Maryland Football: More Coaching Changes for Durkin’s Staff
By Wesley Brown
Pete Lembo is leaving College Park, but DJ Durkin has filled the vacant positions that were in question.
Can confirm that Pete Lembo is no longer on @TerpsFootball's staff. DJ Durkin has rounded out his staff by hiring Jafar Williams (RBs) and Dave Bucar (TE's).
— Roman Stubbs (@romanstubbs) February 1, 2018
During his tenure on Durkin’s staff, Lembo was in charge of both special teams and tight ends. While Maryland did have some success on special teams with blocked kicks and return touchdowns, they also gave up a number of blocks and returns.
After the season, Lembo actually gave up the special teams duties to Matt Barnes, who coaches linebackers. Lembo has joined the staff at Rice as a special teams coordinator/associate head coach to try and prove himself as a coordinator again.
Durkin also rounded out his offensive staff with two new hires. Former Maryland wideout Jafar Williams will be in charge of running backs, while Dave Bucar takes over Lembo’s role as tight end coach.
Williams played for Maryland from 1999-2003 and played a role in the Terrapins’ 2001 ACC Championship team. He finished his Maryland career with 90 catches for just over 1300 yards and went on to join the Washington Redskins before starting to coach.
In his coaching career, Williams helped develop Big Ten talents, Jawuan Harris at Rutgers and Markel Jones at Purdue, who both shattered freshman expectations. He also coached Dri Archer of the Pittsburgh Steelers while coaching at Kent State.
Bucar worked as an offensive analyst at LSU under Matt Canada after a few years doing graduate assistant work at Pitt. The tight ends at Maryland will be his first positional coaching duty. He helped work with the offensive line at Pitt, and his background with coach Canada will provide a bond on the staff.