Category: Duke Alumni

Interview – Colby Campbell

Listen here.

We all remember Colby from the 2021 season at Duke.

Colby transferred in from Presbyterian College and, after being a beast on special teams, went on to be a part of a championship team in the Finnish Maple League and was named the MVP of the championship game. Colby will play for the Albany Empire this coming season as he continues to pursue his dream of getting to the NFL. In addition to these topics, Colby and I discuss the 2021 season and how Coach Elko (and Coach Feeley) turned things around this year. You’ll also hear from Future Ben as he reads Colby’s prediction for Duke’s bowl game. This was a great talk with a memorable Blue Devil.

Now, let me conclude by saying that there will be a discussion about the team meeting with law enforcement during the 2021 season and the effect it had on the team. This podcast is not set up to fully and completely engage in a discussion about use of force by law enforcement, so please don’t consider this to serve as that discussion. The level of detail that topic requires is well beyond the scope of this podcast.

I hope you enjoy the interview. As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Anthony Boone

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Folks, it finally happened. After a lot of requests from fans, Anthony Boone and I were able to connect for a great, great talk about Duke football, QB Country and the mindset it takes to overcome devastating injuries.

– Anthony gets a TD against Virginia Tech in 2013.

During our talk, Anthony discussed what it took to win at Duke, provides great advice on how to maintain success over multiple seasons and what it was like sharing snaps with Brandon Connette (aka The Phantom). As we discussed the Blue Devils’ current season, Anthony gave some great insight on what Coach Elko and the staff are doing in Durham. You also learn a lot about the DukeGang mindset that his era personified.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity point out that while Anthony has some impressive clients at QB Country, it sure sounds like he may be a sleeper agent who is funneling top prospects to Chapel Hill College. We’ve got to correct this, folks! Anthony, get your guys to Durham!!!

In all seriousness, this interview was a blast. You’ll enjoy every minute of it and I hope we can have him back on soon.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Duke Season Preview with Lee Rodio

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Our old friend Lee Rodio returns to the podcast for his third appearance. (Listen to his first two here and here.) After he updates on us on what he’s been up to lately, we go over what it will take for Duke to have a successful season, Lee gives his picks for each game and closes with a discussion about what NIL can mean for students. Also, Lee delivers some real hot takes when he starts talking about that other school in North Carolina which all us Blue Devils will love. This is a fun talk with a great guest.

Lee just out there being awesome.

Also, we recorded this on Sunday night and by the time I got this posted, Coach Symmes’ interview hit the SEVENTY listens mark. Congrats, Coach! I know when you retire from coaching you’ll think about appearing on this podcast before anything else. Right? I mean, appearing as a guest here as to be a momentous achievement. Right? Bueller? Bueller?

Go Duke!

Interview – Matthew Symmes

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After a bit of trash talk on Twitter, Coach Symmes took some time out of a Wednesday evening to talk about ECU football, his coaching career in college and the NFL and, of course, Duke football. Coach Symmes coached at Duke during the Cutcliffe era before moving onto Indiana where he worked with current Blue Devil OC Kevin Johns. Coach Symmes also had stops at Florida, USC (the one in South Carolina) and with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here’s the Twitter exchange that led to the interview

During this informative conversation, you’ll learn about what a defensive analyst does, the challenging life of a coach and what made the 2013 Duke team so special. We’ll give Symmes a pass for thinking that Indiana made the field goal at the end of the Pinstripe Bowl. I think his glasses were broken or something. Oh, and we mention Miami. Blerg.

Go Duke!

Interview – Carlos Wray is Back!

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We all remember Carlos Wray from his time at Duke (2012-2015) and the Golden Era of Duke Football he was a part of. Carlos previously sat down for an interview back in 2020 and another one in 2021 to discuss the Blue Devils’ appearance in four straight bowl games.

Carlos at work as a coach.

During our third and most recent discussion, we talk about Carlos’ coaching career, family crises, leadership and, of course, Duke football. As you would expect, we spend some time going over what it will take for Duke to win and also how to better connect the football program to the Durham community. And we both mention that we don’t like BLEEDBLUE and that DukeGang should make a comeback (or, at the least, start using DukeGRIND).

Go Duke!

Interview – George Pearkes

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George Pearkes, a walk-on tight end at Duke from 2008-11, stopped by for one heck of a talk. We discuss economics, market trends, the economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and we learn why gas prices have been so high. Oh, and we talk Blue Devils football, too. This was an informative discussion with a very knowledgeable guy.

George getting ready for a game.

If you want to learn more about the economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, read this article by George. We hope you enjoy the interview.

Go Duke!

Interview – Tre Hornbuckle

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We all remember Tre Hornbuckle from his time destroying the opposing team’s offensive line. Tre took time out of his busy schedule to talk about playing football at Duke, how COVID-19 impacted the NFL Class of 2020, his time as a GA in Durham and his professional career which has him in the CFL.

Tre before he literally blows up the opposition.

Tre gave an excellent talk about leadership, staying positive and overcoming adversity. This was a fun talk with an all-time great.

Go Duke!

Interview – Perry Simmons

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To say Perry Simmons was a rock during his time at Duke would be an understatement of epic proportions. Perry started fifty, count them FIFTY, straight games before an injury kept him out of the Peach Bowl in 2013. Perry was kind of enough to stop by for a great talk about what it takes to make a team relevant after years of irrelevance.

