Auburn football defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is getting a big pay raise as he has reportedly signed a contract extension making him the highest-paid assistant coach in the SEC. Durkin's new salary will be $2.5 million. The only assistant coach in the country that has a bigger salary is Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who is making $3.1 million.

“NEW: Auburn defensive coordinator DJ Durkin has signed a contract extension nearly doubling his salary to $2.5M a year, per @colereporter,” On3 said in a post. “Durkin becomes the 2nd highest-paid assistant coach behind Penn State's Jim Knowles at $3.1M.”

The Auburn football team certainly had a lot of issues last year as they finished the season with a 5-7 overall record and 2-6 mark in SEC play. The Tigers failed to make a bowl game after struggling throughout the regular season. However, Auburn's defense was a strength.

DJ Durkin's defense finished the year ranked #31 in total defense, #27 in rushing defense and #52 in passing defense. There is a lot of room for growth still, but the Tigers clearly feel pretty confident that Durkin is the right guy to be leading the unit.

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Durkin has been coaching since 2001 and he has primarily worked with defenses outside of one head coaching gig. He has spent time with Bowling Green, Notre Dame, Stanford, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, the Atlanta Falcons, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and now Auburn.

In 2001, Durkin got his college coaching career started as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green, his alma mater. He has since worked closely with linebackers, defensive ends and special teams. He has also been a defensive coordinator at multiple stops, and he was the head coach at Maryland for three seasons. After leaving the Terrapins, he was a consultant for the Falcons in the NFL for one season.

This past season was Durkin's first with the Auburn football team, and head coach Hugh Freeze was obviously impressed with what he saw. The Tigers have a lot of pieces in place, but they need to start showing it on the football field as the fan base is hungry for some success.