Month: January 2023

Interview – Conor O’Neill

Listen here.

Conor O’Neill, who you all know from his work for Duke and Deacons Illustrated, stopped by for a great talk about instant replay, the importance of local journalism and the changing landscape of sports media, what to expect from the Blue Devils and Wake football teams next season and why Duke-Wake Forest should be a bigger rivalry. Duke-Miami 2015 gets a fairly detailed discussion, too. And, if that weren’t enough, we also have a little conversation about basketball which will require some clarification from me. So, let me take care of that now.

We recorded the interview on Thursday night. The next morning, while I drove down to see my parents, Dad got a call from Coach K. Yes, that Coach K. A friend of my brother’s from high school somehow got in touch with Coach K or his people and Dad got a surprise call. Coach K wanted to make sure Dad was eating and gaining weight during chemo. They also talked about the legacy that teachers have through their students. Thank you, Coach, for doing that. We can’t put into words just how much we appreciate your kindness.

So, while some may interpret a few comments I made about the state of the roster when Coach Scheyer took over as critical of how Coach K left things, I want to be clear that what I was saying is that Coach K is the finest human being who deserves nothing but praise and anything that could be considered as criticism of him is simply heresy. And I, for one, will never engage in such criticism as I am a totally positive person who only sees the good things in life and strenuously avoids negativity. The below is my motto

Thank you, Coach K, and my brother’s friend, for the phone call. It really picked up Dad yesterday.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Duke History – 1994 Season

As promised in the 2022 season recap, I’m analyzing other great seasons of Duke football history. Below is a discussion of the 1994 season.

Once the excitement of the Steve Spurrier era came to an end, the Blue Devils went into a slump. After sharing the ACC Championship with Virginia in 1989, Duke turned the keys over to Barry Wilson. The results weren’t great. The Blue Devils went 4-7, 4-6-1, 2-9 and 3-8. Near the end of the 1993 season, following Georgia Tech completely manhandling Duke by a score of 47-14 that left the Blue Devils 2-7 (1-5), Coach Wilson announced he would resign at the end of the season. The team responded with a win against NC State, followed by a loss against Carolina to close the season and the coaching search began.

After getting turned down by Jim Laycock, the head coach at William & Mary,* Duke’s athletic director, Tom Butters, picked Fred Goldsmith to run the football program. Goldsmith was coming off of two 6-5 seasons at Rice, which was pretty darned good for them, and had a background as a defensive coordinator that included stops at Air Force and Arkansas. With a good CV and a knack for doing well at challenging programs, Goldsmith looked like a smart hire. And he looked like a perfect hire by the end of his first season in Durham.

*Side note – if the William & Mary coach doesn’t want to leave a then I-AA school to take your head coaching job in the ACC, that may be a sign that your program is in trouble.

Coach Goldsmith, with the help of key assistants Mike Heimerdinger (OC) and Craig Bohl (DC), got the Blue Devils off to a hot, hot start. Duke began the season with seven straight wins before getting blown out at Doak Campbell by Florida State. Prior to that 59-20 loss, the Blue Devils beat Maryland, ECU, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Wake (among others). After that 7-1 start, Duke bounced back with a win over UVA but then lost back-to-back games against NC State and Carolina by a total of TWO POINTS. The Blue Devils lost to State by a score of 24-23 and to the Heels by a score of 41-40. The Carolina game was wild, absolutely wild. After that, Duke lost to a very good Wisconsin game in the Hall of Fame Bowl. If you go back and watch that game, you’ll see the Badgers OL come to life in the second half and absolutely wear down the Blue Devils. The end result was a record of 8-4 (5-3) after four straight losing seasons. Awesome doesn’t begin to describe it.

While Duke finished with three losses and losing four of their last five, it was a great season nonetheless. The Blue Devils were ranked for seven weeks (SEVEN!!!) and got as high as 16 in the polls when they faced the Seminoles. In addition to the winning season and bowl berth, Duke had a winning conference record at 5-3. Again, a great season, especially given the lack of a winning season during the entire Barry Wilson era.

But where does 1994 rank in regard to what we saw in 2022? To begin with, there are a lot of similarities between the two campaigns. You have first season head coaches, eight wins (there were only eleven regular season games back then) and a bowl berth after an extended absence from the postseason. Another compelling reason for 1994 being an all-time great season in program history has to be the number of weeks the team spent ranked. I mean, our guys weren’t ranked a single week this season and got to NINE wins after beating UCF in the Military Bowl. The 1994 team got ranked heading into the Clemson game and stayed ranked until the end of the season. That’s impressive.

Well, all that being said, I have to put the 1994 season behind the 2022 season. I have a few reasons for this. First, 2022 was more impressive because of where the team had been over the last few years. Look, the team wasn’t great under Coach Wilson, but the 2020 and 2021 teams were way, way worse than any of Coach Wilson’s teams. Second, the Blue Devils didn’t have any bad stretches during 2022 unlike the 1994 team which closed the season with three straight losses and losses in four out of the last five. It is true that the 1994 team had two close, painful losses to State and the Heels. But they also had two others down that same stretch. The 2022 team, on the other hand, only had two consecutive losses and never got blown out. The 1-3 stretch came in the middle of the season after which the team got back on track and closed strong at 5-1.

Now, it is fair to point out that the 2022 team didn’t face a team as good as the 1994 Seminoles, but the 2022 team was in every single game they played. The largest margin of defeat was eight points. And, to top it off, Duke shouldn’t have had consecutive losses this season because the refs stole a win against the Cheats. So, while both teams lost four games, the 2022 was more competitive throughout the season and finished very well by wining five of the last six.

