Coaching Staff Update – Duke Hires Mike Elko

I’m a little late to getting to this post because of work, but the news broke late Friday that Duke and Mike Elko, formerly the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, agreed to terms to bring Coach Elko to Durham.

I think that this is a great hire. The Blue Devils brought in a guy from the SEC to be their head coach. That’s a big deal – Duke got a guy to leave a good program to take over the reigns in Durham. We can’t lose site of how significant of a development that is when it comes to writing the history of Blue Devils football. This used to be a program built around hiring guys without much in the way of options (Roof, Franks and Goldsmith, who wasn’t the AD’s first choice, come to mind). Not this time. More important than getting a respected coordinator from the SEC is the fact that this type of hire worked previously – Cutcliffe was the OC at Tennessee before he took over at Duke. While it didn’t end great, Cut took us on a fantastic run from 2012 to 2018 which included an ACC Coastal Championship, 6 bowl games, 3 bowl wins and, most important, relevance.

Beyond the fact that we snagged a well-respected coordinator to become our head coach, there’s a lot to like about Coach Elko’s football career which makes me think he will be a good fit. First, he played at Penn which will give him an understanding of the academic rigors that student-athletes will face. He’s also coached at academically demanding institutions, including Wake Forest, so he will know how to identify and recruit football players who will be able to compete on and off the field. Coach Elko has also produced very good defensive units over the years. Just take a look at his career as a defensive coordinator. He also has familiarity with the ACC and innovative offensive minds like Jimbo Fisher. Factor in his youth (Coach Elko is only 44), and you have to be excited about what he can do for our program.

More important than all of the foregoing is the fact that Coach Elko should be able to turn the Blue Devils’ defense around. This unit was bad, bad, bad in 2021. If Duke is going to compete in the ACC in 2022, it will have to be able to get the opposing team off the field. The Blue Devils can’t keep giving up 35 plus points against conference teams. Given Coach Elko’s history, we can expect an immediate turnaround next season.

As for how the offense will do, a lot of that will depend on who makes up the staff. We’ll have to watch that over the next several weeks to get an idea of what to expect from that unit next season. Regardless of who Coach Elko hires, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bobo, Gunnar and the others in the transfer portal play elsewhere next season. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. We’ll miss those guys and hope for the best for them, but we’ll have to have the next guys step up.

As a side note, I had two sources as of Friday morning indicating that Duke would be hiring Coach Elko. That’s why I put up the poll and tweeted out that I thought it would be him. I almost said it will be him when ESPN started talking about Jason Garrett being the lead candidate. The local media wasn’t saying that which told me that my sources were right and Elko would get the job. Why didn’t I tweet anything more definitive out? Well, this isn’t a journalism site. It’s a blog for my thoughts on the Blue Devils. But the lesson here is to rely on the local folks, not the national ones, when it comes to news on the coaching search.

But back to the main point of this post – I give the Coach Elko hire an “A”. Nina King and the search team could have done a lot worse but not much better. While it took a long time, relatively speaking, I think it was worth the wait. And I, for one, can’t wait to see what this team looks like next season.

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

Go Duke!

Interview – Gunnar Holmberg

2021 starting quarterback and team captain Gunnar Holmberg took some time to talk about what brought him to Durham, the benefits of a Duke education and his time as a Blue Devil.

Don’t leave, Gunnar!

Gunnar is a great quarterback with a bright future. He hope you enjoy this interview with the second Holmberg to come on the podcast.

Listen here.

Interview – Joey Finison

Former Duke offensive lineman Joey Finison took some time out of a Saturday to come on the podcast and give an in-depth talk on his time as a Blue Devil, the state of the program today and David Cutcliffe’s legacy in Durham.

New Faces - Joey Finison Q&A - Duke University

This was a great talk about the state of college football overall and, in particular, the Duke program. We learn a lot about the coaching staff and get a real in-depth look at the Blue Devils. Coach Latina told me that the OL gives the best interviews and this one won’t disappoint.

Listen here.

2021 Season Recap – The Fall of Duke Football

Now that it’s been about a full week since Cutcliffe’s tenure it ended, it’s an appropriate time for the review of the 2021 season.

