Plans are moving forward to improve Wallace Wade's sound system, bathrooms and concession stands. New speakers, couches and televisions have been added in the Yoh Football Center. The coaches' recruiting efforts have already landed them quality 2009 commitments. First-year head coach David Cutcliffe and his staff have certainly used the winter, spring and summer to move this program in the right direction for future success.
But nothing is more important to them than this season.
Despite inheriting a senior class that has won only two games in its career and practicing only 44 times before Duke's first game against James Madison Aug. 30, Cutcliffe has told just about anybody who will listen what he expects from his squad.
Thirty points per game. Bowl-eligible. Conference contender.
And that's how he'll tell it to you. No conditionals, no if-clauses and no out strategies.
Past coaches said similar things, but nobody believed them like people believe in Cutcliffe. And it starts with his players.
"It's a different atmosphere," junior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis said. "The team has a swagger. People are feeling really good about themselves and glad they have made those accomplishments that Coach Cutcliffe had presented."
One of those challenges was losing a collective 1,000 pounds. Cutcliffe was in no way quiet about Duke's lack of conditioning, calling it the worst he had seen in his career. The players responded by changing their diets and enhancing their workout regimens.
When the summer arrived, Cutcliffe made another change, another challenge. In the past, players had been given the option of staying for the first summer session. This year, it was mandatory to stay in Durham for the entire summer to prepare for the season as a team. Again, the players responded.
"This is Division-I football. There's no reason why everyone shouldn't be here," senior linebacker Michael Tauillili said. "The values and the intensity that [the coaching staff is] bringing, and mainly, in my eyes, the experience that they're bringing to the program has been different. Changes like we just talked about... making the sacrifices we need to and the strides we need."
Recognition, expectations and ticket sales are up-the athletic department is estimating a 30-percent gain with 2,000 new season-ticket holders-but there still haven't been any real results. Cutcliffe, who took his first vacation in the last week of June after he was hired in December, knows this better than anyone.
"As a new staff, you really don't have a lot of time to get your football team as prepared as you'd like," Cutcliffe said. "We have a practice plan that we've already got on paper. You try to take every phase, every situation that occurs and put your team in those situations, prepare them to be able to play in every situation they'll face during the season. Other than that, you're just working fundamentals, techniques and individual techniques at each position.
"That's kind of what football is all about. Then you bring that together in the greatest team game of all sports."
Aside from continuing to work with the strength and conditioning staff, the players have been running smaller practice sessions on their own, such as seven-on-seven passing skeletons. Many players have said that the hardest part so far has been learning all the new terminology, but as the summer has progressed, they have become more familiar with it.
On offense, Cutcliffe said running back Re'quan Boyette could have a "special season," as he not only takes the majority of the handoffs but also catches some balls out of the backfield. Eron Riley, who had 40 catches last year and is ranked the No. 13 receiver in the country by Lindy's magazine, will likely be called upon to haul in as many as 70 or 80 throws in Cutcliffe's system. Lewis said he has had to learn the different situations for when he's given the green light to change the call at the line, as well as the plays with choice routes and a host of other new wrinkles.
Not to mention, it's a no-huddle offense.
And while former athletic director Joe Alleva said one of the reasons he hired Cutcliffe was for his offensive prowess, the head coach has no qualms with slowing it down if the situation calls for it.
"The big issue is trying to win games, and that changes from week to week," Cutcliffe said. "We believe we can score 30 points a game, and we will always have that as a minimum goal. But if it takes playing slow-ball or takes playing something different, we're going to do it. We're going to be a very versatile team in all areas. I think one of the things you'll see is aggressiveness and versatility, because that's what I think it takes to win in this day and time."
Nobody has placed more emphasis on winning the cliched one game at a time as much as Cutcliffe. In Duke's first three opponents-James Madison, Northwestern and Navy, all at home-the Blue Devils play a Division I-AA school, a squad the Blue Devils beat on the road and a team that beat Duke 46-43 last season. But you won't hear a single player look that far ahead.
Tauillili said there is no reason why this team shouldn't start out on a roll. Lewis said it would be like a snowball effect, each win helping to build on the next one. Each, though, first mentioned the caveat their coach has so determinately pounded into their heads.
"What I hope people remember about this team is how well they played one game at a time," Cutcliffe said. "We can't waste a second on the field, so we have to be the best we can be when we go out.
"The biggest tradition we'd like to reinstate is winning some football games and defending our home field really well."
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