced guy. He's played a lot of college football. He understands the level of competition. Trey will play and help us.”

On who are the team leaders:
“Well that will develop as we go. I think that leadership kind of finds a way to rise to the top. Will (Likely) is an obvious leader for us. Again all that stuff kind of materializes on its own, that's not something that the coach really dictates. We are going to let that sort out and we are going to let guys keep working and keep practicing, and whatever guys do that well will be our leaders.”

On the running back position:
“Those guys all have strengths. And the good thing is that they are all different from the next guy, which is nice. I look at that position right now and we have really helped ourselves already and we have more freshman coming in the summer, that will help us as well. I think that we took at spot that we were pretty thin at prior to the signing period and now we have some good depth there.”

On the quarterbacks:
“That's an ongoing process. It's always hard to evaluate the quarterbacks because of the timing and everything else going on while learning the offense.  So we'll evaluate that as we go. I think that Perry Hills had a very good offseason. He showed that he's a leader and a tough guy. I think that is an important part of the position that isn't really talked about. I think that all those guys are tough. Caleb (Rowe) does a really good job and Shane (Cockerille) is in there too. They all are going to get reps and show what they can do.”

On how he can change the team from last year:
“You focus on things in the coaching room. You look at both the big things and little things. We were a much better today than yesterday. Those things carry over and we just have to really coach them on technique. We have to teach urgency and learn what it means to play hard.”

On the limitations that he has with what they can do in practice:
“I think that the limitations are more with scheme than how you do things. They are going to learn how we do things, there is no compromise about that. They are going to learn how we practice, how we meet, how we work out. Scheme wise, it's our job as coaches to adopt the right scheme that fits our guys.”

On possible position changes:
“That is something I've done that has worked in the past. If there is someone on offense who we think can help on defense, we are going to try that. If there is a guy on defense we think who can help us on offense, we are going to try that. That is something that we will evaluate as we go on. Right now, everyone is where they are and trying to learn how to be a leader in the spring. Once everyone starts to get comfortable, then we'll start to make some of those changes if we want to.”

 

-Maryland-