WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Cutcliffe: Last-place preseason pick tells a story

By Barry Jacobs

Jul 23, 2008

The results of media voting on the projected order of finish in the ACC had just been distributed, and as is usually the case Duke was picked last. “It’s what you expected based on the past,” said David Cutcliffe, approaching his first season as the Blue Devil coach. Cutcliffe hoped aloud that his players “take a little offense to it, they haven’t gotten too used to it.”

Then he wondered how many years in a row Duke was picked for the cellar. Told this was the ninth straight season, he replied with a chuckle, “That kind of tells the story.”

Cutcliffe, a coach since 1982, knows he and the Duke program are at the threshold of a long journey toward respectability. Among the first steps was telling his new charges that, as has been well-publicized, they were “the fattest, softest bunch of football players I’ve ever seen.”

Then came the mental lessons on how to win, on how to approach winning. “You have to earn the right to win, period,” Cutcliffe said. “I think that the mistake that they’ve taken is that they kind of thought it was easy to win somewhere else. It is not easy to win anywhere. It is real easy to lose.”

Cutcliffe has not yet seen the football skills of his squad put to the test in a real contest, but he’s watched plenty of tape, enough to harbor few illusions.

He knows, for instance, that the kicking game was “atrocious” last season. The squad as a whole has “played a lot of football,” but with poor results, Cutcliffe said. “At least they understand what their challenges are.”

So, apparently, does he.

Cutcliffe brings new attitude, expectations to Durham

Almost anything will be an improvement for Duke football, given that the Blue Devils have won a single game over the past two seasons. That made for a receptive bunch when the school replaced Ted Roof with David Cutcliffe, who arrived with impressive credentials as a head coach and offensive coordinator in the Southeastern Conference.

“He came in and was just disgusted with the way the team looked, the condition the team was in,” recalled Vince Oghobaase, a junior defensive tackle. “He called us a fat football team, which we were. We all took heed into what he was saying, and lost the weight. I think collectively as a team we lost like 400 pounds.”

Over the years, the Blue Devils were noted as a program with skilled players but little depth, a team that could compete for part of a game but rarely over four quarters. “Once the snowball starts rolling, it just starts to grow and grow,” said Erin Riley, a senior wide receiver. “We’d just get tired or lazy, or drop a pass here, miss a tackle.”

Cutcliffe stressed that success would come when players made a habit of completing the job at hand. “That’s one thing we’ve been harping on this whole offseason, is finishing – finishing a drill, finishing a rep, finishing a play, just finishing in everything we do,” Riley said.

THE KEY GAME OF THE SEASON will be the opener against James Madison. The Blue Devils last debuted with a victory in 2002, prior to the careers of anyone on the roster. Included in those losses was a 2006 home defeat against Richmond, like JMU a school from a lower football division. “We have to set a tone,” Riley said. “We’re hoping that’s going to set the pace for us for the coming season if we go out there and play good, get a win under our belt.”

THE SEASON WILL BE A SUCCESS IF: the Devils look and play like a competent football team. Cutcliffe’s hire created a mild burst of enthusiasm among fans and instilled new confidence in the 49 returning lettermen, 19 starters among them.

 MARK THOMAS' TAKE: David Cutcliffe, David Cutcliffe, David Cutcliffe, David Cutcliffe, David Cutcliffe, David Cutcliffe and David Cutcliffe - seven  reasons to watch Duke play football this season.

 Cutcliffe looking for toughness in QB

New Duke coach David Cutcliffe is known for developing quarterbacks, but here’s an attribute he looks for in his quarterbacks you might not expect _ toughness.

“The first thing I try to do is find the toughest guy I can,” Cutcliffe said in an interview with The Fan at Operation Football. “It takes a physically tough and mentally tough individual to stand in there when you have beasts trying to take your head off.”

Cutcliffe also said he has been spending time with many Duke students and others in the Duke community discussing the future of the football program.

He has discovered that many at Duke wonder if the Blue Devils really can win in football.

"They’re still real skeptical that it’s just a bunch of words,” he said.

Duke

Head Coach: David Cutcliffe (1st season at Duke)

2007 Record: 1-11 (0-8)

ACC Championships: 7

Last ACC Title: 1989

Returning Offensive Starters: 7

Returning Defensive Starters: 10

All-ACC Returnees: 0

2008 Schedule:

Aug. 30 James Madison

Sept. 6 Northwestern

Sept. 13 Navy

Sept. 27 Virginia

Oct. 4 at Georgia Tech

Oct. 18 Miami

Oct. 25 at Vanderbilt

Nov. 1 at Wake Forest

Nov. 8 NC State

Nov. 15 at Clemson

Nov. 22 at Virginia Tech

Nov. 29 North Carolina