Open Letter to Coach Cut on the front page

[BigWayne]

Awesome letter. (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2015/9/30/9422129/a-former-duke-football-player-on-the-changes-in-duke-football) Nice job DBDevil23.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Awesome letter. (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2015/9/30/9422129/a-former-duke-football-player-on-the-changes-in-duke-football) Nice job DBDevil23.
QFE. Wow! Just wow!

[Indoor66]

Ozzie said everything I can say except: Thank you for expressing what many of us feel.

[DukieInKansas]

Amen!

[OldPhiKap]

Very well-stated, as one would expect.

LGD!

[Inonehand]

Awesome letter. (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2015/9/30/9422129/a-former-duke-football-player-on-the-changes-in-duke-football) Nice job DBDevil23.

It IS a nice letter and I feel many of the same things but Cutcliffe was not hired by Kevin White. He was hired by Alleva.

[budwom]

It IS a nice letter and I feel many of the same things but Cutcliffe was not hired by Kevin White. He was hired by Alleva.

yup, that's the one flaw...Cut arrived in December of '07, White in May of '08. And of course Cut was hired despite Alleva (not Joe's choice) not because of him.
Smarter minds prevailed in that one.

[duke blue brewcrew]

WOW! Goose bumps anyone? Incredible perspective. Outstanding expression of gratitude from Duke Football Nation! Oh, to be a fly on the wall watching Coach Cut read this letter...

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

yup, that's the one flaw...Cut arrived in December of '07, White in May of '08. And of course Cut was hired despite Alleva (not Joe's choice) not because of him.
Smarter minds prevailed in that one.

On point, especially the part about Coach Cutcliffe being the choice of the selection committee and others, but not Joe Alleva's.

[Dev11]

I liked the implication that the Cutcliffe story will need to be a book one day. Very well done, indeed.

[Inonehand]

On point, especially the part about Coach Cutcliffe being the choice of the selection committee and others, but not Joe Alleva's.

This is true to a point. But selective memory is always more flattering. Many of these same folks wanted both Carl Franks and Ted Roof hired as well. Third time (under Alleva) was a charm.

[Olympic Fan]

yup, that's the one flaw...Cut arrived in December of '07, White in May of '08. And of course Cut was hired despite Alleva (not Joe's choice) not because of him.
Smarter minds prevailed in that one.

Absolutely right ... I know that Joe Alleva -- who wanted to hire Karl Dorrell (who had just been fired at UCLA) -- tried to claim credit for the Cutcliffe hire in an interview with the N&O last spring, but Duke fans should never forget that it was Leo Hart and C.J. Newsome -- the leaders of the hiring committee -- who rejected Dorrell and insisted that Alleva hire Coach Cut.

Their brilliant decision deserves to be recognized and honored (just as all Duke fans should remember that former player Steve Vacendak played a key role in convincing Tom Butters to hire Mike Krzyzewski in 1980).

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Absolutely right ... I know that Joe Alleva -- who wanted to hire Karl Dorrell (who had just been fired at UCLA) -- tried to claim credit for the Cutcliffe hire in an interview with the N&O last spring, but Duke fans should never forget that it was Leo Hart and C.J. Newsome -- the leaders of the hiring committee -- who rejected Dorrell and insisted that Alleva hire Coach Cut.

Their brilliant decision deserves to be recognized and honored (just as all Duke fans should remember that former player Steve Vacendak played a key role in convincing Tom Butters to hire Mike Krzyzewski in 1980).
You made the point I was trying to make earlier in this thread, but you made it clearer than I did. The selection committee for this hire was very focused. There were others helping behind the scenes, making sure the committee's choice wasn't derailed by Joe Alleva or anybody else for that matter.

The stars aligned and here we are today with a defense that dominated Georgia Tech in the most recent game.

[devildeac]

Absolutely right ... I know that Joe Alleva -- who wanted to hire Karl Dorrell (who had just been fired at UCLA) -- tried to claim credit for the Cutcliffe hire in an interview with the N&O last spring, but Duke fans should never forget that it was Leo Hart and C.J. Newsome -- the leaders of the hiring committee -- who rejected Dorrell and insisted that Alleva hire Coach Cut.

Their brilliant decision deserves to be recognized and honored (just as all Duke fans should remember that former player Steve Vacendak played a key role in convincing Tom Butters to hire Mike Krzyzewski in 1980).

I never knew that about Vacendak. Thanks. I also recall that Bobby Knight made his choice/recommendation of K known to Butters, too, something along the lines of "he's a guy with all my good qualities and none of my bad."

[JasonEvans]

You made the point I was trying to make earlier in this thread, but you made it clearer than I did. The selection committee for this hire was very focused. There were others helping behind the scenes, making sure the committee's choice wasn't derailed by Joe Alleva or anybody else for that matter.

The stars aligned and here we are today with a defense that dominated Georgia Tech in the most recent game.

