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jimsumner
02-03-2010, 03:36 PM
Cutcliffe had a press conference today to discuss the recruiting class. Some highlights.

Johnny Williams has been moved to cornerback. May still play some offense.

Kenny Annunike moved to DE.

Will Synderwine is on scholarship.

Cut says Duke addressed specific needs.

1.Speed. "speed never had a bad day on the football field." Duke signed ten players who run the forty in 4.5 or less.

2.Size. Four linemen in the 300-pound range.

3.lack of pass rush. "Got four big-time pass rushers."

4.Quarterback depth. Two new QBs give Duke four.

Cut doesn't concern himself with prep rankings. Understands fascination with such but argues that his staff has seen many of these players at camp and is better able to make judgments than those made by just watching film. Duke looks for work ethic, competitiveness and quickness.

Cut very high on juco TE Helfelt. Calls him a "play-maker" who will make "big impact." Says the California junior colleges have players with good academics who slipped through the cracks. Duke will look for more.

Expects one or more true freshmen to play DT. "Need a little help there."

Really likes OLs Cofield and Tomlinson. Calls them "big cats," light on their feet but big. "big, physical, really talented." Says either or both might play this fall. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Says class as a whole has lots of edge speed on D, play-makers on offense.

Nest Step? Sell-out season tickets. Discussed infrastructure improvements. Just about ready to go on indoor complex. Digging before summer. Duke is involving former players with money, people who are "used to getting their way." Big money involved.

Cut would be happy if Indy wins this Sunday. Yes, someone actually asked that.

uncwdevil
02-03-2010, 03:41 PM
I'm listening to Mark Packer's show on WFNZ in Charlotte and he just had Jim Grobe on to talk about recruiting and Wake's class.

Towards the end of the segment, Packer tells Grobe that he's got a nephew at Charlotte Country Day who's a 6'4" QB with good grades, etc. Grobe sounds interested and Packer says that he will send him info about his nephew. Packer goes on to say that David Cutcliffe has already been "bothering" him, but Packer told his nephew that there was no way he was going to go to Duke to play football. He said that if the kid can play and has good grades he was going to send him to Wake instead.

I thought it was amusing/annoying.

gotham devil
02-03-2010, 04:02 PM
Nest Step? Sell-out season tickets. Discussed infrastructure improvements. Just about ready to go on indoor complex. Digging before summer. Duke is involving former players with money, people who are "used to getting their way." Big money involved.

Interesting...John Mack Stadium ;)

CameronBornAndBred
02-03-2010, 04:17 PM
Johnny Williams has been moved to cornerback. May still play some offense.

Interesting..is this because the receiver corps is so loaded? At least he's an inch taller than Leon. (5'10":eek:)

Great to hear about Snyderwine. I had assumed he would be getting a scholarship, too bad they can't make it retroactive to last year.

jimsumner
02-03-2010, 04:27 PM
"Interesting..is this because the receiver corps is so loaded? At least he's an inch taller than Leon. "

A little push, a little pull.

Duke is pretty well set at WR. In addition in Varner, Vernon and Kelly, Duke expects Tyree Watkins and Corey Gattis to make contributions this year.

Newton_14
02-03-2010, 04:31 PM
4.Quarterback depth. Two new QBs give Duke four.

Expects one or more true freshmen to play DT. "Need a little help there."


Jim, how good of a prospect is the Boone kid signed at QB? It never hurts to have capable QB's. Just wondering what the potential is for Boone to be a good ACC QB...

Any insight on him?

Thanks

jimsumner
02-03-2010, 04:43 PM
Boone? Who knows? Connette is more of your classic, drop-back QB and he's in school this semester, which should give him a heads-up over Boone.

Boone might be a better athlete. He's a very good baseball player. Not sure if Mac knows. :)

Cut did point out that Duke is very young at QB. Renfree is a red-shirt sophomore, who played sparingly last year and will get little done this spring. Then, you've got a red-shirt freshman and two true freshmen. Capetto should be the experienced guy but he didn't work out. So, there's some room to move up and down here.

kyriecrazy2013
02-03-2010, 05:35 PM
Undoubtedly, Renfree will be that starter next year. He is very good. While he isn't a runner like Lewis was, he is a fantastic drop-back passer and has much better touch than Lewis. He also has a stronger arm for sure and is willing to throw it deep.

loran16
02-03-2010, 05:36 PM
I understand what you're saying Jim, but i still find the Johnny Williams move slightly baffling.

