Epistemic Closure, Peonage Ball Edition

D.J. Durkin, head of a toxic football program that got an unpaid student-athlete killed, was inexplicably given his job back after a period on administrative leave. This went about as well as you’d expect:

In a sudden turn of events, University of Maryland President Wallace Loh fired football coach DJ Durkin on Wednesday night, less than a day after the university system’s Board of Regents reinstated the embattled coach.

In a statement released by the university, Loh said he took the action after meeting with the Student Government Association, department chairs and other campus leadership. The regents’ decision to keep Durkin after the death of player Jordan McNair had drawn blistering criticism from political leaders across the state, McNair’s family and others.

“The overwhelming majority of stakeholders expressed serious concerns about Coach DJ Durkin returning to the campus,” Loh wrote in a letter to the campus.

According to a source with knowledge of the matter, Loh disagreed with the regents’ decision Tuesday to keep Durkin, but deferred to their wishes — until hearing the public outcry Wednesday. The source requested anonymity because he was discussing privileged, personnel information.

“It was clear to him that DJ could not function effectively,” the source said. “He should not be on the field this Saturday. He knew he had to act quickly and decisively and he did.”

The source said the university is buying out the remainder of Durkin’s five-year, multimillion-dollar contract, as he was not fired for cause. The remaining value of the contract is $5.4 million.

The move was announced less than two hours after Gov. Larry Hogan called on the regents and Loh to reconsider decisions that Durkin and athletics director Damon Evans would keep their jobs and that Loh would retire in June.

But he’ll walk away with a 10-15 record, one death, and more than five million more smackers for doing nothing. Ain’t the Noble Ideals of Amateurism grand?

I would like to explain how Maryland’s powers that be failed to perceive the backlash, but I can’t.