Duke landed another member of the 2021 class today. Sahmir Hagans, a 3-star WR from Philadelphia, announced that he’s committing to Duke. This brings Duke’s 2021 class to 4. His highlight reel shows that he can catch screen passes, so he’ll fit in great at Duke.
Month: January 2020
Duke Hires New O-Line Coach
After parting ways with its previous offensive line coach, Duke finally pulled the trigger on its new man landing Greg Frey.
Frey replaces Jim Bridge who left to take a job with Memphis. Frey comes to the Blue Devils, a 20-plus year veteran college coach including stints at West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan and Florida State.
The new line coach will have a bit of rebuilding as the line struggled to protect the quarterback in the passing game this past season. With a new quarterback, one destined to have far less experience under his belt, it will be all the more important for the line to improve.
Frey will also be working on opening things up for the running game as Duke has a talented and capable stable of backs to work with.
Up front Duke replaces several key components including center Jack Wohlabaugh and guard Zach Baker. Maurice McIntire, Robert Kraeling, Jacob Monk and Rekavius Chambers all players with experience return, so their is some experience to work with for Frey.
2021 Recruiting Update
Starting last night and ending today, Duke landed three commits for the 2021 class. Three-star DE Aaron Hall was the first to join the Blue Devils. He was followed today by lineman Andrew Jones and Anthony “Tre” Freeman, a linebacker. All three are from NC. Hall is from South Durham, Jones is from Pfafftown and Freeman is from Northern Durham.
Hall is the gem of the three. He’s a three-star DE/TE. At 6-6/220, he could really make an impact at Duke. Jones looks to be a prospect for new OL coach Greg Frey. Jones also plays on special teams which is always a good thing to see. Freeman, like Jones, is unrated and, like Hall, plays on both sides of the ball. In addition to playing LB, Freeman rushed for over 1,000 yards last season.
While none of these are 4 or 5-star recruits, they chose Duke over schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Louisville (among others). Not a bad start for Duke 2021 recruiting news.
2020 Schedule
It’s out — the 2020 football schedule. Here’s the breakdown:
September 5 – vs. Middle Tennessee
September 12 – vs. Elon
September 17 – vs. Charlotte
September 26 – at Pittsburgh
October 3 – vs. Wake Forest
October 10 – at NCSU
October 17 – vs. UNC
October 24 – open (win the bye week!)
October 31 – at Notre Dame
November 7 – at Georgia Tech
November 13 – vs. UVA
November 21 – vs. Virginia Tech
November 28 – at Miami
Duke plays seven home games, gets one bye week and has all of its Carolina games in October. That could be a rough stretch. The end of the schedule also looks rough as Duke will have to battle three teams that went to bowls last year. Duke has a real shot to start well, but then things will get rough. Pitt, Wake and UNC will all present challenges. Notre Dame will coast to a second straight win against Duke. If Duke can start well, finish well and hover around .500 during the middle of the season, the Blue Devils may get back to a bowl game.
We previously predicted 7-5 this season with the caveat that 5-7 wouldn’t be a surprise. I’m standing by that after looking at the schedule. In fact, I’m trending closer to 5-7 now. I hope I’m wrong and that the Blue Devils turn things around and get back to winning games this year.
Keep those fingers crossed!
Duke Alumni Update – Max McCaffrey Joins Northern Colorado Staff
Max McCaffrey played at Duke during the Golden Era of the early 2010s. He came to Duke in 2012 was part of teams that went to the Belk Bowl, the Peach Bowl, the Sun Bowl and won the Pinstripe Bowl. In 2015, McCaffrey led Duke in receptions, receiving yards and TD catches.
While Max has spent time in the NFL, he didn’t get drafted and only recorded one catch for 4 yards. Max planned to play for the XFL and was drafted by the DC Defenders. While not the freak athlete his brother Christian is, Max always ran good routes and was a solid WR.
His famous father, Ed, must have taken note of this and added Max to his staff at Northern Colorado. We assume he’ll coach the WRs. Congrats, Max!
Duke’s Bridge Parts Way with Team
A busy off season which has featured some notable departures just added one more to the list as Duke offensive line coach Jim Bridge has resigned his position with the Blue Devils on Wednesday.
Bridge, who joined the Blue Devil coaching staff joined the program in 2016 after stints at Boston College and NC State, coached the offensive line the last two seasons. During that time the offensive line struggled.
This season the line struggled mightily in pass protection, and despite only giving up 28 sacks, was rated second worst in the nation in pressure allowed following the snap.
Duke fared slightly better in the running game, but the offensive line woes seemed to permeate the entire offensive scheme. Bridge had to juggle a line featuring a lot of younger inexperienced guys along with injuries.
No word yet on the reason for the resignation but the line was considered by many a weakness and a change may be necessary to help the Blue Devil’s offense, which will feature a new starting quarterback next season, right the ship.
The new offensive line coach will have some talent to work with, but improvements will be needed for Duke to get back to their recent winning ways.
Coaching Staff Rumors – Offensive Line
One of the biggest gripes amongst Duke fans that isn’t about Zac Roper is that the offensive line has fallen apart since John Latina left. A lot of that is attributable to Matt Skura, Lucas Patrick, Laken Tomlinson and Takoby Cofiled leaving, but the consistent poor play has most fans wanting a new OL coach. Let’s take a look at that.
After Latina retired in 2016, Marcus Johnson took over the line. Johnson had been on the Duke staff since 2011, rising from a strength and conditioning coach all the way to OL coach. He stayed at Durham until the end of the 2017 season before going back home to Mississippi to coach at Mississippi State (which as an Ole Miss alum had to be awkward).
