Will Muschamp has taken some heat for the way he defended Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin in the wake of reports of player mistreatment and negligence, but his employer is standing behind him.
Over the weekend, Muschamp ripped ESPN for using anonymous sources to accuse Durkin of creating a “toxic culture” at Maryland.
“There’s no credibility in anonymous sources. If that former staffer had any guts, why didn’t he put his name on that? I think that’s gutless,” Muschamp said. “In any business, in any company, in any football team, especially right here in August, you can find a disgruntled player, that’s probably not playing. I think it’s a lack of journalistic integrity to print things with anonymous sources.”
On Monday, University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides said he would never defend what Durkin has been accused of but agreed with Muschamp’s stance on anonymous sources.
“I don’t think (Muschamp) ever said if the facts are flushed out and (Durkin) did something wrong that he would not be for whatever (Maryland) has to do,” Pastides told David Cloninger of The Post and Courier. “I heard him specifically be concerned about anonymous sources.
“And that’s a policy of ours as well. We’ll read anonymous reports, but it’s very, very hard if you don’t have the backing of someone who stands up and says, ‘This is me. I saw it, I heard it, I smelled it,’ to really know what to do. And the other thing is really loyalty from a coach who knew the other individual.”
The most concerning aspect of ESPN’s report on Durkin suggests Maryland showed negligence in the death of 19-year-old offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who had a seizure while taking part in intense workouts on a hot day. Muschamp said Monday that his thoughts are with the McNair family, but he did not apologize for taking aim at the reporting about Durkin.
Durkin served as an assistant under Muschamp at Florida, so the two have a history together. Durkin has been placed on administrative leave as Maryland investigates the disturbing allegations against him.
