Category: State of the Program

Interview – A Duke-UCONN Crossover Preview Episode

Last year, we had Graham Chamberlain come on to update us on UCONN and preview the game. This year, we decided to do a joint episode for both our podcasts, so the setup is a little different from what you’re used to. That said, it’s a pretty darned good episode with a lot of information.

Graham brings us up to speed on a UCONN team dealing with some injuries and a lot of unknowns after playing an FCS team and then Maryland. I do my best to give fair and honest takes about the struggles we’ve seen offensively from Duke and how the recent injuries may affect the team on Saturday. While the defense is solid, the kicking teams have had some issues and the offense hasn’t run the ball consistently yet. Oh, and I also learn that the kickoff time wasn’t at 1pm like I thought. Glad I learned that before the game. Overall, I like what we’ve seen from the Blue Devils, but I remained concerned about the struggles in the running game. It’s just too hard to win by just passing.

As far as a score prediction, while we both think Duke will win, I am not predicting a blowout. Until the Blue Devils kick the offense up a notch and get more balanced, I’m expecting close, or relatively close, games. We also have to see what the team can do when it’s shorthanded at RB and at TE.

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Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Season Prediction with Lee Rodio

Duke legend Lee Rodio returns to the podcast and provides us with his win-loss prediction for the Blue Devils this season. We go through each game and tell you who we think will win and why. We also check in with Richlandia to get an update on the status of the OG Optimistic Duke Football fan. You’ll like all our predictions as we’re very optimistic about what the Blue Devils can do this season.

One thing you’ll notice as we go through Duke’s schedule is how much time we spend discussing the differing degree of schedule difficulty the Blue Devils’ opponents have. This is one of the unfortunate side effects of conference restructuring – unbalanced schedules providing easier paths to a conference championship game. Sorry for an old man rant here, but there really is an upside to small conferences.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Steve Wiseman Previews Duke’s 2024 Season

Our old friend Steve Wiseman stopped by the podcast to cover a few different topics. We start off by dissecting what all happened to Flip’s draft stock and discuss the strange family dynamic that may have played a role in him falling as far as he did. After a brief detour from there to The ACC’s fight for survival, we do a deep dive on what to expect from Duke this season. While the Blue Devils have some unknowns, there is a lot to be excited about. Steve brings us up to speed on the QB situation, talks about our four-game murder’s row stretch and tells us why we should be cautiously optimistic about this season. The offense is going to be a Power Spread and will apparently involve the TEs. How can you not be excited about that?!?!

Trigger warning – we discuss Duke’s recent history of underutilizing its TEs. Noah Gray is mentioned. Consider yourself forewarned. And it turns out that David Feeley is pretty darned important. Who knew? (That’s sarcasm, we all know it.)

We also take a few minutes to cover the upgrades at Wallace Wade and ask I why the official Blue Devils’ Twitter account isn’t following me on Twitter. Come on, folks, make it happen.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Conor O’Neill Talks Duke and Wake

NOTE – The day after we recorded this, Mike Wright committed to Northwestern. Two days afterwards, Sion James committed to Duke. Just ignore those parts of the podcast. Be super attentive to everything else, though.

Our old friend Conor O’Neill stopped by to give us his thoughts on Wake Forest and Duke as the programs head into 2024. Conor covers both programs for Rivals. He’s got a good thing going over at Devils Illustrated – sign up, folks!

Before talking football, we took a few minutes to discuss the legacy of one of the greatest recording engineers (also known as a record producer) in music history, Steve Albini, who, sadly, passed away recently. He was a member of influential industrial rock bands like Big Black and Shellac. Albini’s career as prominent independent musician gave him an opportunity to start recording for other bands and he made the most of it. During his legendary career, Albini worked with a wide variety of bands including the Pixies, Nirvana, The Breeders, The Jesus Lizard, PJ Harvey and Man or Astro-man?. The story behind the initial recording of Nirvana’s In Utero is worth the time to read about. I enjoyed Albini’s sound as a young kid living in a fairly boring town. RIP, man. RIP.

After discussing what the Deacs can expect, we spend some time talking the Duke QB battle and how we shouldn’t overlook what Grayson Loftis might be able to do if he gets a shot. While we’re both high on Maalik Murphy, it’s hard not to think that Loftis might be able to make a name for himself in Durham. Oh, and Murphy has a canon for an arm and will showcase it as the Blue Devils will run a variation of the Air Raid. All right, all right, all right!

Conor and I also discuss the portal, NIL and how the NCAA needs to let schools employ athletes. And we get into a little basketball, too!

This is another good talk with a guy who is close to the program. I know you’ll enjoy it.