In last season’s recap, I compared Duke to the rise and fall of The Roman Empire. While I hoped that 2021 would bring us a Diocletian who would restore Duke football and put an end to The Crisis of the Jump Pass, we didn’t get that. And it’s particularly frustrating because of how it started. Despite a crushing loss to Charlotte, thanks to a late blown lead, the Blue Devils got to 3-1 and started ACC play with a game against UNC. For a brief moment there, it seemed like while we didn’t quite get a Diocletian, we had, at the least, found a Majorian, a leader who undertook an effort to take it all back and restore the program to its past glory. But, just like Majorian met his fate at the hands of Ricimer, David Cutcliffe met his fate at the hands of the rest of the ACC. After winning three of the first four, Duke managed to end the season on seven straight losses and a final record of 3-9 (0-8).

Why did this happen? As I detailed previously, Coach Cutcliffe’s stubbornness had a lot to do with it. But let’s detail it more in the season recap version of Five Things which will be Five Reasons Duke Fell to Pieces:

  1. Shuffling the deck chairs. When it comes to staff, a lot of people have complained about the unwillingness to get new blood from outside the system. Instead of getting outsiders, Cut continued to promote people who were already on the staff to new positions, regardless of whether they were qualified for it. I’m sure that Jeff Faris is a nice guy, but his background as a former walk-on safety doesn’t scream “OC/QB coach.” Same thing with Zac Roper when it was “his turn” to be the OC. He didn’t have the qualifications or the background, and that became apparent when we barely won games with a generational talent like Daniel Jones. Then it all fell apart in 2019 with The Jump Pass. And, despite the disaster that slowly, and painfully, unfolded from that moment forward, Roper stayed on staff and Cut gave the OC job to another guy who wasn’t qualified for the position. Why a coach keeps staff members who aren’t doing their jobs is hard for a lot of us to understand. Which brings us to our next point.
  2. No accountability when it comes to coaches. The defense this year was terrible, just terrible. The pinnacle was giving up more than 500 yards to Louisville’s quarterback while getting throttled by 4o points. This came after terrible performances against Virginia, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech performance was particularly awful because the defense gave up more than 500 yards to a team that hadn’t managed that feat in more 40 games. Despite that, Matt Guerrieri remained the DC. Just like with the offensive staff, we saw no accountability. Firing staff midseason won’t always fix problems, but it will say that certain behaviors aren’t tolerated. Not taking action allows bad habits to take hold and creates a bad culture. That’s what Cut allowed to happen, and he paid the price for it.
  3. Lack of creativity on offense. I’ve talked about using our backup QBs as WRs before. It didn’t happen. Total mistake. Just like using the Moore package in the same fashion every single time he took the field. If you aren’t creative on offense, if you don’t disguise things and mix it up, the defense will figure out what is coming and tee off on your quarterback. And that’s what we saw all season long during conference play. The defenses figured out what the Blue Devils were going to do and we didn’t make any adjustments. How about stop running the same tempo we’ve run since 2008? How about we go Power I, run a huddle and use a fullback? I mean, no one would have been prepared for it. But we didn’t see that happen. One way to describe the situation over these last few years is if it makes sense, Duke isn’t doing it.
  4. Inconsistent player treatment. This isn’t a knock on Chase Brice, but he needed to come out in 2020 and get his head right. But, despite all the interceptions and ball security issues, Brice kept playing. He also didn’t have a goal line package that took him out of the game. Despite the fact that Gunnar Holmberg played significantly better than Brice, especially early in the season, Gunnar got stuck with a Moore package that may have cost us a game against Charlotte (I believe the Duke Football Talk guys pointed that out at the time and I can’t disagree with that assessment). Then, when Gunnar starts lighting it up against Kansas, he suddenly stops running the ball. And they let Calhoun throw a pass against Miami when Gunnar has the offense humming. It’s hard to think that all of this wasn’t the result of a plan instituted by the coaching staff, particularly when you factor in that he got benched at Louisville. When one QB gets treated like he can do no wrong, but a captain gets treated the way Gunnar got treated, coaches tend to lose locker rooms. And that’s what it looked like from the outside. When we do a historical analysis of the Cutcliffe era, it will be hard for me to overlook the fact that he seemed to go out of his way to sabotage Gunnar and, in doing so, gave us a horrendous 2020 season and clipped the wings on a 2021 season that could have given us hope for the future. And, to make things worse, we may lose a quarterback with two years of eligibility left. Think about that for a minute – if we had played Gunnar in 2020, he could have been the starter for three plus years. And Cut ruined that possibility. Inexcusable.
  5. The four things listed above can easily be distilled into failing to adapt. If you go back and watch the bowl games from 2012-2015, you’ll see how many times the Blue Devils ran the same plays in the same situations. One thing I’ve heard a lot from doing these interviews is that Duke became too predictable, particularly on offense. And that predictability can kill a team. A lot of coaches see the end of their tenure because, over time, the opposing team will eventually figure things. People get used to doing things certain ways and develop habits. Once an opponent figures those habits out, changes have to be made. But, Cut didn’t do that and his time as head coach came to an end. It was a sad way for a transformative Duke coach to end his career. David Cutcliffe made the Blue Devils relevant for an extended period of time. No one had done that since Coach Murray did it in the 50s and 60s. While Spurrier’s time was magic, his two years of excellence didn’t quite reach Cut taking Duke to 6 bowl games in 7 seasons. And that isn’t a knock on Spurrier, it’s just a comment that Cutcliffe did something that no one had done in more than 50 years.

