http://www.athlonsports.com/college-...actice-edition
I find this a little ridiculous but thought it's an interesting topic non the less. I think Cutcliffe has done a great job with the tools he has and has a lot of potential long team as a head coach. I also think he's a great ambassador for the university and seems to be a very good person overall. The only thing that makes me nervous is the reports of Tennessee fans growing impatient with Dooley and ready to win. I know he turned them down once but who knows if they call back again?
Duke would be insane to fire Cutcliffe. It would be nice to win some more games this year, but changing a culture isn't something that happens overnight. He's doing a pretty darn good job in my book. The depth and level of athletes and attitudes in general are night and day from a decade ago.
It's actually not BS and it is an interesting topic. I have absolutely no issue with Cut, if you read my post I gave him a lot of credit for what he's done, I was simple trying to start off a conversation as to what we need to do to keep moving in the right direction. If people are seeing him as a coach on the hot seat, don't you think fans/boosters will start rumbling eventually? I think as a Duke fan and with Cut's history at Tennessee it'd be stupid not to feel threatened, we can't compete with that type of program and what they can offer. I don't know why your dripping sarcasm, a publication that's been around for years like Athlon Sports is a good source. Don't twist my words into something I didn't say, no issues here.
I think Cut is pretty much safe unless he goes 3-9 again. Then he might be feeling the seat get luke warm but not hot. He is not in a pressure packed job. He isn't fighting a furious fan base foaming at the mouth with unrealistic expectations every year. He is dealing with small fan base that has only a moderate interest in football. Now that will change a bit if Duke starting winning with regularity. He has the passion, he has the accumen and now he is working on getting the talent. He has made Duke Football into something to keep an eye on at the very least and while it hasn't been always pleasant to watch, this program is far from the embarrassment it has been over the Frank/Roof eras. So overall I think the job is his as long as he wants it and as long as he doesn't suffer some severe head injury that causes him to act in an unscrupulous manner or he turns his program over to an assitant coach who is running wild.
No. Obviously.
And the argument being proposed is -- Cut is struggling at Duke, so Tennessee is dying to snatch him up? I need another cup of coffee to think about that one.
Anyone who has watched Duke football for any length of time knows that it will take a massive effort to turn our program around. Cut is on his way to doing that. This is assenine.
Cutcliffe is totally safe at Duke. He may not be winning as much as we or he would like, but he has helped change the culture of football at Duke, and that was one of his goals.
However, there is one coach on his staff that is on MY hotseat. Kurt Roper, you need to rewrite your playbook or turn over the reigns.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Putting "Cutcliffe" and "hot seat" in the same sentence is just moronic. However, nothing in college sports surprises me any more. I still have a grudge about Red Wilson being fired the day after wrapping up his second straight winning season by upsetting Carolina. I know Butters gets a lot of credit for sticking with K, but that showed the other side of the coin, and I still haven't forgiven Butters for that.
I was disappointed last year. I thought Duke had the best QB in the conference and the best kicker in the country. Cutcliffe could not be blamed for thinking so as well. But it was not the case. It may be coaching in the case of Renfree, but I don't think so. It was probably injuries in the case of Snyderwine.
I am still hopeful for Renfree, but I agree with CBB that the offense needs to be a lot more imaginative. We saw some creativity in spring football; maybe we'll get something exciting in the fall.
sagegrouse
The only reason Cutcliffe's seat is warm is because the University bought him heated cushions.
as a member of the duke community and supporter of duke football, i find the idea that cut isn't doing a good enough job and should be replaced offensive. football results have been at least acceptable given the state of the program he took over and, more importantly, he's represented duke university well in a high profile position.
the author of the article probably just ran out of guys to throw on there - otherwise it would be a top 25 list (instead of top 20), right?
Love it! And very insightful comment, Mike!
As much as I've criticized Curt Roper, here and in another semi-public forum, I think their creativity that we saw in the spring game in using the 3 quarterbacks, and the passing downfield we saw there, bodes well for the team. So I'm willing to wait and see what actually happens in games next fall. Let's remember - Roper calls plays in Cut's offense, not something of his own design. And having a healthy breakaway running back will also help!
Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!
Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
9F 9F 9F
https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com
You are absolutely right! So, here's how you write a piece like this. You have some knowledge of a few coaches who are vulnerable (read J. Feinstein re the doofus, Randy Edsall at UMd). Then you take the 1A list of coaches in the BCS conferences and sort them by record. Then you pick and choose to get your list. A coach with a 15-33 record glows like Rudolph's nose. So you put him on the list of the most vulnerable coaches.
End of story.
sage
First, I think Coach Cut deserves several more years to make Duke a real competitor in the ACC. And I find it interesting that Red Wilson's name has come up. Let's hope that Duke won't make the sad mistake of letting its current coach go. It might be instructive to know (as many of us certainly do) that Duke has had three winning seasons since those two straight 6-5 years.
Wilson's years since then were spent at Duke, also. Here is a good story that condenses Red's contributions to Elon College and Duke University. The story ran just before Elon and Duke played football in 2010. And, by the way, you could call him Shirley and be entirely correct!
http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles...ach-lived.html
Man, if your Mom made you wear that color when you were a baby, and you're still wearing it, it's time to grow up!
In my 4 years at school (2000-2004), I saw 5 football wins. The only time most students went to the games was when the rumor got out we were winning (which didn't happen till the first game of my junior year). I remember the OT game against Rice where there were so few fans in the stands, the students were able to run down to the open end of the field for the 2nd OT to put pressure on Rice's offense. And I saw every game except one. Granted, I was working for the team for 3 of those years, but I've seen how bad it can get, how it feels when no one cares enough to show up at the games, and when they do, they're gone by halftime.
It takes time to build (or in our case, rebuild) a program. Ted Roof tried and wasn't successful, but I credit him for getting that initial seed of working hard and seeing some results into the minds of football players that put on the Duke uniform. Coach Cutcliffe has taken that to a new level, a level even I thought I wouldn't see for decades at Wallace Wade. Before, it was a miracle when we were losing by single digits. Now, our players EXPECT to win every single game and, most importantly, they are ANGRY if they do lose. Coach Cutcliffe has our team thinking like a major football program, and the amenities that have been put in to help that growth (the new football building, new practice fields, improved stadium culture at Wallace Wade) is all a part of that...we're not thinking like a FCS school. We're thinking like the Ole Misses, the Texas Techs, those teams that know they should be going "bowling" every single year and start to compete to be in the top half of the conference.
Getting to a bowl game is the next step, which involves beating the teams we should (the DII opponent, the lower half of the ACC, our mid-tier nonconference opponents), beating our football rivals (UNC, Wake) and competing against the top half of the ACC and perhaps stealing a game or two (we came close against VT last season). I love that every year we are competing and we're just THIS close to winning more games than losing. This is the year that we need to take that next step. But, I'm glad there's more of us thinking this way as opposed to 10 short years ago, when many of my class thought we would never see the football team win while we were in school.