Maryland Football: Plenty of familiarity with Andy Buh

On Tuesday, the Maryland football team introduced Andy Buh as their new defensive coordinator.

Despite several stops during his coaching career, Buh has plenty of familiarity with coach D.J. Durkin and the type of defense that the Terrapins want to run.

“There was only one phone call I made,” said Durkin. “There was only one person I spoke to about this job and that was it. I knew in my mind who we needed to go with and Andy is guy who is very familiar with what we do defensively. He is a great coach on field, but really more than that, just what he brings to the table in terms of off the field and the type of person he is and dealing with our players day-in and day-out.”

Buh replaces Scott Shafer, who stepped down from the same position on Friday due to personal reasons.

Buh comes from Kentucky where he served as the outside linebackers coach during the 2015 season. Prior to stops at California, Nevada, and Wisconsin, Buh coached alongside Durkin at Stanford from 2007 to 2009.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity to reunite with a friend, a longtime friend and coach,” said That is very rare in this business. We are excited to get moving on this venture.”

During that period with the Cardinal, Buh was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach while Durkin served as the defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator.

“I’m thrilled about the opportunity to be reunited with a great friend and football coach in D.J. Durkin,” said Buh. “I can’t wait to meet the rest of the staff, players and people that make the University of Maryland great.”

During his time at Stanford, the team showed improvement in each of those three seasons. After going 1-11 in 2006, the Cardinal went 4-8 in 2007, 5-7 in 2008, and 8-5 in 2009.

In the 2007 and 2008 campaigns, Buh’s defenses finished in the top five in the Pac 12 in sacks. The only NFL-caliber player that Stanford had on their defensive line was Sione Fua, who led the team with six sacks in 2008.

Buh already appears to be on the same page with Durkin.

“My philosophy is in line with Coach Durkin,” said Buh. “We are an attack-style of defense. Obviously, we want to play great fundamentals. We want to maximize the talent here on this roster first, develop these guys into fierce competitors and then attack. We are an attacking-style of defense. We want to dictate to the offense what we are going to do.”

Buh also coached a very productive secondary at Kentucky last season. The Wildcats allowed just 198.1 passing yards per contest, which was fifth in the SEC and in the Top 30 nationally.

Buh’s Wildcats also had a very strong red zone defense last season as they only allowed opponents to score 75 percent of the time. That was good for fourth in the SEC and 14th in the nation.

Buh’s credentials speak for themselves and his defenses have shown improvement almost everywhere he’s been. Maryland could certainly use his defensive acumen since they’re losing the likes of Sean Davis, Quinton Jefferson, and Yannick Ngakoue to the NFL.

Being familiar with the type of defensive schemes that Durkin likes to run will help immensely. It’s very clear that Durkin knew that Buh was the right man for the job.

Next: Kaila Charles gives hope for Lady Terps' future

“It was not so much that I had to do it as quickly as possible,” added Durkin. “It was just, I knew the right guy was Andy and if he was willing and able to do it, that is what we were going to do.”