Yes our CBs were mediocre at best last year (yes yes, Leon praise everywhere, shush y'all), but with Williams we'd have a 4 WR corp who were experienced, knew the system hands down, and would provide Renfree with some great help. Also, if one went down due to injury, we'd still be fine.

Yet, by sending Williams to CB, we're having a 4th WR for Renfree with less experience in the system, as well as weakening ourselves in case of injury (since i doubt that williams would return to WR due to another's injury)

I hope watkins and the other guy fit in well...I still think we fall 1 short (6 wins) of a bowl game.

Jim3k
02-03-2010, 05:57 PM
I'm listening to Mark Packer's show on WFNZ in Charlotte and he just had Jim Grobe on to talk about recruiting and Wake's class.

Towards the end of the segment, Packer tells Grobe that he's got a nephew at Charlotte Country Day who's a 6'4" QB with good grades, etc. Grobe sounds interested and Packer says that he will send him info about his nephew. Packer goes on to say that David Cutcliffe has already been "bothering" him, but Packer told his nephew that there was no way he was going to go to Duke to play football. He said that if the kid can play and has good grades he was going to send him to Wake instead.

I thought it was amusing/annoying.

Be interesting to see what the kid chooses if he gets offers from both Duke and Wake. Will blood win over blueblood QB lines?

jafarr1
02-03-2010, 06:00 PM
See, I'd argue that with Williams heading to the secondary, we'd still have an experienced WR corps in Vernon, Kelly and Varner with a number of players who were capable of stepping up as a 4th WR.

Keep in mind that while Williams delivered a lot for us two years ago, last season he was fourth in receiving yards by a decent margin.

Donovan Varner 65-1047 (8 TD's)
Conner Vernon 55-746 (3)
Austin Kelly 54-625 (4)
Johnny Williams 31-385 (1)

Duke of Nashville
02-03-2010, 06:06 PM
For those who were asking if Boone can play...ESPN has a couple of videos up and some analysis of the kid.

Check it out

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=69496&season=2010&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncf %2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fplayer%3frecruitId%3d694 96%26season%3d2010

johnb
02-03-2010, 06:21 PM
Cutcliffe had a press conference today...

1.Speed. "speed never had a bad day on the football field." Duke signed ten players who run the forty in 4.5 or less.

2.Size. Four linemen in the 300-pound range.

3.lack of pass rush. "Got four big-time pass rushers."

4.Quarterback depth. Two new QBs give Duke four.

Cut doesn't concern himself with prep rankings. Understands fascination with such but argues that his staff has seen many of these players at camp and is better able to make judgments than those made by just watching film. Duke looks for work ethic, competitiveness and quickness.
...
Says class as a whole has lots of edge speed on D, play-makers on offense.

Next Step? Sell-out season tickets. ..infrastructure involving former players with money, people who are "used to getting their way."
.

Great summary. I must say that after following with some interest (but little skill) from afar, it appeared that this year's recruits seemed to be rated as about the same as the groups over the past decade, which is cause for some concern.

Cut's comments exactly addressed those concerns. I'm sure he'd manage to find a spot for some of the 5 star guys who signed with Florida and Texas, but I have confidence that he and his staff did find a bunch of guys who have the potential to be terrific ACC players. And, with the sort of enthusiasm that Duke alums should be able to muster, there is no reason we can't rock out. Do Duke!

SilkyJ
02-03-2010, 06:28 PM
Thanks for the update, Jim.

Since I might be whacked for saying this, let me preface my comments by saying this: I am a 10000000% Coach Cut fan/supporter/follower/loyalist/whig/tory/fascist/republican/devout cult worshiper/etc.

