Duke football coaching job pluses, minuses and candidates after Mike Elko
Duke needs a new head coach, after Mike Elko left for the Texas A&M job.
Elko went 16-9 in two seasons, including a 9-4 record last year and a season-opening win against Clemson this season. There was hope Elko would stay when Texas A&M seemed poised to hire Mark Stoops. But plans in College Station changed, and Elko returned to the Aggies, where he had served as defensive coordinator for four years.
Advertisement
So Duke faces its second football coaching change in three years. After Elko replaced David Cutcliffe and found quick success, there is a lot of interest in this job.
How good is the Duke job? Which names could get in the mix? Here are the factors to keep in mind.
You can win here
For a long time, winning at Duke seemed impossible. The program went from 1995 to 2011 without a bowl appearance and had four winless seasons in that span.
But then Cutcliffe finally brought hope. He won at least eight games four times from 2013 to ’18, including a division title and 10-win season in 2013. Under Elko, Duke will play in two bowl games in two seasons. Over the past decade, this has been a upper-half job in the ACC. This isn’t a dead-end job. It’s a place that can win and a place that is investing to win.
But what roster will be left?
In today’s college football world, rosters can change quickly. Star defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles has already entered the portal, as has quarterback Riley Leonard, whose emergence was a major factor in Elko’s immediate success.
The next Duke head coach will have to keep as much of the roster together as possible. At the moment, Duke’s 2024 recruiting class ranks 36th nationally, far higher than the Blue Devils’ typical position in the 50s or 60s. We’ll have to wait and see whether it sticks.
The facilities and investment have improved
Facilities got better under Cutcliffe. The Pascal Field House opened in 2011, with a full-length indoor practice field used by multiple sports, as part of an 80,000 square-foot building. Wallace Wade Stadium still had a track around it when Cutcliffe arrived. That went away between 2014 and 2015.
But the program still needs to upgrade the Yoh Football Center, which was built in 2002. The visiting locker rooms on the other side of the stadium are also an issue. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney complained earlier this season about the two- to three-minute walk that visiting teams have to take to get to it, going past an outdoor practice field. (When Duke beat Clemson this year, the social media team took a subtle shot at the comments.)
Must’ve been the long walk 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/eTHmxyQhUT
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 5, 2023
Duke is a private school, so Elko’s salary isn’t public, but the school gave him a raise and extension through 2029 earlier this year, along with an increased staff salary pool.
Advertisement
So what names could get in the mix?
Based on conversations with industry sources, these are some names to keep an eye on.
Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz led one of the best defenses in the country this season, holding both Michigan and Ohio State to fewer than 25 points. Diaz had a solid-if-unspectacular run as Miami head coach, with a 21-15 record and three bowl appearances in three years, before he was ousted in favor of Mario Cristobal. He knows the ACC, and he coached at NC State from 2002 to ’05.
James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti leads one of the best Group of 5 programs in the country, despite only moving up from FCS last year. Could he jump from the Dukes to Duke? JMU is 19-4 since moving up to the FBS, and the 62-year-old Cignetti is 52-9 leading the program, never losing more than three games in a season. In the state of North Carolina, he also led Elon from 2017 to ’18 and coached at NC State from 2000 to ’06, where he coached Phillip Rivers.
Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins continues to rise and has played an integral role in FSU’s turnaround and 12-0 start this season. Atkins inherited one of the worst offensive lines in the Power 5 and turned it into a very good group, and he added coordinator duties in 2022. Before FSU, he was Charlotte’s offensive coordinator in 2019, the only bowl season in program history.
Tulane head coach Willie Fritz nearly took the Georgia Tech job last year amid an AAC championship and Cotton Bowl-winning season but stuck with the Green Wave. He’s followed up last year’s 12-2 season with a 11-1 start this season, Tulane’s two best seasons in the last 25 years, and he may have another AAC championship and New Year’s Six bowl coming. But the athletic director who hired him, Troy Dannen, recently left for Washington, and quarterback Michael Pratt may be gone soon. The 63-year-old Fritz has indicated that this might be his last job, but the opportunity to coach at the Power 5 level is the one thing missing on his resume. He has won everywhere from junior college to Division II, the FCS and the Group of 5.
Advertisement
Toledo head coach Jason Candle has the Rockets 11-1 this season and 20-6 over the last two seasons as he aims for a second consecutive MAC title and New Year’s Six bowl contention. The 44-year-old has spent his entire career in Ohio at Toledo and Mount Union and was in the mix at Michigan State and Syracuse.
Army head coach Jeff Monken has been close to Power 5 jobs in the past. He has brought the Black Knights their most success in decades, with five seasons of at least eight wins over the last eight years. That included 10 wins in 2017 and 11 wins in 2018. The program had one winning season in the 17 years before he arrived. Things have dipped a little in the last two years, with an 11-12 record.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was a Broyles Award semifinalist this year for the nation’s top assistant coach. He has markedly improved the Buckeyes’ defense, especially up front. Knowles was also Duke’s DC from 2010 to ’17 under Cutcliffe, so he’s plenty familiar with how to have success in Durham. The 58-year-old also has head coaching experience, leading Cornell from 2004 to ’09.
NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has been close to a few Power 5 jobs in the past. He’s been at NC State since 2019 and had almost 15 years of experience at West Virginia. He’s been a Broyles Award nominee for each of the last two years.
Former NFL head coach Jason Garrett got some consideration for the Duke job the last time it opened and the Stanford job last year. He’s a Princeton graduate, and he currently broadcasts Notre Dame games. But he has never coached in college football and would have a lot to catch up on.
(Photo: David Jensen / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lGlwbm9oa3xzfJFsZmppX2eGcLDUpJxmnp%2BkwaOty6VknKeRmLWqusZmoaiaXaiyor7CoWY%3D