State of the Program – Page 7 – Bull City Coordinators – A Duke Football and Roman History Blog

2020 Game Recap – That Was Ugly

Duke lost to UNC; you already know that. Fortunately for my mental health, I missed the radio and television broadcasts because of a kid’s soccer game and an end of the season celebration. What did I miss? A defense that gave up 21 points in each of the first two quarters. Ugly would be a kind word. Pathetic would be more accurate. Disgrace is probably the best description.

Time is a flat circle â Steemit — Little known fact – True Detective was about Duke football’s cyclical self-destruction.

The final score was a horrendous 56-24. Last season, a less-talented Blue Devils unit came very, very close to beating UNC. The change in the score means that one team is headed in the right direction. And that team does not play home games in Durham. After the game Coach Cutcliffe finally acknowledged that things are moving in the wrong direction. He specifically stated that the program is at a low point. It’s good to know that he’s finally seeing what everyone else has seen since last year’s UNC game.

While I was lucky not to have seen this utter disaster, the one constant from the folks I followed online to get updates about the game was that the team looked flat, disinterested and clearly didn’t care. I think Cutcliffe got the message the team was sending when he pulled Chase Brice and gave Gunnar Holmberg a chance (I am speculating that the team quit on Brice. I don’t know that, but the statements from former players on Twitter support this assessment).

Why it took Cutcliffe so long to make a QB change is beyond me. I was concerned that a guy who could barely complete a pass against Charlotte would struggle against UNC. I was right; and I’m not at all happy about it. Why not play Gunnar earlier? Why not give him an opportunity? Brice hasn’t played a good game yet. Why throw him out there again and again? Chris Katrenick already left. Do you want to risk another QB leaving?

Holmberg managed to play well despite being put in a terrible situation. If he doesn’t get the start next week, Cutcliffe should be fired. You know what you’ll get from Brice and it isn’t good. In fact, it’s terrible. Give Gunnar a chance to show what he can do. It’s long past time. He looks better at everything – poise, accuracy, running and decision-making. Make. The. Change.

Moving on …

In looking at things from a distance, a couple things become clear. The first thing is that the ACC has moved ahead of Duke. Wake is better, NCSU is better and now UNC is better. A lot better. The second thing is that this team is sloppy, undisciplined and doesn’t get up for each game. The final, and most important, thing is that without cupcakes on the schedule, Cutcliffe is being exposed. Lacking 3 or 4 guaranteed wins, we’re seeing just how bad the Blue Devils really are. Duke can’t compete with the better or even the middle of the pack teams. Every Syracuse wasn’t an easy win. We’re stuck in neutral or trying to pop the clutch. Whichever metaphor you use, there isn’t much progress.

Can the Blue Devils improve? I don’t know. I think that Holmberg may be able to turn this team around. He’s mobile, more accurate and I get the sense that the team wants him to play. I also get a sense that he’s going to make the most of this opportunity. If he plays well, he is the clear number one and Brice should be sent back to Clemson. Make Diamont the number two. If Gunnar doesn’t play well, no one will blame him. It’s so late in the season that he can’t be blamed for struggling. This is a good situation for him. Let’s hope he makes the most of it.

The final thing I want to say is that the last two seasons, starting at last year’s UNC debacle, has seen Duke come full circle under Cutcliffe and land back in Carl Franks and Ted Roof territory. These teams are just as bad as those teams were. And while Franks and Roof had excuses (poor assistant pay, lack of facilities, no commitment from the school), Cutcliffe has zero. None. His teams are more talented, the assistants are paid well and the facilities are outstanding. The stadium was renovated. There are no excuses.

What the Blue Devils returning their start of the century performance tells us is that Cutcliffe isn’t up for the job. And that’s okay. Like Marcus Aurelius noted, “Everything, a horse, a vine, is created for some duty.” Cutcliffe’s duty was to rehabilitate Duke football. He’s done his duty. It’s time for someone else to take the ball from here.

Mark Gilbert Update

In addition to losing two players last week, Mark Gilbert is now opting out of the remainder of the season.

Mark Gilbert on Twitter: "How's Reconstruction Going?? Me: 😁👍🏾🌴… " — Mark Gilbert calmly looking like a man ready to terrorize opposing offenses.

He is going to prepare for the NFL draft and we all hope he makes it. I first saw this news from Stephen Wiseman, one of my favorite reporters. Gilbert opting out is unfortunate, but not unexpected. He’s been hurt for several years now, recently had surgery and can’t afford another injury. His time in Durham is limited and another injury would be devastating for his future. While we will miss Gilbert, we want nothing but the absolute best for him. The man is an absolute legend for overcoming his hip injury and getting back on a college football field.

Please join me in extending your best wishes to Mark Gilbert as he begins the next phase of his career. Go Duke!