Perry on Senior Day (I think that’s Senior Day).

During our hour plus conversation, we covered a lot of interesting topics including the importance of redshirting, Coaches Luke and Latina, how injuries can derail an offensive line and the great seasons that were 2012 and 2013. This interview will bring back some good memories for all you Blue Devil fans. Until we get to Miami in 2015. Um, yeah. Ugh.

Go Duke!

Interview – Clarkston Hines (A true GOAT)

Listen to the interview here.

While it is hard to compare wide receivers from different eras of football, no one can dispute that Clarkston Hines is one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play at Duke. He has an unbelievable list of records and accomplishments as a Blue Devil that includes an ACC Championship in 1989. If you haven’t seen him play, pull up some old games on YouTube and you’ll see that he was a true playmaker.

Hines Added To College Football Hall Of Fame Ballot - Duke University
Clarkston celebrates after one of many big plays.

Clarkston is a member of the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and was a member of the ACC 50th Anniversary Team. And his teams went 4-1 against Carolina. Not too shabby!

And here is one of his most memorable catches to help turn the tide against Clemson and spark the Blue Devils to a conference title.

We covered a lot of topics including the current real estate market, the 1990 Bills team, Clarkston’s former OC Tommy Bowden, Coaches Sloan and Spurrier, the 1989 ACC Championship season and two scoreboard pictures taken that year – one against Maryland and one against UNC.

Enjoy!

The History of the David Cutcliffe Era – Part V, The Legacy

In part four of what was supposed to be a four part series on the David Cutcliffe era, I hinted that an additional part of the series would be forthcoming. As promised, I’ve added a fifth part that more fully discusses what Cutcliffe meant to Duke and how we, as Blue Devil fans, should remember his time in Durham. To discuss that legacy, I am going to riff on the Five Things I utilized for game recaps this past season.

So, with that in mind, let’s get to it!

  1. Bowl games. From 2012 until 2018, Coach Cutcliffe’s teams went to six bowl games and won three of them. Had it not been for the injuries in 2016, I think we see seven straight. Prior to his tenure, Duke had been to eight bowl games and won three of them – that’s the entire history of the program before Cutcliffe. Let that sink in for a minute. When the Blue Devils won the Pinstripe Bowl in 2015, it was the first time since 1960 that any Duke team won a bowl game. That’s a big deal. And I know some people may say that it’s easier to get to bowls now, so who cares about the Blue Devils going to six of them during seven seasons? Well, if it’s easier to get to bowl games and a team isn’t doing it regularly, it becomes a big deal once a coach shows a program it can be done and does it.
  2. Players in the NFL. I’m going to leave some guys out, and that isn’t intentional, but Sean Renfree, Ross Cockrell, Jamison Crowder, Laken Tomlinson, Daniel Jones, Chris Rumph, Victor Dimukeje, Noah Gray and Michael Carter were all drafted during Cutcliffe’s tenure. That doesn’t take into account the UDFAs that made it to the league and turned into significant contributors. Guys like Thad Lewis, Vincent Rey, Lucas Patrick, Matt Skura, Breon Borders and Thomas Hennessy. Ross Cockrell won a championship. Last Sunday, Duke had two guys playing to go the Super Bowl – Laken Tomlinson and Noah Gray. That’s a big deal. Especially for the Blue Devils.
  3. A division championship. Let’s just kick up our feet and remember how darned sweet that magical 2013 season was. Do we need to say anything else about how great it was that Duke played for the ACC Championship? Nope, I didn’t think so.
  4. Coaches. A lot of guys who played under Cutcliffe are now in the coaching ranks. Carlos Wray is running the DL at Crest High School. Takoby Cofield is a GA at ECU. Max McCaffrey is breaking clipboards and serving as the offensive coordinator at the University of Northern Colorado. Thad Lewis made up part of the coaching staff that saw the Bucs win a Super Bowl in 2021. Re’quan Boyette is the WR coach at ECU. Now, this isn’t a complete list and only includes former players under Cutcliffe as opposed to former coaches like Scottie Montgomery and Jim Knowles. There are a lot of former Blue Devils who will become major coaches in time. Just keep an eye out for that. When that occurs, Cutcliffe’s legacy will grow. It’s just a shame that we didn’t see a lot of these guys, and guys like Anthony Boone who tutors QBs, on staff after they graduated. That was a misstep by Cutcliffe that eventually came back to haunt him.
  5. Relevance. From 2012 until The Jump Pass, Duke was a relevant football program. For almost eight seasons, the Blue Devils were important nationally. They went to bowl games, won a Coastal, played in a conference championship game and put several players into the NFL. This program was relevant for an extended period of time in a way that it hadn’t been for too damn long. We can’t overlook just how important that was and how that has to be factored into the ultimate historical analysis of Cutcliffe. While the terrible conference record and sub-.500 win-loss record isn’t ideal, the fact that the program became relevant for an extended period of time under his watch cannot be forgotten. Given all the mess he inherited and had to unmake, it’s easier to understand why he ended with the win-loss record he did.

So, as promised, we are now done with the history of the Cutcliffe era. You can read part one here, part two here, part three here and part four here.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!