There was a large contingent of Duke fans who thought we should hire Paul Johnson. In fact, the rumor mill at the time said we offered it to Paul, but he turned us down to go to Ga Tech instead. Kinda hard to fault him for that and Johnson has certainly done a good job at Tech, but I would argue Cut's job has been better.

One of the first names everyone seemed to latch onto was Norm Chow for Duke, but the consensus was that he was making head coach money to be the OC at UCLA. In retrospect, it was a good thing we did not get him as he has struggled mightily as head coach at Hawaii.

I gave a quick look at this thread from 2009 (http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?4928-Next-Football-Coach-Search/) on the coaching search. Our very own Olympic Fan had this to say when Cut's name first came up:

David Cutcliffe couldn't win with Eli Manning at Ole Miss.

-Jason "I only kid Oly Fan because he is such a high quality poster. I shudder to think of stupid stuff I have said in the past (on Shav: Retire that jersey!!)" Evans

[DukeDevil]

Can I just say what a great time it is to be a Blue Devil? So much to be proud of these days.

[Olympic Fan]

There was a large contingent of Duke fans who thought we should hire Paul Johnson. In fact, the rumor mill at the time said we offered it to Paul, but he turned us down to go to Ga Tech instead. Kinda hard to fault him for that and Johnson has certainly done a good job at Tech, but I would argue Cut's job has been better.

One of the first names everyone seemed to latch onto was Norm Chow for Duke, but the consensus was that he was making head coach money to be the OC at UCLA. In retrospect, it was a good thing we did not get him as he has struggled mightily as head coach at Hawaii.

I gave a quick look at this thread from 2009 (http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?4928-Next-Football-Coach-Search/) on the coaching search. Our very own Olympic Fan had this to say when Cut's name first came up:


-Jason "I only kid Oly Fan because he is such a high quality poster. I shudder to think of stupid stuff I have said in the past (on Shav: Retire that jersey!!)" Evans

Ouch!

Now I know how Donald Trump feels every time the Club for Growth runs that ad that shows trump saying that he's more of a Democrat that a Republican! Sometimes you wish you can erase the stupid things you said in the past.

I admit that at the time, I wanted Paul Johnson, who had done a great job at Navy (another school with a tough academic recruiting situation). Johnson had offers from Duke, SMU and Georgia Tech. SMU offered the most money, but Georgia Tech offered the best opportunity. Johnson had long had his sights on a job in North Carolina. He was sorely disappointed a year earlier when UNC went with Butch Davis and NC State hired Tom O'Brien. Of the five schools that might have gotten Johnson, I would suggest that Duke is the only one that came up with a better coach. I think Johnson is a heck of a coach (and I love the triple option), but there's no way he has the personality to have revived a Duke program that was in the dumper in 2008. I'm just thankful that Johnson didn't land in Raleigh or Chapel Hill.

As for the Steve Vacendak connection, when Butters first called Knight in 1980, the Indiana coach suggested Mississippi coach Bob Wetlich. It was Vacendak, who was about to join the Duke staff as an associate AD, who suggested that Butters look at Krzyzewski. Vacendak pushed Butters to meet with the young coach. Butters' response was to call Knight a second time and this time was when Knight gave his former player that ringing endorsement (he later explained that he didn't recommend Krzyzewski the first time because he didn't think Duke would hire such a young coach with such a superficially mediocre record). Butter certainly deserves all the credit in the world for the risky hire -- it was, after all, hos sole responsibility. But he never would have gone in that direction without a push from Vacendak. Here's a story from 2011 that recounts some of Vacendak's career highlights and his modest description of his role in the Coach K hiring:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205069488

[brlftz]

Ouch!
...
Here's a story from 2011 that recounts some of Vacendak's career highlights and his modest description of his role in the Coach K hiring:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205069488

great article, and it's a shame vacendak doesn't get more credit. who wrote that? I'm guessing it was Al Featherston (or maaaybe bill brill), but i didn't see that shown anywhere on the page

[gep]

...

As for the Steve Vacendak connection, when Butters first called Knight in 1980, the Indiana coach suggested Mississippi coach Bob Wetlich. It was Vacendak, who was about to join the Duke staff as an associate AD, who suggested that Butters look at Krzyzewski. Vacendak pushed Butters to meet with the young coach. Butters' response was to call Knight a second time and this time was when Knight gave his former player that ringing endorsement (he later explained that he didn't recommend Krzyzewski the first time because he didn't think Duke would hire such a young coach with such a superficially mediocre record). Butter certainly deserves all the credit in the world for the risky hire -- it was, after all, hos sole responsibility. But he never would have gone in that direction without a push from Vacendak. Here's a story from 2011 that recounts some of Vacendak's career highlights and his modest description of his role in the Coach K hiring:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205069488

Not to mention the additional risk giving Coach K an extension... after a couple of *very* medioore seasons. Was Vacendak involved in the extension too?