David Cutcliffe: Your 2013 ACC Coach of the Year

[BlueDevilinNYC]

Extremely well deserved:

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/i...ch-of-the-year

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

http://www.theacc.com/#!/news-detail...2-03-13_rfo49i

[nmduke2001]

Also a finalist for the Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year
https://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/...ar-finalists-0

[DukieInKansas]

A well deserved honor for Coach Cutcliffe! Congratulations!

[nyesq83]

An obvious award for an extraordinary man, mentor, mensch, and majestic member of the Duke family.

Long may you reign, Coach Cut!

[roywhite]

An obvious award for an extraordinary man, mentor, mensch, and majestic member of the Duke family.

Long may you reign, Coach Cut!

When Coach Spurrier was at Duke, I felt we had two of the best major sport coaches of any school in the country in Coach K and the Ole Ball Coach.

Our situation today is even better, at least IMO -- Duke has the best pair of major sport coaches of any University in the country in Mke Krzyzewski and David Cutcliffe.
(and there are other Duke coaches who are among the very best in their sport).

[Dev11]

I'm not sure about other schools, but John Danowski has been to the final four every season since he's been at Duke, 2008, and he has two titles. That's pretty impressive.

[flyingdutchdevil]

...I fully agree that Coach Cutcliffe should have won this award. No questions asked.

But for those who have complained that Coach K didn't win Coach of the Year despite winning the ACC flat out (you know, which happens from time to time), please refer to Cutcliffe. Duke wasn't the best team nor did we have the best record, but we surpassed expectations and did something historic for our program. Those, within them selves, makes Cutcliffe more deserving over Jumbo.

[Indoor66]

...I fully agree that Coach Cutcliffe should have won this award. No questions asked.

But for those who have complained that Coach K didn't win Coach of the Year despite winning the ACC flat out (you know, which happens from time to time), please refer to Cutcliffe. Duke wasn't the best team nor did we have the best record, but we surpassed expectations and did something historic for our program. Those, within them selves, makes Cutcliffe more deserving over Jumbo.

Even moreso over Jimbo.

[OldPhiKap]

Well-deserved. Congrats to Coach Cut and his staff; I am sure he would be the first to point out (as he always does) that he has great folks on his TEAM.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

When Coach Spurrier was at Duke, I felt we had two of the best major sport coaches of any school in the country in Coach K and the Ole Ball Coach.

Our situation today is even better, at least IMO --

Perhaps I misunderstood, but if you're comparing the OBC to Cutcliffe, I would take Spurrier. I would say what he's done at Columbia is more impressive than what Cut's done with Duke so far. Just my opinion.

Duke has the best pair of major sport coaches of any University in the country in Mke Krzyzewski and David Cutcliffe.
(and there are other Duke coaches who are among the very best in their sport).

I agree but an argument could be made for Ohio State(perhaps others).

[Indoor66]

I agree but an argument could be made for Ohio State(perhaps others).

I don't see any argument. Their basketball program is not even in the conversation.

[Mike Corey]

Perhaps I misunderstood, but if you're comparing the OBC to Cutcliffe, I would take Spurrier. I would say what he's done at Columbia is more impressive than what Cut's done with Duke so far. Just my opinion.




I agree but an argument could be made for Ohio State(perhaps others).

Respectfully:

(1) Coach Spurrier took a South Carolina program that had just fired Lou Holtz, a former national championship-winning coach, and turned it from average to great. South Carolina had been ranked in each of the four seasons prior to Spurrier's arrival, including two bowl victories over Ohio State. Coach Cutcliffe took a program that had not had a winning season since 1994 and has just churned out back-to-back bowl bids, despite tremendous institutional inertia caused by a lack of recent tradition, decent facilities, fan support, etc. What Coach Cutcliffe has done is leagues above the Old Ball Coach's success in Columbia, IMO.

(2) Thad Matta is a very good coach, and Urban is among the three best coaches in college football. The former has never won a national title, and has been to a pair of Final Fours and produced a handful of All-Americans. A strong duo, to be sure, but again, not in the same league as Duke's. K is not only the best current coach, but arguably the best of all time. And Cutcliffe's rejuvenated two programs--Mississippi and Duke--while also winning a national title and a handful of awards while OC at Tennessee.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

I don't see any argument. Their basketball program is not even in the conversation.

But you would compare Duke's Football program to Ohio State's?

