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  1. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Los Angeles

    Another Link...


  2. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by NYC Duke Fan View Post
    Now, as you indicated correctly, if Duke were to field an ice hockey team, then we are on the right trail.
    Well, moreso than for football, true. Although, save for Massachusetts, you'd still be better off going for the Midwest in this case, where 2/3 of the U.S.-born collegiate hockey players come from. Now, if we wanted to start a basketball team...oh, wait.

    Now, as for Knowles, I'm not concerned with the pedestrian record at Cornell - we're not asking him to build a program, and it's I-AA or FCS or whatever it is these days and he couldn't even give out scholarships - so that's really apples and oranges. I'm a little concerned that, looking over Cornell's schedule this year, they gave up an awful lot of points. Like, a lot. And without running any numbers, it looks like defense has gotten weaker at Cornell over his tenure.

    That said, I think Cutcliffe's earned our trust, and thereby Knowles the benefit of the doubt, unless he proves otherwise. Welcome aboard!

  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by NYC Duke Fan View Post
    I hate to break a bubble, but the Northeast is not a hotbead of football recruiting. Now if Coach Cut had hired someone from Florida, we would be talking about something special.
    The Northeast is a far better BCS Football Program to millions of population ratio than the Southeast, including Florida.

    Take the rivals top 250 and then set an SAT cutoff of 1000 math verbal and then take a look at where they come from. I believe you will find players coming from California, Illinois, Ohio, PA, NJ, NY, New England, and fewer from the Southeast. For top-rated players willing to consider a Duke education, who might consider Duke over a top Program (Tomlinson picking Duke over Ohio State) the Northeast, Midwest are indeed "hotbeds."

  4. #24
    ??? Better evidence is needed for this, please. You've made a statement counter to conventional wisdom and anecdotal experience, then as proof offered only your perusal of a top 250 recruit list for the current year (which covers a sample of, what, 10% of the D-1 recruits in one season?), setting SAT parameters you know will eliminate a disproportionate number of kids from the South (I think your intent was to set for better Duke targets academically but your blanket statement fails to make a distinction between high academic achiever recruits and others), and then dropped California, Illinois and Ohio into the list of examples bolstering your claim. Perhaps a breakdown of roster members on BCS squads from the Northeast (PA does not count for football - we all know the majority of its recruits come from the western half of the state, and what's now Big Ten territory), as opposed to the Southeast may be more convincing.

    Also, number of recruits per capita, which appears to be your measure, is meaningless. Raw number of recruits is more important. Wyoming may have a higher number of rare talents per 1,000 people than California, but scouts aren't going to pour in there anytime soon.

    When we see 7 or 8 guys from Jersey and New York on every SEC team and not 7 or 8 guys from Florida and Georgia on every Big East team, the presumption might change. Until then, I'm afraid I'm quite unconvinced.

    Regardless, I don't think access to a new recruiting ground in which our new coordinator has been coaching at a non-scholarship institution is worth all that much, so the whole discussion is more academic than anything. Knowles may have set up some connections with high school coaches in the area, but he wasn't even approaching the kinds of talent Duke's now looking for, much less directly competing with Rutgers and UConn. If some stud QB emerges out of Ithaca HS, his time there may help, but that's about it.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by CameronBornAndBred View Post
    On Dukeupdate.com, they have an article linked (which I can't read due to being a paysite, duke.rivals.com) that Coach Hobby was to be named the D Coordinator, followed of course by the news that Duke has hired Knowles. I hope the outside hiring doesn't lead to any internal strife. I don't mind the Knowles hire, I like that we brought in someone from outside (even though the Cutcliffe connection is there), I just find it curious that someone posted that Hobby was to be the named replacement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Acymetric View Post
    Well, technically Hobby was already the (co) D-Coordinator, he wasn't just a position coach. My suspicion is that Hobby is now D-Coordinator and Knowles will be co-DC. We'll find out whenever we get an official announcement. Additionally, at least some of these guys probably worked with Knowles during his year under Cut at Ole Miss, so its not like its some totally new, unknown guy coming in.
    GoDuke.com just updated to include Knowles, and it appears that I was correct. Hobby has been promoted to "Assistant Head Coach - Defensive Coordinator" and Knowles is DC/Safeties coach. My guess is that Hobby will be calling the plays.