I think next year is a bit of a transition period though, particularly with Thad leaving, and so while we have been on the rise and many expect a bowl game to be the next logical step next year, I actually expect that we might take a small step back to maybe 4-8 or so. Its tough to replace veteran, all-conference players like Thad, as well as Vince O., Vinnie Rey, etc. The talent is there, but its so young and will probably need another year to develop, especially at QB.

That said, our WR corps is so stacked, that they may be able to erase a lot of Renfree (or whomever's) youth...thing is, usually you counter a young QB with a big O-line and good running game (see Jets, New York) and while we have some talent in the backfield, the O-line still seems to be questionable.

Many of you know a lot more about our football team than me, but I just think this is a year where we develop a lot of that younger talent and certainly win some games, but this isn't a year where the perfect storm of talent, experience, and coaching all come together to make something special happen.

CameronBornAndBred
02-03-2010, 06:33 PM
I think next year is a bit of a transition period though, particularly with Thad leaving, and so while we have been on the rise and many expect a bowl game to be the next logical step next year, I actually expect that we might take a small step back to maybe 4-8 or so.
.
I understand your thought here, but I don't agree. Renfree has been playing with the team now for 2 years, he and the receivers know each other on the field well. You might be more prophetic if he isn't healthy and ready to play by the summer, even Thad took a while to get back in the flow after his ailing in the preseason. Silver lining in that was that Renfree got some game action.

Acymetric
02-03-2010, 06:33 PM
I understand what you're saying Jim, but i still find the Johnny Williams move slightly baffling.

Yes our CBs were mediocre at best last year (yes yes, Leon praise everywhere, shush y'all), but with Williams we'd have a 4 WR corp who were experienced, knew the system hands down, and would provide Renfree with some great help. Also, if one went down due to injury, we'd still be fine.

Yet, by sending Williams to CB, we're having a 4th WR for Renfree with less experience in the system, as well as weakening ourselves in case of injury (since i doubt that williams would return to WR due to another's injury)

I hope watkins and the other guy fit in well...I still think we fall 1 short (6 wins) of a bowl game.

I think it came down to "we have way more recievers than corners, lets look at who could make the switch the best (not including anyone who's name starts with V)." Also, as someone mentioned, he was really the 4th option last year. Consider then that we add Tyree Watkins and Gattis (who the coaches seem to think very highly of) and its possible that he gets moved down on the depth chart to 5th or 6th option. Add to that that over his 4 years we'll only lose 1 WR but will undoubtedly gain several more in future classes and its probably the best move for him if he wants to see consistent playing time. I think he'll do pretty well for himself on defense (I'm sure the coaches agree).

CrazyNotCrazie
02-03-2010, 06:56 PM
Did Cut say anything about redshirting? In order to keep up in the ACC, I think it is critical that we redshirt as many guys as possible, particularly along the lines. I'm not sure if prior coaches had the job security where they could afford to wait, but at this point, Cut should feel comfortable doing so unless there is a truly glaring hole that needs to be filled.

jimsumner
02-03-2010, 06:57 PM
It's hard to know how much Renfree will lose by missing spring practice. But all of the reports I've heard indicate that his ACL surgery went well and he should be 100% at the beginning of August. So, cautious optimism should be in order.

I expect Duke to have a more balanced offense this year. Duke's offensive line should be much improved. Youngsters like Moore, Irwin and Needham should be better. Advances have been made in the weight room.

Plus, Duke redshirted four recruited freshmen offensive lineman. Harding and Simmons project to move into the rotation, maybe even start. Duke will have more size, more experience and lots more depth on the OL this year than last year. Scott, Hollingsworth, Kurunwe and maybe a freshman (hello Josh Snead) give Duke some options at RB. A decent running game will take a lot of pressure off a young QB.

My biggest concern is DT. Losing Drew hurts big-time. I've been told that Harper will likely stay on offense. That leaves Hatcher, Sarmiento and Hazelton as DTs. So, you can see why some freshmen will get long looks at DT. Some talk about moving Oglesby from DE to DT but he's got to put on some weight to make the move.

I have heard that Sarmiento and DE Justin Foxx (another redshirt) look like keepers but it's a steep learning curve for redshirt freshmen. Somebody has to rush the passer, a big weakness since forever.

