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Maryland hires Matt Canada as offensive coordinator
Matt Canada has found a home in the Big Ten.
After he parted ways with LSU — reportedly under somewhat rocky circumstances — Canada has agreed to be the new offensive coordinator at Maryland. Canada replaces Walt Bell on the Maryland staff after Bell left for the same position at Florida State.
According to ESPN.com, Canada agreed to a three-year contract to lead the Terps’ offense for head coach D.J. Durkin, who recently completed his second season.
“Matt has a unique ability to utilize any and all types of personnel, and still produce extremely explosive offenses,” said Durkin. “He’s a very versatile coach that has experience developing impact players at every offensive position. Matt’s had a great deal of success everywhere he’s been and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him here at Maryland.”
LSU’s hire of Canada — at $1.5 million annually — seemed like a shrewd move for Ed Orgeron after he had the interim tag lifted and was given the full-time head-coaching role. Canada’s offense, which relies on pre-snap motion and side-to-side action, was hugely successful during his time at Pittsburgh (Canada was a Broyles Award finalist), but it never quite meshed with Orgeron’s philosophies.
Multiple Louisiana outlets reported there was friction between Orgeron and Canada dating back to the Tigers’ Sept. 30 loss to Troy. Orgeron admitted he decided to take out the pre-snap motions from the offense in the first half of that game, a decision that led to a meeting with Orgeron, Canada, defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and athletic director Joe Alleva to get on the same page.
Despite the tension, LSU’s offense did show some improvement from 2016. Still, Orgeron opted to part ways with Canada — after a $1.7 million separation agreement was negotiated — and promote longtime assistant Steve Ensminger to offensive coordinator. Ensminger served as Orgeron’s OC during his time as LSU’s interim coach.
Before his lone season at LSU, Canada was the offensive coordinator at Pitt, NC State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Northern Illinois and Butler.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
