Duke Football Staff Watch 2021

[crdaul]

Recruiter needs to get after JT Daniels, who is leaving Georgia....

[laxdawg97]

Clearly Spencer is considered somewhat of a get since Florida went to the trouble of stealing him from us after Vikings assistant Karl Scott backed out of a verbal agreement to a $1 mil co-coordinator deal.

Spencer committing to Duke as quickly as he did was an eye-opener for me, as I'd assumed DL would be the room to firm up. That Giants staff didn't get fired because of the defense, and the DC (Patrick Graham) was getting mentioned as a potential HC candidate earlier last year. Coincidentally, Graham also worked with Elko at Richmond, though odds Graham ever returns to college seem approximately zero.

It's too bad Spencer didn't stick with his deal, but losing him to Florida doesn't reflect on Duke the way it might if he'd gone somewhere like Virginia or VT, or even SC. We've already seen ample evidence sought-after coaches want to be part of what Elko building. As with the OL, Duke needs continuity in the DL room more than one season of a hot name, so it's arguably best in the long run to start year 1 of the Elko regime with a leader who's fully bought in.

[PDDuke85]

Thinking out loud but did that quality D Line Coach already bought in leave for Amherst Massachusetts?

Of all of the assistant coaches under Cut, I would have thought Ben Albert might be the one retained

[JasonEvans]

Recruiter needs to get after JT Daniels, who is leaving Georgia...

He ain't coming to Duke. He will go to a power program that has a chance to play in a major bowl or more. Many people think he should have been the starting QB for the national champs this year.

[laxdawg97]

Thinking out loud but did that quality D Line Coach already bought in leave for Amherst Massachusetts?

Of all of the assistant coaches under Cut, I would have thought Ben Albert might be the one retained

Elko and Albert overlapped at Richmond for at least a year, as I recall. I also thought he was the most likely holdover, particularly after hearing an SEC school I know a bit planned to pursue Trooper.

After the past couple of years, a fresh start under a defensive HC like Don Brown, who won at UMass before, is probably a positive career move for Ben. It's easy to miss through the fog of 20/21 results, but Duke owes Ben a lot for refuting the idea (which, in fairness, I have propagated) that Duke can't attract or develop top DL talent.

[laxdawg97]

He ain't coming to Duke. He will go to a power program that has a chance to play in a major bowl or more. Many people think he should have been the starting QB for the national champs this year.

I hope I'm wrong, but absent an influx of OL talent, I am skeptical any QB w/o ties to Johns seriously considers Duke this cycle.

[heyman25]

Kind of negative,but perhaps Elko can get some wins and get an upgrade.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

Vanderbilt stadium was considered the worst in this 50 stadium poll.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

[budwom]

Kind of negative,but perhaps Elko can get some wins and get an upgrade.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

Vanderbilt stadium was considered the worst in this 50 stadium poll.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

the words in the piece ("average") don't match the ranking. Who cares? When the football is bad, the place is bad, when the football is good, the place is fine. It's the least of our concerns at this point.

[uh_no]

Kind of negative,but perhaps Elko can get some wins and get an upgrade.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

Vanderbilt stadium was considered the worst in this 50 stadium poll.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

i'm not sure "attendance and online comments" mean much in terms of the actual quality of a stadium...

[TheDevilMadeMeDoIt]

Kind of negative,but perhaps Elko can get some wins and get an upgrade.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

Vanderbilt stadium was considered the worst in this 50 stadium poll.
https://moneywise.com/a/ch-c/worst-s...10_dsk_geo_v01

Vandy’s stadium is pitiful, but the description of a beautiful campus is way off. It is your typical urban, everything jammed on top of each other, campus. Thankfully James Duke had the foresight to buy thousands of acres for Duke. Vandy is older and the fact the Commodore didn’t buy enough land is obvious. Throw in a ridiculously crowded medical complex to the mix, traffic nightmares and that’s Vandy. While I ragging on Vandy, Jerry Stackhouse is a flop too!

