Mark Richt will coach Miami

Mark Richt is going back to where his college career began.

The former Miami quarterback has reached a tentative agreement to be the Hurricanes’ next head coach, pending the completion of contract talks, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been signed and the university had not announced the hiring publicly.

Richt spent the last 15 seasons as the head coach at Georgia, averaging nearly 10 wins a season and leading the Bulldogs to two Southeastern Conference championships. He is a South Florida native and played for Howard Schnellenberger at Miami, graduating in 1982 when the Hurricanes were just becoming the program that would win five national championships in a 19-season span.

It’s now his job — or, technically, soon will be his job — to get the Hurricanes back to that elite level. Richt takes over a Miami program that hasn’t won more than nine games in a season since 2003, and hasn’t won a bowl game since 2006.

Etc.

Maryland hired Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin to be its head coach, taking a key assistant away from its Big Ten East rivals.

Durkin, 37, is in his first season at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. He led a defense that ranks fourth in the nation in yards allowed per game. Before working at Michigan, Durkin was the defensive coordinator at

Toledo offensive coordinator Jason Candle was promoted to head coach of the Rockets, replacing friend Matt Campbell, who left the school three days earlier to take over at Iowa State.