State of the Program – Paging Fred Goldsmith

Today I read a particularly aggravating article from the Duke Chronicle. It put together the same, tired excuses we always hear from Cutcliffe apologists – “Did you know Duke used to be really bad?” To which I reply, “You mean like 1-5 bad?”

“Yeah, that’s what we used to be!”

My retort: “You mean our current record?” The response is typically silence followed by a blathering of excuses that emphasize past history over the current state of the program.

Fred Goldsmith (American football) - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia — Fred Goldsmith smiles at the irony of Duke fans suddenly preaching patience and citing past glory.

Basically, the argument put forth by folks like The Chronicle is what we’re seeing now is more or less irrelevant. Given that most people are judged on current performance mixed in with how their work is trending over time (we all have down years), I’m unable to wrap my head around the idiocy of it.

But here’s what I want to point out about The Chronicle’s position. The author asserts that those of us who think that Cutcliffe needs to go are lacking perspective. Here’s the tweet:

College newspaper complains that older fans lack “perspective.” More irony that is not lost on those who lack said perspective.

I don’t dispute that Cutcliffe did a lot for Duke. I don’t dispute that he got the program out of the doldrums of the Franks and Roof era. I love the fact that he took us to several good bowl games and got us three bowl wins. That’s all amazing. But we can’t just look at 2012-2015. We have to look at the string of mediocrity that’s come since then. And we can’t ignore how bad the last two years have been. We need to have some actual perspective on this – and that includes the entirety of his time at Duke, not just a three year period that was really, really awesome.

In doing that, the best comparison I can come up with is Fred Goldsmith and his era at Duke. I remember those seasons well because those were when I started watching Duke pretty much every Saturday as a teen. Goldsmith came to town following four particularly bad seasons from Barry Wilson. Coach Wilson went 4-7, 4-6-1, 2-9 and then 3-8; that’s a stellar 13-30-1. Duke replaced Wilson with Goldsmith heading into the 1994 season. It started great – Duke went 8-4 and lost in the Hall of Fame bowl. After that, it was kind of ugly. The Blue Devils went 3-8, 0-11, 2-9 and then 4-7. Despite the good season in 1994, by 1998 Duke decided it had seen enough and brought in Carl Franks. Goldsmith wasn’t allowed to rest on his crowning achievement – more was expected.

Now, I will give you that one good season doesn’t match what Cutcliffe has done at Duke, but I will say that we’ve reached a decline similar to what we saw during Goldsmith’s tenure. Duke reached some real highs under Goldsmith, but never got back to the magic of that first season. In a similar fashion, from 2013-2015 we regularly contended in the Coastal. Since then? Not so much. We’ve declined, just like we did under Goldsmith. Since 2016, Duke has gone 4-8, 7-6, 8-5, 5-7 and is now 1-5. That’s (checks math) a sub-.500 record.

Just like we did with Goldsmith, it’s time to get a new head coach.

P.S. I won’t get into the internal inconsistency of saying that because Cutcliffe has more talent than Franks or Roof did, we should be more patient with him. Think about that – Franks and Roof had a talent excuse. What is Cutcliffe’s excuse?

State of the Program – Ted Roof isn’t an excuse

Of late, a lot of us have been talking about our frustration with Coach Cutcliffe. We all love and respect what he’s done, but the program is headed in the wrong direction. Those who want to keep Cut around and give him more time point to an excuse that I’m frankly (no pun intended) tired of hearing – “Duke was bad when Ted Roof was the coach.”

Photo Gallery: Photo Gallery: Virginia Tech 45, Duke 0 - Duke University Blue Devils | Official Athletics Site - GoDuke.com — Can we leave Coach Roof alone? It’s been 13 years. Move on.

Look, Duke wasn’t good during the Roof era. After some initial promise and a win over North Carolina, Duke regressed and looked the same as they did when Carl Franks was the coach. Roof ended his time in Durham with a 6-45 record and only 3 conference wins. That’s bad. We know that. No one disputes it.

The question I have is why this keeps coming up. It isn’t 2007. It isn’t 2008. It isn’t 2012. It’s 2020. And where are we? Well, we keep hearing about how Cut turned Duke around and made it a relevant program, how he gave it a winning identity. Basically, we keep hearing about how Cut created a new standard at Duke after taking the Blue Devils to 4 straight bowl games from 2012 through 2015, 2 additional bowls in 2017 through 2018 and delivering 3 bowl wins in the process (2015, 2017 and 2018). But since Cut shocked the world in 2012 and did it again in 2013 when he took Duke to the ACC Championship and the Peach Bowl (sorry, but that’s what I’m calling it), the program has regressed. Just about every. Single. Year.