And that’s why the Cutcliffe Era ended the way it did. While we will all thank him for everything that he did for the Blue Devils, we should remember how his era ended and why it ended the way it did. The next head coach will need to do things differently to avoid the same outcome.

In particular, one thing that the next coach must do different is have more former Blue Devils, particularly those who were significant contributors, on staff. Get guys like Randy Cuthbert, Carlos Wray, Takoby Cofield, Braxton Deaver, David Reeves, Max McCaffrey, etc. in Durham. Have guys around who were big time players wearing their various rings. Set the standard for excellence by having coaches on staff who were big time players when they were at Duke. Imagine a host of former Blue Devils on staff. It’d be beautiful. The message to recruits would be “You can win here. Look at us, we did.”

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

Go Duke!

2021 State of the Program – The End of an Era

What many of us suspected would happen has come to pass – David Cutcliffe is out as head coach at Duke. A 3-9 (0-8) season marked by a seven game losing streak is a sad, sad way to end the greatest era of Blue Devils football since Coach Murray roamed the sidelines back in the ’50s and ’60s. While I have been critical of David Cutcliffe since The Jump Pass and its aftermath, no one wanted to see empty stands, a winless conference record and three straight losing seasons. As a head coach, David Cutcliffe made Duke football relevant. He led the team to a Coastal title, an ACC Championship game, the Peach Bowl and three straight bowl wins. While we may be unhappy with the way that these last few seasons went, we can, and should, appreciate everything he did in Durham. I certainly will and can’t wait to see the statute that (damn well better) gets erected in his honor. Coach Cut made the Blue Devils an important part of the college football landscape for almost a decade. I won’t forget that. And I’ll always look back fondly on his time in Durham. Coach Cut, if you read this, thank you for what you did. I appreciate it.

As far as what comes next, I won’t engage in speculation about who may be the next head coach. Instead, I want to take a moment to say that as rough as it is for us to go through a coaching change as fans, it’s a lot rougher for the players and, perhaps more important, the parents of the players. The uncertainty surrounding the coaching staff probably has them all worried about playing time next season, what kind of coach will come in and how their child will fit in with a new staff . The unease we feel as fans is dwarfed by their unease. And a lot of them are just as worried about what the transfer portal will bring. Will their child stay or go? Will a new player come in and take their child’s playing time? It isn’t an easy time for the players or their families.

Even more unease surrounds the staff and their families. We know that this will be a rough time for you all and we want it all to work out well. I hope that some of you get retained by the new head coach and, if you don’t, that you quickly land on your feet. Hopefully the transition process won’t be too rough for you all.

