BullCityCoordinators

Interview – Joe Ajeigbe

We hope you enjoy a really fun talk with Joe Ajeigbe. I’m sure you remember Joe from his time at Duke. He was on the team from 2013-2016 before transferring to Sacramento State for his final year.

Joe runs the ball in a victory over Army.

During our interview, we discuss the transfer portal, the business of football, the life of a student athlete (after listening to him explain the football schedule, I don’t know how you guys are able to balance football and academics. Hats off to you guys for doing it because it sounds close to impossible) and, of course Blue Devils football. Joe’s in law school, so I apologize for the, at times, esoteric discussion about legal communication. Oh, and we talk Miami.

This was a very informative talk that we know you’ll enjoy. Thanks, Joe, for taking time to do this interview. It was a blast.

Listen here.

Interview – Thomas Sirk

Former Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk took some time out of his Saturday morning to talk with us about his current life, his time with the Blue Devils and his recovery from three Achilles injuries. As you might expect, we covered some great wins including the Pinstripe Bowl and the 4 OT victory against Virginia Tech.

Thomas Sirk – CBS Detroit — We got a little excited talking about this one.

Thomas also shared his thoughts on Duke’s new AD, Nina King. Turns out he’s impressed! This was a good talk that I think you’ll enjoy. Thanks again, Thomas, for taking time to talk Blue Devils football with us.

Listen here.

Interview – Takoby Cofield

You all remember Takoby Cofield from his time at Duke where he was part of a talented and hardworking offensive line that sent four players, including himself, to the NFL.

Duke OL Takoby Cofield's NFL Combine Numbers — Takoby Cofield leads the Blue Devils onto the field at Wallace Wade.

Takoby was kind enough to take some time out of a Saturday morning to talk about his professional career in the NFL and CFL, his current job coaching and developing offensive linemen through both TC3 Performance and being the OL coach / running game coordinator at SE Raleigh Magnet High School, the Duke experience as a student and a student-athlete and, of course, Blue Devils football. We do a deep dive into how the program turned a corner in 2012 and his thoughts on what to expect from Duke next season. Not to give away the ending, but I’m excited.

This was a really fun talk that covered a variety of topics. We hope you enjoy it.

Listen here.

Duke in the NFL – 2021 Draft Recap

The first two days of the 2021 NFL draft didn’t see any Duke players come off the board. The final day, however, saw four, count them 1-2-3-4, Blue Devils get drafted. Leaving Durham for the NFL by way of the draft are Chris Rumph (4th, Chargers), Michael Carter (5th, Jets), Noah Gray (5th, Chiefs) and Victor “Big Vic” Dimukeje (6th, Cardinals). In addition, Deon Jackson, Mark Gilbert and Devery Hamilton signed undrafted fee agent deals and are headed to the Colts, the Steelers and the Raiders respectively. All told, seven players from last year’s team are going to the NFL. That’s a positive development.

Of the players who got drafted, I think we can all agree that Gray is in the best spot and is most likely to get to the playoffs and win a Super Bowl right away. If you disagree, I’d like to hear why. The thought on Rumph is he needs to put on some weight, but I expect him to make plays early because that’s how he plays. I also like Big Vic to come on strong towards the end of this season. He knows how to make plays and will do so if given the opportunity. As for Carter, he’ll be fine so long as he stays healthy. I’ll be interested if Deon and Mark make a roster. I think that Deon will, but Gilbert has a lot of health questions which: a) explain why he wasn’t drafted; and b) may make it harder for him to stay in the league. I want him to, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to grind it out for a few years before ending up in a Breon Borders situation. As for Hamilton, he’s going to be a project. It wouldn’t stun me if he gets playing time in a few years like Lucas Patrick and Matt Skura did, but he may also end up playing in Canada. We’ll have to see how it plays out.

My first reaction as the draft unfolded over the weekend was, “Man, that’s great! This is the highest number of draft picks since 1973. All this publicity will be great and kill a recruiting argument against Duke!” My second thought was, “How in the hell did Deon go undrafted?” It’s now Monday and I’m still befuddled. If someone can explain why he didn’t get his named called, I’d appreciate it. Not selecting Deon seems like an obvious miss. I know that RBs aren’t as highly valued as they used to be, but with his speed and ability to catch passes, he would have been a great fit in a place like Kansas City. Moving on – my third and final thought is that this doesn’t necessarily bode well for Cutcliffe’s tenure if the team struggles in 2021.

I haven’t looked at the roster to see who is leaving after the 2021 season and who is likely to get drafted (why change coaches if the talent pool is improving and more players are going to the pros?), but I can say the new AD is probably going to ask Cut why he went 5-7 and 2-9 over the last two seasons with a core that put seven players into the NFL. He is going to need to be ready to explain why he got so few wins out of so much talent over the last two seasons. If the losses start to pile up next year, I wouldn’t be surprised if a new AD isn’t as patient and makes a change to bring in his “own guy.” We all know that AD turnover can be the kiss of death for a coach on the hot seat and I think that, despite the good draft, the head coach’s seat may have gotten just a bit hotter.

That said, let’s hope for the best next season. I’m ready for the Blue Devils to get back to, and win, a bowl game. Go Duke!