    To keep track of the positions, it appears the power structure is this:

    David Cutcliffe - Head Coach

    Ron Middleton - Associate Head Coach (special teams coordinator/tight ends)

    Marion Hobby - Assistant Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator)

    Kurt Roper (Offensive Coordinator, QBs)/Matt Luke (Offensive Coordinator/running game, O-Line)/Jim Knowles (Defensive Coordinator - Safeties)

    Jim Collins (Linebackers)/Scottie Montgomery (Receivers)/Derek Jones (secondary)/Zac Roper (Recruiting Coordinator, RBs, special teams)


    I don't think there should be any issue with Knowles coming in ahead of Collins and Jones, because he has quite a bit of experience as an assistant, and is the only other person on the team with prior HC experience.

    As a sidenote, having an assistant with experience as a head coach is really a huge plus for the program, in my opinion.


    Edit: Official announcement from Duke.
    Last edited by Acymetric; 12-28-2009 at 04:54 PM. Reason: Link to official release

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hudson Valley

    Colgate's head coach

    Quote Originally Posted by NYC Duke Fan View Post
    He was the head coach of Cornell not Colgate and Colgate a member of The Patriot League, like Cornell, a member of the Ivy League does not give out football scholorships..
    The head coach at Colgate is Dick Biddle, who was in my class (1970) at Duke. I was in Suitcase Simpson's Poli-Sci class with him. He played linebacker and was a hellofa football player - but at that time was probably the most callous, brutal person I had ever met.
    I am (pleasantly) surprised that he has been a success as a coach at a school like Colgate.

    Jim

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by NYC Duke Fan View Post
    He was the head coach of Cornell not Colgate and Colgate a member of The Patriot League, like Cornell, a member of the Ivy League does not give out football scholorships..
    It's pronounced Colonel, and it's the highest rank in the military
    - Creed

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Meeting with Marie Laveau
    Quote Originally Posted by Tappan Zee Devil View Post
    The head coach at Colgate is Dick Biddle, who was in my class (1970) at Duke. I was in Suitcase Simpson's Poli-Sci class with him. He played linebacker and was a hellofa football player - but at that time was probably the most callous, brutal person I had ever met.
    I am (pleasantly) surprised that he has been a success as a coach at a school like Colgate.

    Jim
    Suitcase Simpson's class were something of a melting pot of athletes and non-athletes.

    Did you also take any of Dr. Rankin's classes?

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hudson Valley
    Quote Originally Posted by Devil in the Blue Dress View Post
    Suitcase Simpson's class were something of a melting pot of athletes and non-athletes.

    Did you also take any of Dr. Rankin's classes?
    No - I was a physics major, so had only limited opportunity to take non-science courses. For all that the class had a large number of athletes and Dr. Simpson referred to the football players as "my gladiators", I thought it actually was a good course in which I learned a lot about about American constitutional history.

    He sat us alphabetically so I sat between Wes Chesson and Marcel Courtillet with Biddle immediately in front of me. I think that the only time that Suitcase saw me all semester was on the Fridays when the team was traveling.

    Jim

  10. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Tappan Zee Devil View Post
    No - I was a physics major, so had only limited opportunity to take non-science courses. For all that the class had a large number of athletes and Dr. Simpson referred to the football players as "my gladiators", I thought it actually was a good course in which I learned a lot about about American constitutional history.

    He sat us alphabetically so I sat between Wes Chesson and Marcel Courtillet with Biddle immediately in front of me. I think that the only time that Suitcase saw me all semester was on the Fridays when the team was traveling.

    Jim
    Kind of a rose among all the thorns...

  11. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Walnut Creek, California
    I think it is fair to say that Suitcase...err...Dr. Simpson...was a very fine professor. He helped me out my senior year permitting me to add a class after the deadline...it was urban government (or something along those lines) and he was really knowledgeable and effective.

  12. #32
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Meeting with Marie Laveau
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim3k View Post
    I think it is fair to say that Suitcase...err...Dr. Simpson...was a very fine professor. He helped me out my senior year permitting me to add a class after the deadline...it was urban government (or something along those lines) and he was really knowledgeable and effective.
    Dr. Simpson was an overlooked gem. He put his students ahead of university politics. His memory was extraordinary... as I have mentioned on the past, he remembered my dad as a former student of his and even quoted his final grade. It was in his class I met several people who were influential in my life after college.