Respectfully:

(1) Coach Spurrier took a South Carolina program that had just fired Lou Holtz, a former national championship-winning coach, and turned it from average to great. South Carolina had been ranked in each of the four seasons prior to Spurrier's arrival, including two bowl victories over Ohio State. Coach Cutcliffe took a program that had not had a winning season since 1994 and has just churned out back-to-back bowl bids, despite tremendous institutional inertia caused by a lack of recent tradition, decent facilities, fan support, etc. What Coach Cutcliffe has done is leagues above the Old Ball Coach's success in Columbia, IMO.

(2) Thad Matta is a very good coach, and Urban is among the three best coaches in college football. The former has never won a national title, and has been to a pair of Final Fours and produced a handful of All-Americans. A strong duo, to be sure, but again, not in the same league as Duke's. K is not only the best current coach, but arguably the best of all time. And Cutcliffe's rejuvenated two programs--Mississippi and Duke--while also winning a national title and a handful of awards while OC at Tennessee.

1) Winning at South Carolina isn't a walk-in-the-park. There's a reason it was known as the "Graveyard of Coaches".

Before Spurrier, South Carolina NEVER:

Won more than 10 games in a season(1984 - they went 10-2)
Finished in the AP Top 10
Defeated the #1 Team in the Country

Before Spurrier, South Carolina:

Finished in the AP Top 25 only 5 times
Won only 3 bowl games
Ended the Lou Holtz Era(32-37 overall record) on probation for major recruiting violations

Since Spurrier:
2010 SEC East Champions
3 consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins(2011-2013)
Finished in the AP Top 10 the last 2 years
3 Bowl Wins
Defeated #1 Alabama in 2010
5 straight victories over Clemson(1st time in history)


I would say that's pretty impressive.


2) I agree with your points, just saying I could see how someone could make a case for the duo of Matta/Meyer over K/Cut.

[Mike Corey]

Winning at South Carolina is impressive. It is not as impressive as winning at Duke. The evidence you proferred supports that--Duke was churning 10-loss seasons prior to Cutcliffe's arrival and has now chalked up a 10-win season.

Respectfully, that's harder than taking a team that just won two Outback Bowls and progressing it a top-10 finish.

This is the same argument I suspect Auburn makes will make when Gus Malzahn is passed over for Cutcliffe when NCOY honors are announced.

What Cutcliffe has done is resuscitate a dormant program despite decades of struggle.

What Malzahn (and Spurrier) have done is impressive, no doubt, but an orange to Cutcliffe's apple.

[Indoor66]

2) I agree with your points, just saying I could see how someone could make a case for the duo of Matta/Meyer over K/Cut.

Please, by all means, make your case. I do not claim Duke Football is as good as OSU - or even close. But you are making the assertion about the Matta/Meyer combo over K/Cut.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Winning at South Carolina is impressive. It is not as impressive as winning at Duke.

Maybe you're right.

I wonder if Spurrier coached at Duke, could he win?

I guess we'll never know.

Seriously, though, both Spurrier and Cut are AWESOME coaches and as a fan of BOTH South Carolina and Duke, I'm happy they are where they are.

GO DUKE AND GO GAMECOCKS!

[Mike Corey]

I wonder if Spurrier coached at Duke, could he win?

I guess we'll never know.

No need to roll your eyes. That's not the argument--we're not comparing Spurrier's coaching success at Duke and comparing it to Cutcliffe's coaching success at Duke. However, I would argue that Spurrier's successes at Duke are more impressive than his successes at South Carolina.

[OldPhiKap]

Competing for SEC division championships at South Carolina is extremely impressive. Sustaining it, even moreso. They have now beaten Clemson six years in a row, after getting dogged year in and year out.

Steve's tenure in Columbia is a few years longer than Cut's in Durham, and so he is farther along. But I hope we are on the same trajectory. When we get to six straight against the Tar Heels, for example . . . .

The two situations are comparable. If it ain't a tie, it's pretty darn close.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Please, by all means, make your case. I do not claim Duke Football is as good as OSU - or even close. But you are making the assertion about the Matta/Meyer combo over K/Cut.

Allright, briefly, I would say this:

Meyer went undefeated at UTAH. He has won 2 National Titles at Florida. He has, already, 1 undefeated season at OSU and a shot at a 3rd Natty this year. Given his age(49), he could rival what K's doing if his health holds out.

Matta has made multiple FF's and Conference Titles while being a perennial Top 25 team and an elite program. Cutt, while having an excellent year, needs to follow it up with more consistency to match what Matta has done.

Is my case weak? - yeah, probably. But I could see how looking thru OSU-Colored glasses, the argument could be made.