Duke should be okay at DE, more than okay at LB. Tons of young DBs, with little experience. Will some of them step up? A huge question.

And for the first time in a long time, special teams should be an asset. When was the last time we could say that?

Keep in mind, Duke has seven home games. If Renfree is okay, if the OL improves, if some freshmen can play on the DL, if overall depth is improved, a bowl game is well within reach. But no guarantees.

jimsumner
02-03-2010, 07:11 PM
redshirts?

Cut said that Duke would redshirt anyone who needed to be redshirted. How's that for cryptic?

Duke did redshirt something like 21 freshmen this season, including all the OL and lots of DBs. I suspect most of this class will redshirt.

He did make one interesting comment. He said that he tells all of his recruits to show up with the expectation that they will start immediately and to work towards that goal. So, there must be some interesting conversational 180s, when the decision is made to redshirt most of these kids as freshmen.

He actually talked at great length on the star-ratings system. He didn't clarify with numbers but he said that he and his staff had done lots of research on how Pro-Bowl players were ranked coming out of high school and said we would be surprised at how many were ranked as two or three-star recruits. He said that Scout/Rivals/ESPN evaluators rely on tape and he and his staff rely on in-person evaluation.

Most of these players attended camp at Duke and most had been evaluated for at least two years. In fact, he said that he and his staff were looking at film on 2011 and 2012 recruits this morning, while waiting for the faxed LOIs to start arriving. But getting them to camp, looking them in the eye, seeing how they work, seeing how they compete, how they move, gives the staff a better idea than looking at film.

Of course, no coach is going to go a media or fan event on signing day and talk about how his program missed on its top targets, fell behind the competition and won't be able to compete. But Cut does have a track record in this area and it's not unreasonable to think that he and his staff know what they're doing.

roywhite
02-03-2010, 07:21 PM
Just a random thought on Duke football recruiting:
I greatly respect Coach Cut and the work he's done with our program, but I wonder if the in-state emphasis has some limits....(and I believe we ended up with 9 from NC, which is good news in many ways).

We lost on some key head-to-head recruiting battles with UNC. For example, Darius Lipford from Lenoir (who was initially a Duke commitment) and Kareem Martin from Roanoke Rapids both chose UNC over Duke. Lipford remarked after spending time at both UNC and Duke, that he felt more comfortable with the players and student body at UNC, which is not really surprising.

IMO, we should recruit hard in NC, but also look throughout the East and even nationally for the really top football prospects who also have a strong academic orientation. These are kids more likely to feel comfortable or fit in at Duke.

Stanford, for example, has been casting a wide net geographically and getting some very highly rated prospects, who are also strong academically.

Inonehand
02-03-2010, 08:13 PM
Just a random thought on Duke football recruiting:
I greatly respect Coach Cut and the work he's done with our program, but I wonder if the in-state emphasis has some limits....(and I believe we ended up with 9 from NC, which is good news in many ways).

We lost on some key head-to-head recruiting battles with UNC. For example, Darius Lipford from Lenoir (who was initially a Duke commitment) and Kareem Martin from Roanoke Rapids both chose UNC over Duke. Lipford remarked after spending time at both UNC and Duke, that he felt more comfortable with the players and student body at UNC, which is not really surprising.

IMO, we should recruit hard in NC, but also look throughout the East and even nationally for the really top football prospects who also have a strong academic orientation. These are kids more likely to feel comfortable or fit in at Duke.

Stanford, for example, has been casting a wide net geographically and getting some very highly rated prospects, who are also strong academically.


Here it goes again...as a former Duke athlete from North Carolina that can read and write and even add just fine, I think that a solid focus on NC players is ONE of the keys for Duke. Next year, while recruiting in North Carolina, there will happen to be 9 more kids on the team that in-state recruits can relate to if they need that similarity to feel comfortable. Gotta start somewhere, sometime. I doubt Cut and staff have limited themselves elsewhere while making NC kids a focus.

roywhite
02-03-2010, 08:23 PM
Here it goes again...as a former Duke athlete from North Carolina that can read and write and even add just fine, I think that a solid focus on NC players is ONE of the keys for Duke. Next year, while recruiting in North Carolina, there will happen to be 9 more kids on the team that in-state recruits can relate to if they need that similarity to feel comfortable. Gotta start somewhere, sometime. I doubt Cut and staff have limited themselves elsewhere while making NC kids a focus.