Interview – A.J. Wolf

Fans will remember A.J. Wolf from his time at Duke. The man had a motor and wouldn’t be stopped. He had big plays at big moments, including a critical one against Arizona State in the 2014 Sun Bowl. A.J. was kind enough to take some time out of his schedule and join us on the podcast. We had a good talk about how COVID-19 is changing business, his track and field career, how he came to Duke, what his teams accomplished and the challenges they overcame. We do talk about Miami in 2015 and the 2016 season, so consider this your warning. Also, A.J. got me to discuss a planned post I have coming about the different eras of Coach Cutcliffe’s tenure at Duke. I hope you find that interesting.

Thanks, A.J., for stopping by. This was a fun talk. Listen here.

Interview – Jenn Holmberg

One of my favorite people on Twitter was kind enough to take some time on a Sunday to do an interview. Jenn Holmberg, mother of two great children, joined us to talk about her kids (hey, isn’t there a Holmberg who plays football at Duke?), the challenges of teaching school during a pandemic and Duke football. During the interview, we learn a lot about the Holmberg family and how they got to Durham. It’s a very moving story. This was a fun talk that covered a lot more than just football. Thank you, Jenn, for taking time to talk with us.

Listen here.

Interview – Ryan Stallmeyer

Image 1 - RYAN STALLMEYER - DUKE FOOTBALL - AUTHENTIC AUTOGRAPH SIGNED INDEX -B2046 — The man has no internet presence. I couldn’t find a picture of him playing football at Duke.

Ryan Stallmeyer, an all-time great linebacker at Duke, took some time out of his day to discuss his time in Durham. But more than that, we talked about him growing up in Cincinnati, his brother, Mike, who also played at Duke, Ryan’s family and his current career. In regard to the Blue Devils, we talked about the challenges Duke faced during the Goldsmith era and the start of the Franks era. This was a fun talk and our TENTH INTERVIEW! We hope you enjoy. Listen here.

Interview – David Reeves Talks Big Plays

2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl: Duke WR David Reeves with the ridiculous tip-toe down the sidelines for the TD (GIF) — How he stayed inbounds and scored a touchdown on this play probably violated several laws of physics.

David Reeves was kind enough to take some time from his day to talk about his knack for big plays, his time at Duke, his pro career, Duke football today and what he’s been up to during the last several years. We talked about Miami, too – consider yourself forewarned.

If you don’t remember his amazing catch against A&M in the 2013 Peach Bowl, you can see it here. You’ll be wondering just how in the world he made that play. I’ve seen it a million times and still can’t believe he stayed inbounds. And scored.

David Reeves of the Duke Blue Devils dives to recover a fumble... News Photo - Getty Images — David Reeves recovers a big fumble against Indiana in the Pinstripe Bowl and keeps his streak of big plays alive.

This was a fun talk with a good guy. Thanks again, David, for taking time to speak with us.

Listen here.

Interview – Carlos Wray Talks Bowl Games

For those of you who haven’t listened to our first interview with Carlos Wray, what’s wrong with you? Listen to it. Now. We’re on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Anchor. Get with the program!

Carlos Wray 2013 Pictures, Photos & Images - Lonny — Carlos Wray gets excited as Duke beats Wake.

Not long after that interview, Carlos expressed interest in coming back to talk about the 2012-2015 bowl games. All four of them. And when you get a chance to talk Duke bowls, you say “Yes!” It took some time to get through them all, the run time is close to two hours, but it’s well worth it. We learn a lot about some big games and big plays that culminated in a win over Indiana in the Pinstripe Bowl in 2015.

2016 University of Louisville college football preview: Duke Blue Devils - Card Chronicle — A great win. And, fun fact, if you watch the replay on YouTube, you’ll see a moment on the sidelines where Sirk, Jones and Harris are all on screen.

In addition to the bowl games, we get into each of the four seasons and cover some big wins including one from 2012.

Blue Devil Nation: Blue Devils' win was years in the making

Duke Rallies for 33-30 Win Over North Carolina - Duke University — Ring the Victory Bell!

I can’t say thank you enough to Carlos for being willing to come on and do another interview. (And fingers crossed, a third one may be coming this summer.)

Listen here.

Interview – Todd DeLamielleure

FIRST – apologies for calling Coach Franks’ offense the AirRaid and not the Airborne. My bad. I will correct this in the next interview. SECOND – the Twitter handle is DukeFBCoverage, not DukeFootballCoverage. I’ll correct that next time, too. Now, onto the interview …

We stay in the 1990s and the Goldsmith-Franks era this week. Todd DeLamielleure was kind enough to take some time out of his day to talk about his time as a firefighter, his Hall of Fame father, his time at Duke, his professional career and his current work with HOF Solutions, LLC and Tip Of The Spear Football.

Todd DeLamielleure (todddelamielleurehofstra) on Myspace — Todd playing linebacker at Duke – he’s probably about to obliterate some poor guy on the other team.

For those of you who don’t remember, Todd was one heck of a linebacker for the Blue Devils. Along with Ryan Stallmeyer, Todd was part of a hard-nosed and hard-hitting defense. He was fun to watch and left it all on the field. In regard to our discussion of the historic Charleston Sofa Super Store fire which caused the tragic loss of 9 firefighters, you can learn more about this fire and its aftermath (as we get into some of the particulars from the post-fire investigation) here and here.

Listen here.