COLLEGE PARK — It hasn't exactly been football weather around here for the past couple of weeks and new Maryland coach DJ Durkin wouldn't have it any other way.
The sizzling heat, he said, has been "awesome."
The thought of scheduling practices to avoid the hottest part of the day? Never crossed his mind.
Global warming? Maybe it isn't such a bad idea after all.
OK, he didn't really endorse climate change, but he was serious about turning up the heat on a Maryland football program that came unraveled last year in its second season in the Big Ten.
"The weather has really cooperated with us," Durkin said during Tuesday's Terps football media day. "There has been some good heat every day. The sun's been out. That's been great. We've been practicing right in the middle of the afternoon intentionally, just to get out there and make it harder because we're going to have to play in some of that."
If that sounds old school, it certainly is, but don't fret about player safety. The appropriate precautions are being taken, and the Terps have embraced their new coach's upbeat personality, uptempo style and up-thermometer intensity.
"Coach Durkin likes to make a joke right before practice," senior running back Trey Edmunds said. "He'll say, 'Guys, I called the clouds today and told them to stay away.' So, we laugh, but it has definitely been a grind. Everybody will tell you that we've been out there and we've been grinding and learning and grinding some more."
Maybe the heat will relent by the time the Terps open at home against Howard on Sept. 3, but there's something metaphorical about Durkin's easy reference to the stifling temperatures that have turned the Mid-Atlantic region into a sauna this month.
Durkin knew what he was getting into when he was hired to replace Randy Edsall last December. He knew that it would be no easy task to turn Maryland into a Big Ten title contender and remain competitive in a conference that features several of the historically dominant teams in all of college football.
Maybe the heat won't be on this season, since Durkin is brand new and everybody deserves a honeymoon. The Terps have some talent and they should be able to get off to a quick start with a seemingly manageable nonconference schedule. They should have a decent chance to become bowl eligible.
Durkin said Tuesday that he doesn't deal in expectations … just effort. He pointed out that the notion that there is some kind of honeymoon period for a new coach and his team is more of a media creation than anything rooted in the reality of preparing a football team to play at the highest competitive level.
"You've got to look at that two different ways — the way the game is viewed and how things are viewed by the media and the fans, and then within the walls of this building, the way things are viewed," Durkin said. "We don't look at things that way at all. It's really about preparation, being the best we can be, figuring out a way to get a room full of guys from different background and upbringings to come together and want to be part of something bigger than themselves."
He talked a lot about the importance of developing leadership on a team that will be depending on a lot of young players. He said his two senior quarterbacks came in this year with a "clean slate" and are both competing for the starting job on an equal basis, though Perry Hills appears to be ahead with Caleb Rowe unable to practice because of an undisclosed injury.
Durkin is a defensive guy, so you can be sure there is plenty of emphasis being placed on that side of the ball after a 2015 season in which Maryland allowed 34.4 points per game.
No doubt, his ability to shore up the defense will be a huge predictor of how well the Terps do during year three in the Big Ten, but Durkin will leave the predictions to everybody else.
"We don't put any sort of numbers [on it] … or say, 'Let's get to this many wins,'" he said. "We're trying to just go day by day and get better, improve and come together as a team. Every time we line up, we're out there to win. We're going to play aggressive, call it aggressive and figure it out. Sometimes, those [win-loss] scenarios come from the outside in. Obviously, we're not sheltered from that, but it's not something we talk about."
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Read more from columnist Peter Schmuck on his blog, "The Schmuck Stops Here," at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.