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Maryland Football Countdown: No. 98, Mark Duda

By Chris Bengel

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With just 73 days until the Maryland football program opens the season on Sept. 5, TerrapinStationMD will be running a series based on past Terrapins. We’re going to look at the most talented and/or popular player to wear the number and analyze their time in College Park. We’ll start in the upper 90s and work our way in descending order. If you think of a player that had a big impact and is also associated with that number, leave a comment below.

For our first Terp, we’ll start out with No. 98. Former defensive tackle Mark Duda was one of the most talented defensive linemen to ever come through College Park.

The Pennsylvania native starred for coach Bobby Ross from 1979 to 1982 and was one of the most disruptive forces on the Maryland defense during that era.

In his first three years, Duda played in all 33 games, including the Tangerine Bowl in 1980 where the Terps fell 35-20 to Florida. The star defensive tackle recorded 192 tackles, including 11 for a loss during that time period. Duda also had six sacks and forced a pair of fumbles (recovering one). In 1982, he registered a mind-blowing 13 sacks as he doubled his output during his first three years in College Park.

Duda was a defensive lineman that had incredible strength, which is evident in the fact that he could bench press 445 pounds.

Following his career at Maryland, Duda was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round (No. 96 overall). The former Terp played his entire five-year career (1983-1987) with the Cardinals and recorded 9.5 sacks while recovering four fumbles in 34 starts (55 total games).

In 1994, Duda was inducted into the Maryland Wall of Fame.

Since his NFL career wrapped up, Duda has found himself in the coaching ranks. Since 1993, the former Terp has served on the coaching staff at Lackawanna College in Pennsylvania. He served the 1993 season as the school’s defensive coordinator before being elevated to the head coaching position the following year and has been in that spot ever since.

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Duda has been very successful at Lackawanna College as he is second among active coaches in the NJCAA in wins and 16th all-time. His program has produced 15 players that have signed NFL contracts, including former West Virginia and current Chicago Bears wide receiver Kevin White. White starred at Lackawanna College for two season before departing for Morgantown.

Overall, Duda was one of the most talented defensive linemen to ever play for the Terps. He still holds the single-season sack record in addition being near the top of the list in many other defensive categories. Duda is one that many younger Maryland fans may not know much about, but this was the start of the Bobby Ross era. Ross would go on to post a 39-19 record while in College Park and Duda’s 1982 team was a big part of the beginning of that.

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