  13. #33
    I'm reluctant to keep this going in this direction, but is there a story of some kind as to why Dr. Simpson is referred to as "Suitecase"? Thanks... He sounds like a great prof. I also had a chuckle when reading about TZD's "obscurity". ;-)

  14. #34
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Walnut Creek, California
    Quote Originally Posted by gep View Post
    I'm reluctant to keep this going in this direction, but is there a story of some kind as to why Dr. Simpson is referred to as "Suitecase"? Thanks... He sounds like a great prof. I also had a chuckle when reading about TZD's "obscurity". ;-)
    I don't really know...but major league player -- outfielder and first baseman -- Harry Simpson was known as 'Suitcase Simpson' because he played for so many teams -- he had played in the Negro Leagues for years before getting on with the Indians in the early '50s. He was on the 1957 Yankee World Series team, too.

    I suspect that Professor Simpson just got tagged with 'Suitcase' because they shared the same last name.

    I certainly never heard why students called him Suitcase -- but they did -- and I believe he enjoyed it.

  15. #35
    Thanks...

  16. #36
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Northern VA

    Lightbulb Oops! Point still made though...

    Quote Originally Posted by NYC Duke Fan View Post
    He was the head coach of Cornell not Colgate and Colgate a member of The Patriot League, like Cornell, a member of the Ivy League does not give out football scholorships..
    That's what I get for posting in the middle of the night! Thanks NYC for catching my typo - nobody tell my wife I messed up in typing the name of her "hometown" school (!). But I actually WAS talking about Cornell. And the point remains: CORNELL in Ithaca, NY (right along the PA/NY border) has about 35 players from, and obviously recruits quite a bit in, the football-rich High Schools of PA, upstate NY and NJ. And the academic and small-school environment is remarkably similar to Duke. Given the southern orientation of Cut's current staff, gaining those HS contacts is clearly a very good thing, esp. as FDA points out, for attracting Duke-type athletes. Obviously a significant proportion of the Duke student body already comes from that part of the world as well -- so the "sell"/value pitch maybe meets a somewhat receptive audience there.

    Time will tell. I certainly like Cut's focus on team speed -- one of those things that's hard to "teach." Now, let's keep bringing in those high-3 and maybe 4-star recruits! Getting a NEW foot in the door in an important and "natural" recruiting area for Duke can only be good.

  17. #37
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Meeting with Marie Laveau
    Quote Originally Posted by gep View Post
    I'm reluctant to keep this going in this direction, but is there a story of some kind as to why Dr. Simpson is referred to as "Suitecase"? Thanks... He sounds like a great prof. I also had a chuckle when reading about TZD's "obscurity". ;-)
    My dad was a member of the Class of 1933 and was one of Dr. Simpson's undergraduate students. (Dr. Simpson may have been a graduate student then.) Dad told me the nickname came from an incident which happened on campus while my dad time as a student.

    One day Dr. Simpson went out to his car to go home and apparently was carrying enough that he placed his briefcase on top of his car and loaded the rest in the car. Somehow he forgot that the briefcase full of students' papers and tests was still on top of the car and drove off scattering the papers as he sped off to his home on Dollar Ave. Some students witnessed the event and gave him his popular nickname.

    Another colorful figure on campus during the same period of time was "Nurmi" Shears whose nickname came from the name of a famous Olympic runner from Scandinavia I think. Nurmi earned his nickname because of how fast he could run even in his later years. He was a math tutor for some of the athletes and would frequently challenge some of them to a foot race with him in the quad. He was also known for wearing several watches on his arm all set for different timezones. He was still tutoring and running foot races in the last sixties.

  18. #38
    Thanks to you too... I enjoy these interesting stories of Duke personalities.

  19. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Mal View Post
    ??? Better evidence is needed for this, please. You've made a statement counter to conventional wisdom and anecdotal experience, then as proof offered only your perusal of a top 250 recruit list for the current year (which covers a sample of, what, 10% of the D-1 recruits in one season?), setting SAT parameters you know will eliminate a disproportionate number of kids from the South (I think your intent was to set for better Duke targets academically but your blanket statement fails to make a distinction between high academic achiever recruits and others), and then dropped California, Illinois and Ohio into the list of examples bolstering your claim. Perhaps a breakdown of roster members on BCS squads from the Northeast (PA does not count for football - we all know the majority of its recruits come from the western half of the state, and what's now Big Ten territory), as opposed to the Southeast may be more convincing.

