Cutcliffe makes cut for national coach of year award

[jimsumner]

Yes, I'll be here all month.

Portions of Duke press release.

"Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Football Club (MFC) Collegiate Coach of the Year Award, MFC President Ron Jaworski announced Wednesday.

Cutcliffe has led Duke to an 8-2 record and a 4-2 mark in ACC play, putting the Blue Devils atop the ACC Coastal Division with games at Wake Forest and North Carolina remaining. The Blue Devils have won six games in a row – including versus ranked foes No. 16 Virginia Tech and No. 24 Miami – and climbed to No. 25 in the Associated Press national poll and No. 24 in the USA Today coaches poll.

The eight wins are Duke’s most since 1994, and the six-game winning streak is the program’s best since the 1994 squad won seven in a row. Cutcliffe, who was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2012, has the Blue Devils lined up to earn their second consecutive bowl berth for the first time in school history.

Joining Cutcliffe as semifinalists for the MFC Collegiate Coach of the Year are Nick Saban (Alabama), Gus Malzahn (Auburn), Art Briles (Baylor), Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Tim DeRuyter (Fresno State), Jimbo Fisher (Florida State), Mark Dantonio (Michigan State), Gary Pinkel (Missouri), Rod Carey (Northern Illinois), Urban Meyer (Ohio State), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), George O’Leary (UCF), Ed Orgeron (USC) and Gary Andersen (Wisconsin).

The winner of the MFC Collegiate Coach of the Year Award will be announced on Dec. 17."

[peterjswift]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm primarily a Duke basketball fan when it comes to my attention on Duke sports. However, Cutcliffe's attention to building a football program from the ground up rather than just a team has definitely grabbed my attention. My loyalty to PSU football is still strong, but since they won't have any bowls this year, I will be following Duke football pretty closely for the rest of the season. I would still favor Bill O'Brien to win just about every coach's award available (he has done a phenomenal job with incredible challenges at Penn State), but since he doesn't appear on the list, I'll be rooting for Cutcliffe all the way.

[TKG]

Nice to see a number of ACC coaches on the list.

[airowe]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm primarily a Duke basketball fan when it comes to my attention on Duke sports. However, Cutcliffe's attention to building a football program from the ground up rather than just a team has definitely grabbed my attention. My loyalty to PSU football is still strong, but since they won't have any bowls this year, I will be following Duke football pretty closely for the rest of the season. I would still favor Bill O'Brien to win just about every coach's award available (he has done a phenomenal job with incredible challenges at Penn State), but since he doesn't appear on the list, I'll be rooting for Cutcliffe all the way.

Coach O'Brien agrees with you. (https://twitter.com/ESPN_BigTen/status/402866278873845760)

[peterjswift]

Coach O'Brien agrees with you. (https://twitter.com/ESPN_BigTen/status/402866278873845760)

Sweet, sweet validation. Thanks for pointing that out. I know I'm in central PA, and we have a habit of idolizing PSU coaches (perhaps to a fault as recent history would indicate...), but O'Brien really has done a pretty incredible job at PSU despite the challenges.

Of course, while Cutcliffe's challenges were very different from O'Brien's....Cutcliffe didn't exactly have the FB brand recognition, facilities, TV time, or even starting core of players that O'Brien got to work with. PSU has some serious advantages when it comes to recruiting that Cutcliffe still doesn't have...but seems to be gaining quickly.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Sweet, sweet validation. Thanks for pointing that out. I know I'm in central PA, and we have a habit of idolizing PSU coaches (perhaps to a fault as recent history would indicate...), but O'Brien really has done a pretty incredible job at PSU despite the challenges.

Of course, while Cutcliffe's challenges were very different from O'Brien's....Cutcliffe didn't exactly have the FB brand recognition, facilities, TV time, or even starting core of players that O'Brien got to work with. PSU has some serious advantages when it comes to recruiting that Cutcliffe still doesn't have...but seems to be gaining quickly.
And I'm sure you remember that Coach O'Brien has a Duke connection.:cool:

[JasonEvans]

Joining Cutcliffe as semifinalists for the MFC Collegiate Coach of the Year are Nick Saban (Alabama), Gus Malzahn (Auburn), Art Briles (Baylor), Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Tim DeRuyter (Fresno State), Jimbo Fisher (Florida State), Mark Dantonio (Michigan State), Gary Pinkel (Missouri), Rod Carey (Northern Illinois), Urban Meyer (Ohio State), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), George O’Leary (UCF), Ed Orgeron (USC) and Gary Andersen (Wisconsin).

I predict that it will be a tie between Briles and Fisher but they will inexplicably bump into each other while going up to the podium and the trophy will fall into Malzan's hands (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4C2R8xA3EWs).

-Jason "miracle in Jordan-Hare" Evans

[peterjswift]

And I'm sure you remember that Coach O'Brien has a Duke connection.:cool:
I'm frequently forgetting that. Thanks for reminding me.