That’s all I have to say about the coaching situation right now. On Twitter, I mentioned that I was going to get a season recap up before this post about the coaching staff. Well, I have a season recap ready to post, but the tone of it won’t fit with the moment. It just isn’t the time for it. What is in that recap does need to be said, but, out of respect for Coach Cut and the staff, I’m going to put it in a virtual drawer for the time being.

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

Go Duke!

Interview – Randy Cuthbert (The GOAT)

Dr. Randy Cuthbert is the greatest Duke running back in my lifetime. He was part of the magical 1989 season that ended in a ACC Championship (shared with Virginia) and played in the NFL with the Steelers. Dr. Cuthbert took some time out of a Saturday to talk about his career in education, his time as a football coach, how to approach concussions in football and, of course, Duke football.

Now as you listen to the podcast, you’ll probably wonder why it took so long to get to one of the greatest moments in Duke football history which is pictured below

41-0. Scoreboard!

I have to apologize for that oversight. We spent a lot of time talking about the win against Clemson and how it started the Blue Devils on a run to the title and I guess I got distracted. But I appreciate Dr. Cuthbert getting back on the call to finish up the interview. He shares a great story or two about that great win.

We also discuss one of the greatest touchdowns in Duke history which came in the 1989 game against Clemson. I’ve skipped it ahead to about 1 hour and 30 minutes in so you can see Cuthbert cap the drive that got the Blue Devils back into the game and started them on their path to the ACC crown

Go Duke!

Listen here.

2021 Game Recap – Duke Went Winless (in the ACC)

When I first met my wife in 2001, Carl Franks roamed the sidelines in Durham as Duke’s head football coach. Back then, the Blue Devils were bad, real bad. In fact, when my wife and I met in August of that year, Duke was in the midst of a 12 game losing streak that would turn into a 23 game losing streak before it ended. I remember when the Blue Devils finally won a game in 2002 and followed it up with another win that season – two in a year, what?!?! – and we went out for a beer to celebrate. That’s how rare wins were for Duke back then.

So, when my wife and I drove down to Durham to watch the Blue Devils close out a disappointing season, I felt a little like we were traveling back in time to the start of our life together. And while I had great time at the game with my wife, I couldn’t say that I had a great time watching the game itself. Unfortunately, the people who say you can never go home again are wrong. You can always go home again, especially if you never leave. And that’s what it feels like watching Duke football right now. We’re stuck in a weird time loop that has taken us right back to where we were when Franks and Roof were coaching. As proof, look no further than the fact that, after finishing an underwhelming 3-9 this year, David Cutcliffe has a 77-97 overall record as the Blue Devils’ head coach. That isn’t a misprint – Cut is just three loses away from 100 for his career and is twenty games under .500 in Durham. Not great, Bob, doesn’t even begin to summarize where we are right now.

But enough of that. Let’s turn to Five Things. We’ll start with what I liked:

  1. The kickoff returns. Stinson showed up with our only touchdown of the day on his second return of the game. I won’t let the fact that he scored our only touchdown depress me. Too much.
  2. The people I got to see. It was nice to touch base with The Hard Hat Guys, The Section 17 guys, Michael Torbert, Lee Rodio and his brother and a number of different Duke parents family members. Lummie Young has one real proud grandfather. All of you family members are great. You support your kids no matter how rough the season gets. It wasn’t easy for you, but you are one special group.
  3. The soft pretzels get an A+.
  4. Did I mention I mention I went to the game with my wife? Here we are having a great time together
She doesn’t like to have her picture taken.

Now, let’s turn to Five Things I Didn’t Like.