Since that time, Duke went 9-4, 8-5, 4-8 (Cut gets pass for a million injuries that year), 7-6, 8-5, 5-7 and now 0-4. If Cut created an expectation that Duke would be winning more games than they lose and getting to bowl games, we haven’t really seen that. Duke got hot late in 2017 and just made it to a bowl. They did it again in 2018 despite getting walloped by Wake to end the regular season. And then last season fell apart on a jump pass against North Carolina (which followed a 48-14 beating by UVA). Last season’s gems included a 49-6 loss to Syracuse. Syracuse. Say it again and let that sink in.

Since the 4-8 season, Duke has regularly been blown out by teams. Miami beat the Blue Devils 31-6 in 2017 and Virginia Tech beat Duke 24-3 that same year. In 2018, Wake demolished Duke 59-7. As for 2019, there was also a third blowout loss that year when the Blue Devils lost to Notre Dame 38-7. Since beating Virginia Tech in 2019, Duke is now 2-10.

Putting all that together, it sure seems like the Blue Devils are falling behind the rest of the ACC. Duke hasn’t had a winning conference record since 2014. Duke hasn’t been at .500 in conference since 2015. If that isn’t a decline, I don’t know what is.

If Cutcliffe raised the expectations in Durham, then he needs to be judged by those raised standards. He can’t be held to the standard that Ted Roof and Carl Franks set because the program surpassed that some years back. The question going forward isn’t whether Cut is the right man to reinvigorate the program given how poorly Duke had done since Steve Spurrier left. The question is whether Cut is the man who can continue to meet the expectations he set. The answer seems to be that he isn’t.

2020 Season Thoughts – 4 Games In

Duke lost (again) to Virginia Tech on Saturday. It was close – 38-31 (thanks to a last minute field goal as time expired that left people scratching their head) – but it was still a loss. Another one. The fourth one. In four games. This season. Duke is 0-4.

Since the Blue Devils demolished Virginia Tech in 2019, Duke is now 2-10. That’s pretty terrible. Virginia Tech, however, looks fantastic. Despite having a grad assistant serve as DC and being down 21 players, the Hokies looked like a perennial power. Duke, on the other hand, looks like it has regressed to the Carl Franks and Ted Roof days. Coach Cutcliffe is in his 13th season – do any of us think he can turn things around?

Football - Duke University — A rare moment in which Duke doesn’t turn the ball over.

Why is Duke so bad? Well, we have to be honest. Duke has been on a decline since it went to Charlotte in 2013. Here’s a look at the results of 2013 to the present:

Duke is spiraling towards the bottom; in fact, the Blue Devils are already there. There’s no question about it. Regularly finishing 6th in the Coastal, barely getting to bowls and looking rudderless. The offense is abysmal. The defense gets worn down despite playing hard. There are too many penalties. It’s hard to watch.

Look, we love Cut here. He made Duke relevant again. But the Blue Devils aren’t relevant now. And that won’t change as long as Cutcliffe is the coach. Don’t believe me? Well, let’s look at the results again:

It’s time to make a change. Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. We need a new head coach. Now.

2020 Game Recap – Duke Loses Badly to BC

Fire the coach. That’s it. That’s the post.

Mark Gilbert Back?

If any of you guys follow our Twitter account (which you should, duh), you’ve noticed that Mark Gilbert has been tweeting some pretty awesome pictures lately. What are these pictures of? Him suited up to play some football.

Gilbert, a shutdown, game-changing corner who lived on the eponymous Gilbert Island, hasn’t been on the field since 2018 when he suffered a possibly career ending hip dislocation against Northwestern. That was the same game Daniel Jones broke his collar bone and what looked like a promising season turned into one plagued by injuries. While Duke finished with 8 wins, that season is forever a “What if?” season that included the Blue Devils leading eventual national champ Clemson 6-0 after the first quarter. It turned into a loss, but it makes you think. Oh well.

When Gilbert went down, I thought he may never play again. The images had a Bo Jackson feel to them. While going through the recovery process, Gilbert required a second surgery last year. We all hoped he would come back, but many of us had to wonder. And, fortunately, it looks like any of us who did have been proven wrong.

We could spend a lot of time posting about how Gilbert playing would make a tremendous impact on the secondary, the defense and the team as a whole. We could talk about what to expect from him after not playing for so long. We’re not, though.

Instead, we’re going to say how amazing it is that Gilbert may suit up and play this season. Not every player could come back from this terrible of an injury, two hip surgeries and the recovery process. It isn’t easy to come back from what Gibert went through and we here couldn’t be happier to see him making what appears to be a full recovery. Gilbert playing would be great – but him being healthy and happy is more important.

Congrats, Mark! Your perseverance is an inspiration to all of us.