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Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Marilyn Payne

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ESPN and ACC Network reporter and noted Tar Heel Marilyn Payne stopped by the pod to talk about her history covering Duke football, my conspiracy theory that she singlehandedly brought about the end of the Elko Era in Durham, FSU getting snubbed and how The ACC can improve its overall brand. We also talked about Manny Mania coming to Blue Devil Nation. Funny thing happened after that as we spent about 20 minutes disputing two points that, once we defined our terms, we agreed on. I edited that out for time. That edit notwithstanding, you will get an update about Marilyn’s upcoming plans for bowl seasons and which future ACC team she will be covering. And, if that weren’t enough, you’ll learn about Marilyn’s favorite movie and get a some real deep nerd references from me.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Duke Hires Manny Diaz

It became official late last night – Duke hired Penn State DC Manny Diaz to be the program’s next head coach. We’ll do more in the next couple of weeks about this hire. But with bowl season, I’m a little backed up.

So, instead of doing a full post about why I like this hire and how I think it is a good one, I’ll just drop a link to a call I had with Adam Gold yesterday in which we discuss the Diaz hire before it became official. We cover what to expect from Diaz, the transfer portal and what this hire means for the Blue Devils. Hey, we just might be a football school after all!

Check it out on YouTube, too:

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Steve Wiseman Talks Coaching Search and Birmingham Bowl

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Steve Wiseman stopped by to talk about a crazy, crazy week of Duke and ACC football. We begin by talking about how FSU got the shaft courtesy of Boo Corrigan, et al., as did SMU. And, most important, I got to use one of my favorite historical quotes. It’s Truman on Nixon. I mean, what else do you need?

After that, Steve and I talk about his hectic schedule trying to cover Elko’s departure from Durham and the Blue Devils’ coaching search. There’s a lot of ground to cover and Steve will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about what happened with Elko and how Nina King is leading Duke through this transitional period. If that weren’t enough, we also go over how the Blue Devils landed in the Birmingham Bowl and not the Gasparilla Bowl. Thanks, CFP Selection Committee. And Notre Dame.

Oh, and it turns out Duke has a basketball team. Who knew? In all seriousness, we spend some time trying to diagnose why the Blue Devils have been struggling out of the gate. As always, Steve was a great and informative guest. You’ll love this episode.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Mike Elko Reaction Episode

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After a few voicemails and a message from former site contributor Mike Kline, Dad took a break from Richlandia to stop by and check in after Mike Elko left Duke for A&M. We talk about the current state of the program, possible head coach candidates and the program’s foundation. We all trust Nina King to bring a quality head coach to Durham. It may take a few years, but Dad feels confident that the Blue Devils will be 10-2 soon. Nothing can shake this man’s optimism for Duke football.

Programming note – stay tuned as we will have an interview with Steve Wiseman in the coming days. That will be a fun one. Steve is a great guest and always has something interesting to tell us. I can’t wait!

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Get to Know the Pitt Panthers with Noah Hiles

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First, let me apologize for some inconsistent audio quality. My Bluetooth headset kept cutting in and out on volume and I had to amplify the audio. Not sure why it happened. That can only mean I need a new headset. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Pitt beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Noah Hiles stopped by to get us ready for a noon matchup with the Panthers at Wallace Wade. During this 5o+ minute interview, we talk about the struggles that Duke has had in beating Pitt, the disaster of a year the Panthers are going through and the fact that the Blue Devils have sort of kind of maybe fallen off after a good start.

In addition, we discuss the scheduling issues that ACC teams will continue face as a result of an unbalanced and ridiculously unfair schedule. To elaborate on that, there’s a reason that Duke is behind GA Tech, UNC and VA Tech this year. The Blue Devils have had, by far, the toughest schedule in The ACC. When you throw the injuries on top of that, this record shouldn’t be a surprise. Listen, guys, we’re just going to have to deal with getting a raw deal when it comes to the schedule. It’s not fair, but it is what it is.

Also, we get a guest pick from former Duke WR Ben Erdeljac! He’s taking the Blue Devils to close the season on a win. Let’s Go!!!

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Get to Know the Wake Forest Demon Deacons with Conor O’Neill

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Conor O’Neill, co-host of the Big J & Little J Show and publisher for Deacons and Devils Illustrated, stopped by to preview Duke’s upcoming Thursday night game. During our interview, we discuss Wake’s struggles on offense, the chances it has left to get bowl eligible and we do a deep dive on the Blue Devils. During the Duke portion of the discussion, we recap the loss at Louisville, cover the struggles at the WR position, discuss the uncertainty surrounding the health of our quarterbacks and try to comprehend the slew of injuries that have struck the Blue Devils of late. My conclusion is that we’re fortunate to have a great coaching staff and we have to hope their tactical expertise will get the Blue Devils a victory on Thursday night. We’re lucky to have the staff that we have and we have to hope those guys will right the ship.

Oh, and it turns out we landed a big, big guest for the UNC preview. We didn’t drop the name in the episode, but this is a guy with significant coaching experience at CHC. You’re going to enjoy this one, I promise.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!