  1. Too many Miami fans. Back in the old days, the opposing team’s fans would significantly outnumber the Blue Devils’ fans. That’s what it was like today. The Miami fans were on our side of the stadium which caused us to move seats. And because so few Duke fans were there, we didn’t have a hard time. But at least we got to be near the Blue Devils’ parents, so that was cool. Putting that aside, poor fan turnout means the program is backsliding. Something has to be done about it.
  2. The offensive plays were fairly bland and predictable. I didn’t like the 4th down run it up the middle call, letting Calhoun try and pass for a TD so early didn’t make sense and the fake punt coming just a week after Porter pulled it off … Sorry, that’s probably enough for now. But even worse than the “Let’s throw a bunch of short routes and never stretch the defense” offensive strategy was …
  3. The bad personnel grouping. I still don’t think that we ever got the right WRs on the field at the same time. I also think we subbed too many people in too frequently and prevented them from getting into a rhythm. Now, I am not criticizing the staff for utilizing depth, but I am saying that they didn’t get the right offensive guys on the field at the right time. It was the same with the defense. Franklin didn’t play enough today. Given that we went to a 3-3-5 for a lot of plays, which I commend the shakeup, I don’t understand why he wasn’t the starting nose tackle. I also don’t understand why we always seemed to use a LB as a fourth DL in that formation and did it in a way that didn’t confuse anyone. While I respect the DCs for trying something different, I think the execution was poor. There’s more that I could say about the defensive personnel issues, but I am afraid it will come across as critical of players and I don’t want to do that. Those guys play hurt, through pain and put it all out on the field, so, if you want to hear more about that just DM me on Twitter.
  4. Can we get people in charge of gameday operations to do better? How about playing music with the word “Devil” in it at set times during the game? (H/t to The Hard Hat Guys.) Why are we playing Sweet Caroline at all? If the goal is to intimidate your opponent, Sweet Caroline won’t do it. If the goal is to play music your mother or grandmother liked, you’ve succeeded. While victory may be in how you define the parameters, you’re still losing if you play that song. I mean, I don’t even understand why anyone plays Sweet Caroline. It isn’t a song that pumps people up. “Carolina” isn’t in our name like it is for the Panthers down in Charlotte which gives them some reason to play that song (not that they should play it, I’m just pointing out they have a reason to do it, no matter how dumb that reason actually is). Are you telling me there isn’t a better song in the entire history of music you could play? A simple Google search uncovered 10 rock songs, mainly metal, with “devil” in the title or the lyrics. This isn’t hard. And why do the Red Sox play it after they win? What is wrong with you people?!?!
  5. A winless conference season. You can’t sugarcoat this one – this is just pathetic. From 1996 until 2008, Duke went winless in conference eight times. EIGHT. Over twelve seasons. The word you’re looking for there is pathetic. The fact that we’re back to doing that again says a lot about what we’re in for if we stay the course and keep this coaching staff intact. I’m not rooting for anyone to lose their jobs, but I am pointing out that what the current staff is doing isn’t working.

I’ll have a lot more to say about what happened to the Blue Devils in 2021 when I do my season recap later this week. But I’m going to turn away from that for a few days because I need to decompress and, more important, because we are going to drop episode 2.1 tomorrow! Check out the site and follow our podcast to get notified when the episode is available.

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

Go Duke!

2021 Game Previews – The Season Concludes

On Saturday, November 26, 2021, Duke will conclude its 2021 season against Miami. While the season, like so many before it, got off to a promising start, it has since come crashing down. The Blue Devils started 3-1, but are mired in a seven game losing streak. While I would like to thing Duke will snap out of it and put an end to the losing streak on Saturday, I don’t see it happening.

This Miami team isn’t particularly good, they are 6-5 overall and 4-3 in conference, they are better than the Blue Devils are. Looking at the trends, this Miami team could actually be a lot better than its current record. The Hurricanes lost to UVA by two and lost by three to both UNC and FSU. If they win those games, Miami is an outstanding 9-2 overall and 7-1 in conference. The margin between winning and losing is often thin, and this Miami team shows it. Manny Diaz is on the hot seat right now because his team dropped three games by a total of eight points. Football is a tough sport, especially for the coaches.

But turning from the trends to this specific game, if you consider the fact that Miami scores right around 30 a game in conference, I don’t see how you can expect Duke to win. I won’t take time to recap what’s been wrong with the Blue Devils this year, so I will get straight to my prediction. Duke loses. Final score? Miami 52, Blue Devils 20.

And, unfortunately, that is how the Cutcliffe Era will end in Durham. Despite making Duke relevant and taking this program to six bowl games, it will end, in the same fashion that so many seasons ended before Cutcliffe came to town – too few victories, a losing season and a winless conference season. It’s a sad way to go out, but it’s what we’ll see. Despite my negative outlook on this game, I’ll be in Durham rooting for the Blue Devils. If you happen to be there, come by Section 30, Row D, and say hello. While it may be a painful game, I want to see what is likely the last home game for the coach who made this program relevant. And, for that, I’ll always be grateful and glad we had Cut in Durham.