No offense meant, but I think I'll stick with my original point.

For the 2010 FB class, according to rivals.com

Stanford #27 class; avg rating 3.13 stars
Duke #71 class; avg. rating 2.50 stars

Stanford managed this with 4 kids from California, a state that also has some athletes that can read and write. They recruited nationally, which Duke does for nearly every sport including basketball, and for academics.

Fine with me if we get players from NC, but even better if we get higher ranked classes. A more national recruiting approach seems reasonable.

Newton_14
02-03-2010, 08:39 PM
Just a random thought on Duke football recruiting:
I greatly respect Coach Cut and the work he's done with our program, but I wonder if the in-state emphasis has some limits....(and I believe we ended up with 9 from NC, which is good news in many ways).

We lost on some key head-to-head recruiting battles with UNC. For example, Darius Lipford from Lenoir (who was initially a Duke commitment) and Kareem Martin from Roanoke Rapids both chose UNC over Duke. Lipford remarked after spending time at both UNC and Duke, that he felt more comfortable with the players and student body at UNC, which is not really surprising.

IMO, we should recruit hard in NC, but also look throughout the East and even nationally for the really top football prospects who also have a strong academic orientation. These are kids more likely to feel comfortable or fit in at Duke.

Stanford, for example, has been casting a wide net geographically and getting some very highly rated prospects, who are also strong academically.


I actually like a good mixture of the two. I think it is very important to recruit in-state hard and feel Cut is making strides there. It is vital to have a good relationship with the high school coaches in the state. In-state recruiting is especially important to Duke as it greatly helps to put fannies in the seats at WW, and builds the in-state fanbase. We need that more than any other team.

That said, I think it is equally important to also recruit nation wide as there is no way we can compete in the ACC without doing so. So I think it is important to balance that out each year and recruit hard in-state and outside.

On another note, can you believe how lucky the holes got? That baby puke blue luck enabled them to gain a recruit from 3 different schools due to the coaching carousel that happened. They picked up de-commits from Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Cincy due to all 3 losing their coaches. Unreal.
That s

jimsumner
02-03-2010, 08:50 PM
This year Duke signed recruits from California, Illinois, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Last year, California, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Virginia.

As far as Stanford is concerned, I'm pretty sure they aren't coming off any 3-33 runs. Since 1996, Duke has had four winless seasons and two more single-win seasons. I'd like to compare Cut's recruting with other coaches taking over a program after that lack of success but I'm not sure there are any. Duke won ten games in the eight seasons prior to Cutcliffe, nine in the two seasons with Cutcliffe.

Seems like a positive trend line to me and one that will increasingly be reflected in recruiting. But it's not going to happen overnight,

Indoor66
02-03-2010, 08:52 PM
This year Duke signed recruits from California, Illinois, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Last year, California, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Virginia.

As far as Stanford is concerned, I'm pretty sure they aren't coming off any 3-33 runs. Since 1996, Duke has had four winless seasons and two more single-win seasons. I'd like to compare Cut's recruting with other coaches taking over a program after that lack of success but I'm not sure there are any.

Give it some time.

Well said. We have a lot of ground to make up. It won't happen in 1, 2 or 3 years. It will take 5+ to be able to have top 5-10 classes. I think Cut has made great strides, already.

buddy
02-03-2010, 09:38 PM
and Cut mentioned how very young this team is. There will be 40 players who are either redshirt freshmen or true freshmen. If you look at last year's roster, there are like 60 players who were true freshmen, redshirt freshmen, true sophomores, or redshirt sophomores. Cut has done a good job with redshirting, which will only pay off in the future. I agree that we may still be a year away. This is only Cut's third year, and this class is really only his second true class--his first class had people pursued by the former staff and a few he added. In his fourth and fifth year he will be coaching "his" players. Listening to Butch Davis today, he took some (indirect) shots at us, saying players want to play on winning programs and go to bowls. He is right. Following the 3-33 of the preceding three seasons, Cut had done a great job a 9-15, but it is still 9-15, and that doesn't get you into a bowl. This is a chicken and egg argument, but until he gets us into a bowl, he will have trouble getting a #27 ranked recruiting class.

