COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — DJ Durkin’s return as Maryland’s football coach lasted one day.

Durkin was fired Wednesday night, just over 24 hours after being reinstated.

Instead of resolving the issues facing the flawed program, the decision by the University System of Maryland board of regents on Tuesday to retain Durkin and athletic director Damon Evans created a different set of problems in the wake of a player’s death and discontent engulfing the football team.

Several state officials called for Durkin to be fired, and one called the decision to retain him an “embarrassment.”

Maryland President Wallace Loh fired Durkin after conferring with the leadership of the Student Government Association, the Senate Executive Committee, deans, department chairs and campus leadership. The firing came about five months after offensive lineman Jordan McNair collapsed on the practice field and later died of heatstroke.

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

“The chair of the Board of Regents has publicly acknowledged that I had previously raised serious concerns about Coach Durkin’s return. This is not at all a reflection of my opinion of Coach Durkin as a person. However, a departure is in the best interest of the University, and this afternoon Coach Durkin was informed that the University will part ways,” Loh wrote. “This is a difficult decision, but it is the right one for our entire University.”

Loh’s action was immediately met with approval by Maryland Congressman Anthony G. Brown.

“Dr. Loh’s firing of Coach Durkin is the right decision and the decision that had to be made if the UMD community was going to ever move forward,” Brown said.

Durkin’s dismissal comes while he was in the third season of a five-year, $12.5 million contract he signed in December 2015. He will be owed about $5.5 million, according to buyout terms of his contract.

Matt Canada is expected to resume the role of interim coach. Maryland is 5-3 heading into Saturday’s home game against Michigan State.

Hired after serving one season as defensive coordinator at Michigan, Durkin had a 10-15 record at Maryland. The Terrapins went 6-7 in his first season, losing to Boston College in the Quick Lane Bowl, then fell to 4-8 in 2017 while coping with injuries to three different quarterbacks.

Durkin began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 2001 after playing four seasons there as a defensive end and outside linebacker.

He served three years as an assistant coach at Stanford from 2007-9 and was at Florida from 2010-14, spending the last two years as the Gators defensive coordinator.

Durkin was placed on administrative leave Aug. 11 while board of regents waited for the results of an investigation on the culture of the program.