With Johnson out, Jim Bridge took over the line and everyone has been underwhelmed with the OL since. I can’t say whether that’s because of youth, lack of talent, lousy coaching, bad play-calling or all of the above, but I can say that it doesn’t seem like the line is doing well. The running game is inconsistent and the QB got sacked a lot as time went on. While Duke always starts well and finishes poorly, the line really fell apart as the season went on. So, why am I talking about this?
It turns out that Marcus Johnson may be available. Mississippi State just fired its coach which could make a lot of assistants available. If I’m Duke, I reach out to Johnson. We missed out on a reunion with Matt Luke after Ole Miss stupidly fired him and we can’t afford to miss out again.
Johnson has a hell of a resume. He played in the SEC, the Vikings drafted him in the second round in 2005 (49th overall selection) and played in the NFL until 2009. That’s the kind of guy a recruit should want to play for and learn from. If I’m Cut, I make a big push to get him to come back to Durham. We need him.
2020 Outlook – Schedule
We’re continuing our discussion of next season by looking at Duke’s 2020 opponents. While the Blue Devils don’t have to play Clemson or Alabama, we do get a date with Notre Dame. Let’s burn the tape from 2019.
Duke starts off the season with three non-conference games against Middle Tennessee, Elon and Charlotte. I think Duke will win the first two, but don’t be surprised if the Blue Devils struggle against Charlotte. The 49ers went 7-6 in 2019 (and concluded the season with a loss in the Bahamas Bowl) and will probably roll into Durham with a lot of confidence. The 49ers QB will be a junior this year and ready to get a big win. What would be better than knocking off Duke in Durham? I’ll feel better about this game after knowing: a) who the Blue Devils start at QB; and b) how the offense performs with that new QB at the helm.
Let’s assume that Duke starts off 3-0. What happens when the Blue Devils go to South Bend? Probably not this
I’m putting money down on a loss. The Irish return a 5th-year senior at quarterback and went 11-2 in 2019 with a bowl win. Notre Dame absolutely slaughtered Duke in 2019. Let’s be realistic – best case scenario for Duke after the first 4 games is 3-1.
After that, the Blue Devils turn to the ACC schedule. The 2020 squad will face off against UVA, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Pitt, Wake and UNC. Duke’s best chances for wins will be against Georgia Tech, NC State and Miami or Wake. UVA is a possible as is UNC, but neither are locks. God has ordained that Duke can’t beat Pitt, so let’s table that one and go through the conference schedule in more detail.
Georgia Tech is still adapting to a new system which gives Duke the edge, especially if the game is early in the season when the Blue Devils historically are at their best. NC State somehow managed to look worse than Duke in 2019 and that’s saying something. I watched a little bit of State this year and the QBs were underwhelming at best. If that continues, Duke is likely to pull out a win. State recently rearranged the offensive coaching staff and moved former Blue Devil OC Kurt Roper to RB coach, but I don’t think that will fix what’s been wrong with the Wolfpack of late. My money is on Duke.
As for Miami, Duke somehow managed to play well at the end of 2019 and get a win. Beyond the end to the season, Duke has played pretty well against Miami of late, earning wins in 2018 and 2019. Duke should have gotten a win in 2015, too (thanks, ACC refs) and managed a win in 2013.
If history is any guide, we should not be talking about Duke getting a win against Wake. They have owned the Blue Devils of late. But let’s keep things in context. The 2018 loss had a lot to do with injuries and the team being broken from the cumulative burden of everyone getting hurt who could get hurt. The 2019 loss somehow managed to get Duke going again and preceded the victory at Miami. Wake will be breaking in a new QB as their top two are leaving the school. So, basically, I’m telling you there’s a chance.
What about UVA? Much like with Pitt, Duke has been dominated by UVA since Mendenhall took over the Cavs. UVA will have a new QB, though, as Perkins is (finally) gone. My VA Tech fan friends all say that UVA without Perkins isn’t as strong of a team. I’ve had the same thoughts over the years – Perkins elevated that team beyond its talent level – and am glad to hear people who watching the Cavs a lot say the same thing. Let’s hope that assessment is correct and UVA takes a step back. If so, Duke could squeeze out a win. Plus, aren’t the Blue Devils due?
That brings us to UNC. Duke lost a game last year it should have won. The defense played well. They picked off Howell twice and held him to 10 completions on 26 attempts. The Blue Devils gave up a lot of running yards, but not a lot of points – the classic bend-don’t-break approach that has defined Duke for years. Given the rivalry, this game is winnable. That said, I’d put money on UNC right now. Depending on how the season goes, my assessment may change.
What about the rest of the schedule? I’m not comfortable saying Duke will repeat against Virginia Tech. Fuente turned the Hokies around after losing to the Blue Devils and Duke kind of gave up after that game. The teams seem to play better against one another on the road and the Blue Devils host this year.
My overall prediction for the conference is 4-4. I think 5 wins is the ceiling. As far as the season as a whole, I have Duke going 7-5 and possibly 8-4. I feel okay saying that Duke is 3-1 heading into the conference schedule. After that, Duke most likely picks up 4 more wins and finishes in the middle of the Coastal. I’m expecting struggles once the conference games start just like what we’ve seen every year with the exception of 2013 (and another 5-7 season wouldn’t stun me). That said, if the Blue Devils can go 7-5 with a third quarterback in three seasons and get back to a bowl game, I’d be real, real pleased.
Thoughts? Agree? Disagree? What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.
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