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

Go Duke!

Interview – ACC Coaching Carousel

Matthew from All Sports Discussion and The ACC Weekly Podcast took some time tonight to come on the podcast and give his thoughts on what coaching changes we’re likely to see in the ACC next season. We had a great time, dropped a Metro Conference reference and, after talking a lot of football, got into Duke and VT basketball. Oh, and I previewed some guests for Season Two. Thanks, Matt, for coming on!

We hope you enjoy the episode.

Listen here.

2021 Game Recap -The Wheels Came Off (Again?)

Duke got beat by Louisville on Thursday night. Badly. This was a seventh straight conference loss and seventh straight loss overall. Since there wasn’t much to like about it, I’m going straight to the Five Things I Didn’t Like:

  1. I didn’t like going to Moore the first time in the red zone. I liked it even less the second time. Gunnar was in a rhythm, moving the ball well and putting us in a position to score even though Mataeo was hurt. Why disrupt the rhythm on first down? Why not wait till third and fourth or inches to do it? And, more important, why not let Moore do more? How about a deep toss instead of running all the time? We saw him connect for a touchdown in Blacksburg. Why didn’t we let him do it again? Probably because …
  2. The offensive staff sure seemed to want Gunnar to fail. The play calling and personnel groupings on offense didn’t show signs of life or smarts until Riley Leonard came in. Look, Jake Bobo is as tough as they come, but he won’t fool anyone when he goes in motion. No one is going to think we’ll actually run the ball with Jake (who is a great player, by the way. I can’t say enough good things about him. I’m just saying he isn’t a running threat.) But, hey, we did that exact play with Jalon when Leonard was under center and, wow, it worked. Why not do it with Gunnar? Even harder than that for me to understand than the sudden change in play calling is how it looked like Gunnar got benched. Up until he was taken out of the game, Gunnar played well. It wasn’t his fault the Blue Devils were getting abused by the Cardinals. How about the staff support Gunnar and give him a chance to win?
  3. I continue to not like our defense. Despite all the time the staff has had with this unit, they still haven’t figured out how to cover the edge and fill gaps. Or how to cover open offensive players. The worst, or best, example of this was when both of our LBs left an open man on 3rd and long (3rd-and-24, if my memory serves) to give up a touchdown. How in the world they managed to do that WHEN WE ALWAYS PLAY MAN is beyond me. Even more problematic is the fact that this unit can’t tackle. I like a lot of these guys individually (especially Woods who sure didn’t seem to get enough playing time), but the coaches aren’t putting them in a position to make plays. Week after week, this unit gives up a ton of points and way, way too many yards. Yet we keep doing the same thing. Over. And. Over. Again. With the same results.
  4. How d0 we not have Satterfield in some coaching role at Duke given that he grew up in Durham? That doesn’t really count as a thing, but it’ll have to do.
  5. No energy from Coach Cut. Before the game, the TV cameras picked up the Duke team in the tunnel. Cut was near the front of the group and, as I pointed out previously, he didn’t seem to have much energy. Cut looked disinterested and like he wanted to be anywhere but where is feet were. There’s a good political history comparison I could make, but I don’t get political on this site, so I won’t now. DM me on Twitter and I’ll discuss it with you. While I didn’t like Coach Spurrier resigning as head coach of the Gamecocks midway through the season, I now appreciate a coach realizing it wasn’t working and deciding to make a change.

This has been a rough season for the Blue Devils, real rough. And the way that the staff has failed to make adjustments hasn’t helped. The way it seems to undermine a very, very talented quarterback who has played well makes it even worse. I will understand if a lot of these guys refuse to come back next year, just like a lot of seniors did last year. Benching Gunnar explains that while Cut looks out for a staff that can’t put an offensive or defensive game plan together, he sure doesn’t look out for guys who stuck out several rough seasons and put it all on the field for the team. And that’s unfortunate. But that’s where things are now.

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

Go Duke!