I certainly thought the piece from the front page deserved its own thread, however, mods feel free to move it to the Phase section of Duke Football if you feel it appropriate.

I think Barry Jacobs brings up some good points about Duke Football and its progress or lack there off under David Cutcliffe. However, I think to look at things from a statistical stand point at this point do little to paint a picture of the improvement. He is right that there is little statistical evidence to point toward improvement but I'm not a fan of comparing statistics. I think statistics are something we can look at down the road when Cutcliffe has made this program a bit more sustainable and I think he will do just that.

I wrote a piece on my blog last week about how I think Duke Football needs a new measuring stick aside from just counting wins and loses. Now I realize that wins and loses are the ultimate benchmark but at this state the program needs time to build and grow. I've watch lots of Duke football for a while and aside from the Spurrier years all three of them, and the one lightening in a bottle year under Goldsmith, and everything in between and after. Under Cutcliffe is the first time I see the program as whole, the product on the field and around the field making forward progress.

I'm not super excited about the statistical drop off that this season has brought, especially on the offensive side of the ball but the team as a whole just looks more like a quality team. There is some speed and considering how young the team is they can only get better.

Perhaps I'm just looking at the team through some seriously tented Duke Blue colored glasses, and I certainly don't mean to insinuate that I know more than Barry Jacobs on the topic, but from my strict fan point of view I'm happy with the progress and will continue to be watching, cheering, and writing about Duke Football. I mean if I could watch the Barry Wilson, Carl Franks and Ted Roof years, I can't wait it out until Cutcliffe does what he came to do.