Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze confirmed the hiring of D.J. Durkin as the Tigers’ next defensive coordinator in a small availability with Auburn reporters in Mobile Wednesday afternoon.

The hiring of Durkin was initially reported by ESPN’s Chris Low Monday.

After Ron Roberts, who served as Auburn’s defensive coordinator last season, jumped ship for a similar role at Florida, Freeze was left needing to fill a void on the defensive side of the football. And he told Auburn athletics director John Cohen that he’s “gotta get this right.”

“There was so much interest in (the job) from people I really like,” Freeze said Wednesday. “And man, I just loved (Durkin’s) interview. I love the time that we spent with he and his wife, Sarah. They’re great individuals and people I think are going to bring so much experience and value to our building and to our defense. So I’m really excited about having D.J.”

Durkin comes to Auburn after having spent the last two seasons under Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, but wasn’t retained by Mike Elko.

In Durkin’s first season at Texas A&M, the Aggies’ defense led the nation in fewest passing yards allowed per game with a season average of just 156.2. The Texas A&M defense also ranked 17th in the country and fourth in the SEC in passing defense efficiency, while also ranking No. 22 in the country after allowing 20.7 points per game.

Prior to his time at Texas A&M, Durkin spent two seasons under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.

Durkin was also an assistant at Florida in 2010-14, serving as the Gators’ linebackers and special teams coach (2010-12) and defensive coordinator (2013-14). During him time as Florida’s defensive coordinator, Durkin led the Gators to back-to-back top-15 rankings in total defense.

During the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Durkin served as the head coach at Maryland in a stint that ended in controversy following the death of Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair.

McNair collapsed during a workout, was hospitalized with heat stroke and died two weeks later. After initially being suspended following McNair’s death, Durkin was reinstated, only to be relieved after public outcry one day later.

“Truthfully, like I said earlier, we really felt comfortable with he and Sarah as people and that they fit with our culture, Freeze said, when asked what led him to hiring Durkin. “I loved his passion and his drive. I think our practices will look quite different with him because I’ve watched some of his practice tape. He’s pretty into it and energetic. And I love that about him.”

Freeze added he also liked the verbiage Durkin used in his coaching.

“I’ve often felt like defensive guys in today’s time should maybe coach defense, verbiage wise, more like offensive guys,” Freeze said. “And he’s one of the first ones when I had the entire staff in there — offense and defense — it was like, oh my goodness, his verbiage is the most simple, but it’s multiple. But it’s so easy to understand exactly what’s going on once you get the base.”