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Duke

Duke football gains ground with digital leap

Aug 15, 2012

Durham, N.C. — Coaches used to say when a player showed up to practice, he wanted to see the player and his playbook. Now, it's bring your iPad.

Duke is one of the first college programs in the country to throw out the paper and go completely digital.

"It's just like the old days, but you click at the top and there's a video that pops up," said head football coach David Cutcliffe. 

"Let's go to a play we've got installed," said offensive lineman Dave Harding, "you can click on this video and it will bring up video from the last season and cut ups coaches want us to see."

Players no longer have to come here to the football center to look at film. They can just click a button and it's all there. Way better than looking for a parking spot on a school day.

"I could be getting my car serviced or at the Doctor's office," said defensive end Kenny Anunike. "So now you have no excuse not to know a lot about your opponent."

"I think we are ahead of most college teams," Cutcliffe said. "There are some pro teams doing it, but we are cutting edge and we should be. We are Duke."

"We're so grateful to coach. He did an amazing job getting us these iPads," said Anunike. "Now it's our job to use it to its full potential to get us where we need to get now that we have this edge on other teams."

A technological edge Cutcliffe is hoping will translate into a competitive edge and maybe even that elusive bowl game.

• Reporter: Mandy Mitchell
• Web Editor: Erin Summers