Cutcliffe To Take Over Play Calling

Following a big weekend filled with additions for the Blue Devils, Duke announced that head coach David Cutcliffe would be taking over the play-calling duties.

Offensive coordinator Zac Roper, who was much maligned after a less than stellar performance from the Blue Devils offense in his tenure, will remain on staff and coach the quarterbacks, but the responsibilities for directing the offense falls squarely on Cutcliffe’s shoulders.

New Quarterback inspired moved?

Over the weekend Duke landed highly sought after transfer quarterback Chase Brice who left National runner up Clemson and has served as Trevor Lawrence’s back up.

The prevailing thought is that Cutcliffe’s history as a quarterback guru helped steer Brice to Durham and perhaps this fact was the inspiration for Cutcliffe to dust off the coordinator hat and take over an offense which took several steps back this past season.

If you buy a new car chances are you don’t want your teenage kid behind the wheel.

And while a lot of the blame for the offense’s short comings fell on Roper, Cutcliffe, ever the loyalist to his staff, kept him on staff but is taking the keys to the car.

A Familiar Role

Cutcliffe led the offense at Tennessee where he famously coached Peyton Manning and helped the Volunteers win a National Title in 1998 with quarterback Tee Martin.

He then took the head coaching job at Ole Miss coaching Eli Manning and, after being fired for failing to bend to the wills of the boosters, accepted the offensive coordinator job at Notre Dame.

Cutcliffe was unable to coach the Irish following a health scare and after time away to recover returned to Tennessee as offensive coordinator before taking the job at Duke.

Weapons to Choose From

Cutcliffe, who said in a conference call that he has been missing and wanting to get back into the game management of the offense, has plenty of weapons.

The offensive line picked up some additions in the off season and return a lot of experienced players. The running back stable featuring Mataeo Durrant and Deon Jackson could be electric if healthy and the receiving corps has a lot of young talent who should give Brice a lot of reliable targets.

Time will tell whether Cutcliffe’s move to primary offensive play caller will pay dividends for the Blue Devils but it may be the change to maximize what is suddenly turning into an intriguing football season ahead for perhaps a run at the ACC Coastal title.

2020 Outlook – Two Big Additions

It was one heck of a 72 hours for the Blue Devils. Clemson backup QB Chase Brice and Stanford OT Devery Hamilton visited on Saturday. Then on Sunday, word broke that Brice was coming to Duke. On Monday, Hamilton made the same announcement. What does this mean for the program? The only way to describe it is that these commitments are a big freaking deal.

Hamilton is 6-7 / 300 and from Maryland. He chose Duke over Pittsburgh and Indiana – no small accomplishment for the Blue Devils coaching staff. Hamilton came out of high school as a 4-star recruit which is out of step with the 3-star recruits Duke customarily lands. Hamilton also started at Stanford until the injury bug hit him.

As for Brice, he has two years of eligibility left. He comes to Durham after backing up some pretty good Clemson QBs. I’ve seen different things about Brice coming out of high school. Some list him as a pro-style QB, some say dual-threat. That said, most agree he was a 3-star recruit who isn’t the best runner, but is a smart player. The buzz is overwhelmingly positive. Word is Dabo Swinney really talked him up while he was transferring and the Clemson players love him. Around 30 schools were after Brice including Miami, Maryland and Purdue. He chose Duke.

Let that sink in. He chose Duke.

To ask my earlier question again, what does this mean for Duke? It means there is a talent upgrade and more weapons for Greg Frey, the new OL coach, to work with. It also means there will be a veteran QB to compete with Duke’s young guys, Holmberg and Diamont. This adds a level of excitement to the off-season that hasn’t been present for a while.

But more important, it signals a big change at Duke. These moves to me say that Cutcliffe & Co. are upset with last season’s 5-7 record and are willing to make big changes to prevent that from happening again. Cutcliffe doesn’t want to get caught with a QB who can’t make plays or run the offense consistently. The coaches aren’t okay with more of the same and are willing to take risks to do better. Fortune, as they say, favors the bold.

And with these big changes comes some big responsibility. My very scientific gut tells me that these moves put a lot of pressure on OC Zac Roper. He has a good group of WRs, a well-respected OL coach, some good RBs and three talented QBs (plus Katrenick who I think is better than we realize). While the QBs don’t have a lot of playing experience, I don’t see a lot of excuses for this team. If the offense continues to struggle, Roper is going to have to answer for that.

Duke made investments this off-season. If the results aren’t positive, the program will require more changes. If I’m Roper, I understand this and spend a lot of time upgrading the offense. He needs to review his own performance, figure out what worked and figure out what didn’t. The offense will need to be changed to better fit the talent.

While these 72 hours were a great start, it’s time for Duke to start capitalizing on them.

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.