    Also, number of recruits per capita, which appears to be your measure, is meaningless. Raw number of recruits is more important. Wyoming may have a higher number of rare talents per 1,000 people than California, but scouts aren't going to pour in there anytime soon.

    When we see 7 or 8 guys from Jersey and New York on every SEC team and not 7 or 8 guys from Florida and Georgia on every Big East team, the presumption might change. Until then, I'm afraid I'm quite unconvinced.

    Regardless, I don't think access to a new recruiting ground in which our new coordinator has been coaching at a non-scholarship institution is worth all that much, so the whole discussion is more academic than anything. Knowles may have set up some connections with high school coaches in the area, but he wasn't even approaching the kinds of talent Duke's now looking for, much less directly competing with Rutgers and UConn. If some stud QB emerges out of Ithaca HS, his time there may help, but that's about it.
    Ohio has one high major program - Ohio State, and year on and off, Pennsylvania one - Penn State, throw in Pitt for certain timeframes. NY, NJ, NE have none. Sure Rutgers is better, UConn, Boston College, but, I would not call these insurmountable competition for Duke Football. In the Southeast, you have much smaller populations, even today, and tons and tons of high major programs, as well as programs which engender in state and regional bias and preferences which are difficult to overcome. If you follow Duke Football recruiting closely, it is disappointing of late. We have missed out on a number of kids we thought we had a pretty good chance on, who may not have been Duke Football student athlete material in a traditional academic sense, but which Cutcliffe had been going after. The recruits simply chose better Football programs. Many were not very good students, so what would be their motivation in choosing Duke?

    Cutcliffe has concentrated his recruiting efforts and staff time regionally, players he might like who he could get in with the relaxed admissions standards. Stanford on the other hand faces much higher admissions hurdles, team average criteria, and screened the top 250 and beyond (likely high 3 star players or better) firstly on the basis of academic criteria, and then concentrated their sales pitch on the better students who could make the cut.

    Coming from a fairly prominent high school program in the Northeast, I also think you are wrong on what the new Defensive Coordinator may add in our recruiting equation.

    Firstly, he will know the larger programs at better high schools which produce football recruits. Some of these may go the BCS route and others may go the route of the Ivy League. He has talked some kids into Cornell who had scholarship offers with better programs than Duke. He knows coaches, principals, guidance counselors. He knows what it takes to sell an elite education. If he could talk kids into freezing weather and attending Cornell, sometimes over full scholarship offers with BCS programs, he just might help us talk academically well-qualified who are highly ranked Football players into coming down to Duke, a higher ranked school than Cornell, Ivy equivalent school, to play BCS football.

    In the day of the internet, camps, combines, if someone in Wyoming playing ball is a top talent, he will be found and offered. Our chances of landing that top talent will depend on the regional competition and how well-qualified academically, how academically-motivated the recruit. The national approach works much better, firstly screening on the basis of high academics. Stanford's recruiting advantage over Duke is explained in large part by their approach. Duke's relative disadvantage is also explained largely in our approach.

  20. #40
    Here is your initial proclamation: "The Northeast is a far better BCS Football Program to millions of population ratio than the Southeast, including Florida." [emphasis added] Who Duke targets or should be targeting, and our recruiting history, has nothing to do with that statement. I'm asking you to prove your initial thesis, because it's counterintuitive. That is, if I can assume what the intended wording was; I think you meant to say something along the lines of "The Northeast is a far better pipeline of BCS football talent in terms of good recruits per million inhabitants than the Southeast, including Florida." On its face, that's ludicrous. So, if you'd like, back it up with some non-skewed to your benefit, sufficient sample size numbers.

    Your point about the scant number of top flight programs in the Northeast also argues against your thesis - for one, that's less players playing collegiate ball up there, even if all those teams were stocked with local kids. But when the Big East programs still look to Texas, Florida and Georgia to fill out their rosters to a much greater degree than the reverse happens, it makes your statement look even more untrue.

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