Maryland Football: Why the Aazaar Abdul-Rahim signing is a big deal
By Chris Bengel
On Monday, the Maryland football program reeled in former local coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim.
Abdul-Rahim may be as important a hire that the Terps will make.
Recently hired coach D.J. Durkin has really hit the ground running in nearly every possible aspect. On his first weekend as the new Maryland boss, Durkin visited with several recruits, including Adam McLean and Rahshaun Smith.
On Monday, Durkin added two coaches to his staff in Abdul-Rahim and Mississippi State strength coach Rick Court.
Abdul-Rahim is definitely one of the most noteworthy additions that Durkin will make to the staff.
The local product has an incredibly diverse background in the area. Abdul-Rahim started off as a high school star at Dunbar High School before moving on to play cornerback for San Diego State from 1997 to 1999. He recorded eight interceptions for the Aztecs during his time with the program.
Abdul-Rahim’s claim to fame is being the architect of Washington D.C. powerhouse Friendship Collegiate Academy. The school was produced several talented Division I players, including Eddie Goldman (Florida State), Derwin Gray (Maryland), Yannick Ngakoue (Maryland), and Jalen Tabor (Florida).
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Abdul-Rahim has funneled many of his players to highly-touted programs before taking a recruiting position under coach Nick Saban at Alabama two years ago.
The former Friendship Collegiate Academy head coach has built relationships with many former and current Maryland commits and targets during his time in Tuscaloosa. It also doesn’t hurt that Abdul-Rahim is well-respected in local coaching circles.
The former Alabama coach will coach the defensive backs at Maryland, which is going to be a group riddled with turnover heading into next season. Sean Davis, A.J. Hendy, and Anthony Nixon will all be graduating, but Abdul-Rahim will still have star corner William Likely to work with.
This hire will likely put Maryland in contention for many four-star recruits that are still on the board in the 2016 class and beyond. Abdul-Rahim instantly may put the Terps back in play for St. John’s College (D.C.) defensive end Terrell Hall, who had previously been recruited by Mike Locksley.
Hall had already tweeted his approval of Maryland’s hiring of Durkin and the addition of Abdul-Rahim should make those positive feelings even larger.
Abdul-Rahim was very successful recruiting the Maryland/Washington D.C. area along with the southern states during his two years at Alabama. He’ll be able to take the place of Locksley in terms of Maryland’s local recruiting ace. His connections in the south certainly wouldn’t hurt either as that area of the country is always ripe with talented recruits.
Abdul-Rahim continues to climb the coaching ladder at the collegiate level and the Terps certainly pulled off a great move to bring him back home.