Football is moving in the right direction, and even though it may not happen this year, it will happen soon, and often.

OZZIE4DUKE
02-03-2010, 10:27 PM
re the WR comments above, we've signed some excellent prospects at WR - kids who are fast, strong and tall, who will win the jump ball battles for a change. Two of them are named Braxton - one's first name and the other his last name, and they are teammates in HS. The recruited teammate concept works pretty well for us (Connor Vernon and Donovan Varner). Coach Cut emphasized this tonight in his comments. He also emphasized getting kids who can rush quarterbacks from "the edge", ie, DE's, CB's a OLB's. He thinks our recruits can cause some havoc in this regard (if not this year, next, if they redshirt this year).

arnie
02-03-2010, 10:32 PM
Well said. We have a lot of ground to make up. It won't happen in 1, 2 or 3 years. It will take 5+ to be able to have top 5-10 classes. I think Cut has made great strides, already.

It will take 5+ to be able to have top 5-10 classes? Is our recruiting ranking in the ACC you're projecting? Otherwise, you're out of your mind.

sagegrouse
02-03-2010, 11:05 PM
Just a random thought on Duke football recruiting:
I greatly respect Coach Cut and the work he's done with our program, but I wonder if the in-state emphasis has some limits....(and I believe we ended up with 9 from NC, which is good news in many ways).



What is a little puzzling is that for decades, in good times and bad, Duke took a lot of players out of Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Good academiccs and rep at Duke and little competition except from Penn State and Notre Dame. It is different now, with Pitt, UConn, Rutgers and others competing for players.

But Duke didn't get a single player from the Northeast. I think it's fertile recruiting there. Hope we get some coaches who know the territory.

sagegrouse

gotham devil
02-04-2010, 02:04 AM
What is a little puzzling is that for decades, in good times and bad, Duke took a lot of players out of Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Good academiccs and rep at Duke and little competition except from Penn State and Notre Dame. It is different now, with Pitt, UConn, Rutgers and others competing for players.

But Duke didn't get a single player from the Northeast. I think it's fertile recruiting there. Hope we get some coaches who know the territory.

sagegrouse

I wondered if it had to do with budget restraints or simply the fact that the staff is almost entirely comprised of people from one area of the country.

As long as he gets the best talent possible and they don't embarrass the university off the field, I really could care less if all or none of the players are from North Carolina. Although it might be a parochial view, it does seem to be a matter of state pride for those from the Tar Heel state to see so many players on the roster hailing from North Carolina.

Jim3k
02-04-2010, 03:26 AM
Now that Jim Knowles has been added to the staff, I expect the Pennsylvania, New York and New England will be better searched.

Most recently, Knowles was the head coach at Cornell and clearly knows his way around the area. He spent 9 years as a Cornell assistant and 6 years as HC. He also was an assistant at Western Michigan for 6 years. His one year with Cutcliffe at Ole Miss was 2003, where he was recruiting coordinator as well as linebacker coach.

So he's got plenty of experience at recruiting, mainly in the northeast, and probably some in the Midwest, along with his Ole Miss experience.

I think this bodes well for recruiting in the Northeast, as well as other areas.

Acymetric
02-04-2010, 12:38 PM
Interestingly (I don't think I've seen this mentioned in this thread) Scout has Nick Sink (listed on databases as a TE) playing DT for us in a recent post (http://duke.scout.com/2/944029.html). Based on that, we have 4 new faces at DT, hopefully one or two will contribute early.