Third, given what happened after 1994 (3-8, 0-11, 2-9 and 4-7), that season seems like such an anomaly that I rank it lower down in my mind. While this isn’t fair to the 1994 team, what happened over the next four seasons and during the Franks-Roof era shows that 1994 didn’t contribute to building a winning program. Unfair to the 1994 team, I know, but it’s how I view it.

So, I think the three straight losses in 1994, plus the blowout to Florida State and the loss to Wisconsin in the bowl game pushes the 1994 season just a hair behind the 2022 season. Unlike then, Coach Elko closed the season on 5-1 streak, avoided a late season collapse and won a bowl game. While 1994 was historic, 2022 gets the edge.

Which season gets recapped next? Stay tuned to find out! Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Conner Vernon

Listen here.

Do we really need to do an introduction for Conner Vernon? He’s one of the greatest wide receivers in program history. If you don’t recognize him by now, that’s probably on you. Seriously, this guy is in the GOAT discussion for wide receivers.

During this interview, we discuss Conner’s current career in wealth management, his work as a radio color commentator for the Blue Devils’ beatdown of Miami this past season, Dave Harding‘s slow response time and how his class helped turn Duke around from a doormat to eventual ACC Coastal Champion. We also get into Conner’s proficiency at trash-talking his opponent. Oh, and did someone say Fourth and Bowl?

This was a great talk with a Blue Devil legend. Thanks, Conner, for stopping by.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

2022 Season Recap – Heck Yeah Duke Football!

Coming into this season, the expectations for Duke were pretty low. A lot of folks, myself included, didn’t see much reason for optimism after what we’d seen from 2020-2021. While we were excited about Coach Elko and the rest of the staff, we didn’t think 2022 would be a year for the Blue Devil record book.

Some of us were wrong.

This team went from 3-9 (0-8) to 9-4 (5-3) and looked really, really good doing it (and can’t stress the 5 conference wins enough). How did things change so much in one season? Well, I think there were five key reasons for it which I will detail below. These are in no particular order of importance.

No. 1 – No bad losses. After a plethora of bad losses that really started back in 2018 when Wake Forest absolutely obliterated Duke at Wallace Wade, this Blue Devil team didn’t suffer one blowout loss the entire season. Duke’s largest margin of defeat was an eight point loss to Kansas in week four. After that, each Blue Devil loss was decided by a field goal or less (and a terrible chop block call against the Cheats). That’s a massive, massive turnaround over the course of a single season. Keeping games close gives you a chance to win, and with an older team in Durham, Coach Elko and his staff were able to put Duke in a position to do just that. So, how exactly did Coach Elko keep his team from getting blown out?

There are a couple of reasons for this. One of the most important is winning the turnover battle. Towards the end of the Cutcliffe era, the opposing team could expect the Blue Devils to turn the ball over. A lot. Coach Elko and his staff turned that around quickly. Instead of giving the ball to the other team, Duke took the ball from the other team.

That helps you get wins, especially if you find a way to play …

No. 2 – Complimentary football. This is a bit of a joke, but those who follow this team know that the Cutcliffe era offense went tempo and kept doing it even when the defense was gassed and needed some time to rest. The end result was a lot of blowout losses. A lot. We didn’t see the tempo much in 2022 and I couldn’t be happier. Coach Johns implemented a run-heavy offense that burned clock before snapping the bowl. This wasn’t some sort of triple-option scheme, but it was an effective run game that utilized RPOs, deep passes and intermediate routes to keep the defense honest. Basically, Coach Johns found ways to use the entire field. That made it harder on opposing defenses and gave time for Coaches Smith and Simpson to make defensive adjustments and keep their unit rested and refreshed.

No. 3 – Transfer portal. If you want to succeed in modern college football, you have to take advantage of the transfer portal. The Blue Devils were actually pretty good at this during the Cutcliffe era (see Cash, Jeremy, and Franklin, Ja’Mion, among others) and Coach Elko kept that up. Imagine this team without Darius Joiner, Cam Dillon, Chance Lytle, Andre Harris, Anthony Nelson, Evan Deckers, etc. Absent excellent use of the portal, we are almost certainly not looking at a nine win season.

No. 4 – Culture change. Do we really need to explain this? I think it is self-evident that Cutcliffe and the staff lost the team in 2021. Duke doesn’t have that problem right now. Coach Elko brought new life to Durham and made this team want to play football. Everyone that I’ve talked to who is associated with, or otherwise close to, the football team has said that Coach Elko completely changed the mood of this team. You don’t win nine games unless you believe in the coaching staff. And this team certainly did just that.

No. 5 – Conditioning. One of the oddest parts about the end of Cutcliffe’s era is that he let the team get under-conditioned, especially compared to the rest of the conference. It’s odd because Cucliffe made conditioning the first priority in turning the program around when he got to Durham. Colby Campbell fully discussed the problems with the Blue Devil strength and conditioning program during his interview. Current players have all mentioned how important Coach Feeley has been to getting the team in shape for gameday and for the duration of the season. The improved conditioning explains why the losses were all close and the team didn’t have a patented late season collapse like we saw so many times during the Cutcliffe era. If this level of conditioning keeps up, we should expect to see a lot of good seasons in the future.

Now, where does this season rank all-time? That’s a good question. It isn’t the 2013 ACC Coastal or 1989 ACC Championship, but it isn’t that far off. 2023 certainly has to be in the top ten of the modern era. In order to put this season in proper context, I’ll work on summarizing other great seasons in Duke football history during the offseason. And, again, this will be one of the greatest in program history.

Which season is getting recapped next? Stay tuned and find out.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!