College Football HQ

Ohio State offer led to Auburn giving DJ Durkin new deal: report

Auburn moved fast to secure defensive coordinator DJ Durkin to a contract extension after it was emerged that Ohio State was scouting him for its vacant DC position, a new report claims.
James Parks|
Auburn moved quickly to get DJ Durkin a contract extension after Ohio State was interested in him, a new report says.
Auburn moved quickly to get DJ Durkin a contract extension after Ohio State was interested in him, a new report says. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Ohio State BuckeyesAuburn Tigers

Auburn signed defensive coordinator DJ Durkin to a new contract extension suddenly this week, and now it appears that was an effort to stop college football’s defending national champion from poaching him away for their own staff.

Ohio State attempted to lure Durkin away from Auburn and make him its defensive coordinator in an effort to replace the outgoing Jim Knowles, according to a report from Rivals.

That sudden encroachment into its territory found Auburn and head coach Hugh Freeze moving fast to convince Durkin to stick around and sign him to a contract extension.

“Ohio State came in with an offer trying to pry [Durkin] away from Auburn,” Rivals’ Brian Stultz said on X. “Hugh Freeze wasn’t going to let that happen.”

Durkin had some experience with the Buckeyes, coaching against them as Michigan’s defensive coordinator during Jim Harbaugh’s first season as UM head coach in 2015.

He left soon after that, however, to take the head coaching position at Maryland.

Ohio State is in the market for a new defensive coordinator after Knowles suddenly left the program to take the same position at Big Ten rival Penn State, where he’ll serve as the highest-paid DC in college football next season.

The next-highest will be Durkin, who will earn up to $2.5 million for the 2025 football season, according to documents obtained by the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.

Durkin joined the Auburn football program before the 2024 season coming out of a two-year run as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Texas A&M under Jimbo Fisher.

He also served as co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss and under Urban Meyer and then Will Muschamp at Florida in other defensive capacities.

(Rivals)

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.

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