He served as the head football coach at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1997 to 2000, compiling a record of 15–29.
There he played a part in the reversal of fortunes of a struggling football program into a two-time Big Ten champion.
[2] In 1997, Vanderlinden was hired as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins, a team without a bowl game and only one winning season since 1990.
Also during Vanderlinden's tenure, running back Lamont Jordan set the school record for single-game rushing with 306 yards.
[5][7] He has also recruited several prominent players such as Allen Robinson, Sean Lee and Gerald Hodges.
On November 10, 2011 Tom Bradley announced that Vanderlinden and defensive line coach Larry Johnson would serve as co-defensive coordinators.
[8] After parting ways with the Penn State program following the 2013 season, he joined Troy Calhoun's staff at Air Force as linebackers coach, and noted that he had no hard feelings for Penn State nor Bill O'Brien.