Kewlswim
02-04-2010, 01:02 PM
Hi,

My goodness, do some people (not everyone here) even remember how bad Duke football was? It was so out of the conversation that it was a parody of itself turned into a national joke. Coach Cut not only has to get recruits, but has to turn a culture around within the university itself. The question I have isn't where do kids come from to play for us it is how do we get the kids who come to Duke, the student body, to start attending games and showing support? I think the only answer might be by winning, but that might be a bit too simple an answer. I live on the West Coast so I only see games on tv. Maybe more students are showing up than it looks like from watching on tv.

GO DUKE!

allenmurray
02-04-2010, 01:09 PM
I live on the West Coast so I only see games on tv. Maybe more students are showing up than it looks like from watching on tv. GO DUKE!

No, they are not. If you polled the crowd coming in you'd find more people between 47 and 51 years old, who are left-handed and have a middle name that contains the letter "Q" than you will find students. If Coach Cut buiilds attendance it will be through community outreach - by making Duke "Durham's Team".

jimsumner
02-04-2010, 01:19 PM
College football coaches spend their careers developing contacts with high school coaches. There are a lot more high schools than there are college coaches and a finite amount of time one can spend recruiting. So, college coaches work the networks they have. You can always spend more time developing new contacts but that comes at the expense of ignoring old contacts. So, you're trying to develop new contacts, while utilizing all those years developing old contacts.

It's a delicate balancing act and some players and schools are going to slip between the cracks. Except at Stanford, of course. :)

But as a general rule, college football coaches are going to stick to areas in which they are comfortable. Like most of us.

-bdbd
02-04-2010, 01:21 PM
It's hard to know how much Renfree will lose by missing spring practice. But all of the reports I've heard indicate that his ACL surgery went well and he should be 100% at the beginning of August. So, cautious optimism should be in order.

I expect Duke to have a more balanced offense this year. Duke's offensive line should be much improved. Youngsters like Moore, Irwin and Needham should be better. Advances have been made in the weight room.

Plus, Duke redshirted four recruited freshmen offensive lineman. Harding and Simmons project to move into the rotation, maybe even start. Duke will have more size, more experience and lots more depth on the OL this year than last year. Scott, Hollingsworth, Kurunwe and maybe a freshman (hello Josh Snead) give Duke some options at RB. A decent running game will take a lot of pressure off a young QB.

My biggest concern is DT. Losing Drew hurts big-time. I've been told that Harper will likely stay on offense. That leaves Hatcher, Sarmiento and Hazelton as DTs. So, you can see why some freshmen will get long looks at DT. Some talk about moving Oglesby from DE to DT but he's got to put on some weight to make the move.

I have heard that Sarmiento and DE Justin Foxx (another redshirt) look like keepers but it's a steep learning curve for redshirt freshmen. Somebody has to rush the passer, a big weakness since forever.

Duke should be okay at DE, more than okay at LB. Tons of young DBs, with little experience. Will some of them step up? A huge question.

And for the first time in a long time, special teams should be an asset. When was the last time we could say that?

Keep in mind, Duke has seven home games. If Renfree is okay, if the OL improves, if some freshmen can play on the DL, if overall depth is improved, a bowl game is well within reach. But no guarantees.

Yes, we're potentially even younger at QB than most are thinking, since Refree is coming off a SERIOUS knee injury, will miss the Spring practice, and you never know how someone recovers from that sort of thing physically and/or mentally. Fingers crossed.

The Boone kid, as I recall, only played a year or two at QB, and was thought of by some other programs as a recruit at the "Athlete" position - i.e. position TBD. I'm thinking maybe he played D-back or WR/TE earlier. I'm all for greater athleticism!

Yes, greatest need in recruiting and for next year was probably on the two lines. Losing Hill late to ILL particularly hurt in that regard. Even Cut acknowledges that saying we could see 1-2 true frosh playing D-line next year. (That 'bama game , esp coming in just the 3rd game, could be ugly...)

Certainly a lot of "ifs", per Jim, but 6 wins and a bowl are absolutely within reach. But the over/under might be more like 4 as we build up experience. You gotta think we'll be favored against 3 of our 4 non-conference opponents, maybe, plus probably vs. UVA. Wake lost a lot, so that one doesn't look too bad either. 7 at home helps a lot - especially given our youth. I'm eager to see the full schedule, which I think gets released by the ACC today (?).


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