[Acymetric]

We can quibble about the wording in a listicle, but the ranking is probably about right. That's ok, not everyone can have the best stadium in the country but I don't see the use in getting defensive over it.

[dm9e24]

He ain't coming to Duke. He will go to a power program that has a chance to play in a major bowl or more. Many people think he should have been the starting QB for the national champs this year.

That will be school number 3 in his quest to find a power program that has a chance to play in a major bowl or more.

Not that I want him at Duke.

[JasonEvans]

That will be school number 3 in his quest to find a power program that has a chance to play in a major bowl or more.

Your post would make it sound like he has struggled at each of these schools and keeps transferring because he isn't good enough. That would be pretty darn inaccurate regarding JT Daniels career.

As a true freshman, who reclassified and graduated a year early from high school, he was the starter for USC. He had a very nice season and seemed on a fast track to the NFL but tore his ACL in the first game of his soph campaign, ruining that season.

He the transferred to UGA, one of the few schools in the country that would be considered a step up in quality from USC.

He and Stetson Bennett have battled for two yeas over the starting QB job at UGA. Daniels won it late last year and then won it again at the start of this season. He started the first 3 games of the year before getting hurt again, allowing Bennett to step into the starting job.

So, we are talking about a dude who has won starting jobs at both USC and UGA and put up strong stats in both places. That said, everyone says the injuries have impacted his abilities and it is unclear if he will ever achieve the stardom that was predicted when he was the #1 recruit in the nation as a high schooler. Will be interesting to see where JT ends up. I've seen lots of talk about Oregon, where Georgia's former DC is now the head coach.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Jeff Faris has found a new home in sunny California, coaching the UCLA tight ends.

[Bob Green]

Spring Game will be on April 16:

https://goduke.com/news/2022/1/21/fo...-april-16.aspx

[luvdahops]

Your post would make it sound like he has struggled at each of these schools and keeps transferring because he isn't good enough. That would be pretty darn inaccurate regarding JT Daniels career.

As a true freshman, who reclassified and graduated a year early from high school, he was the starter for USC. He had a very nice season and seemed on a fast track to the NFL but tore his ACL in the first game of his soph campaign, ruining that season.

He the transferred to UGA, one of the few schools in the country that would be considered a step up in quality from USC.

He and Stetson Bennett have battled for two yeas over the starting QB job at UGA. Daniels won it late last year and then won it again at the start of this season. He started the first 3 games of the year before getting hurt again, allowing Bennett to step into the starting job.

So, we are talking about a dude who has won starting jobs at both USC and UGA and put up strong stats in both places. That said, everyone says the injuries have impacted his abilities and it is unclear if he will ever achieve the stardom that was predicted when he was the #1 recruit in the nation as a high schooler. Will be interesting to see where JT ends up. I've seen lots of talk about Oregon, where Georgia's former DC is now the head coach.

He is also primarily a pocket passer, with a strong arm and very good accuracy, but average at best mobility. Odds are good that he'll land at a Power 5 school and start right away, but that profile is not a great fit for a lot of CFB offenses these days. Duke included, not that are/were in the running.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Spring Game will be on April 16:

https://goduke.com/news/2022/1/21/fo...-april-16.aspx

A real scrimmage! Yay!! None of that "skills event" thing that Cut loved. I'll be there!

[Acymetric]

Spring Game will be on April 16:

https://goduke.com/news/2022/1/21/fo...-april-16.aspx

Rock on! Can't wait to see everyone in action!

[camion]

Rock on! Can't wait to see everyone in action!

I suppose Covid will be long gone by then, but will they follow the basketball rule that you must have at least 7 on a side to play the game?

[budwom]

A real scrimmage! Yay!! None of that "skills event" thing that Cut loved. I'll be there!

Very encouraging. I hope that, unlike Cut, Elko makes an effort to engage with some of the sites (like this one, and the Devils Den) that try to promote the program. Given our smallish private school status, we need all the promotion we can get.
Operators are standing by, Mike, so call now!