December 15, 2007, was the beginning of the Duke football program as we know it today. On that day, David Cutcliffe accepted the head coaching job, succeeding Ted Roof and immediately shifting his attention to building his first recruiting class, one that would net 17 players. That meant both trying to convince the Roof commits to remain loyal to the Blue Devils and also trying to persuade other players on his radar to join him in Durham.
Now, four years later, five of those players in that initial class—Matt Daniels, Lee Butler, Donovan Varner, Jay Hollingsworth, and Johnny Williams—are on the eve of their final season in Duke blue. Ten others, including star quarterback and co-captain Sean Renfree, Brian Moore, and Patrick Kurunwune, will have another year of eligibility after they redshirted during their first year on campus. The final two members of the class, Trent Mackey and Randez James, were both dismissed in 2009. The Blue Devils will face Mackey, now a first-team All-Conference USA linebacker, when Tulane comes to Wallace Wade Stadium this fall.
Cutcliffe’s first mandate when the group arrived on campus in the summer was to drastically improve its conditioning by losing a collective 1,000 pounds to improve late-game performance.
“Coach Cutcliffe really believed in developing discipline and our conditioning,” Daniels said. “It has become the foundation of Duke football. He really instilled the idea that practice makes perfect in our class, and that’s something that we’ve passed on to each group that has come in.”
As Cutcliffe assumed the program’s reigns, he had an experienced quarterback in Thaddeus Lewis, but not a signal caller for the future. That’s when he turned his attention to Renfree, a Parade All-American out of Scottsdale, Ariz., and the tenth-ranked prep quarterback. Though he didn’t get the chance to bond much with the team, Renfree’s relationship with Cutcliffe led to his late January commitment.
“Sometimes, you end up getting to meet a lot of the players, and that helps you decide,” Renfree said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to build relationships with the players. So, it was really the fit with the coaching staff that did it for me.”
A major beneficiary of Renfree’s talent has been fellow recruit and wide receiver Donovan Varner. Varner, who predominantly played defensive back in high school, was recruited as an athlete, but his lack of size prevented him from gaining widespread notoriety from the recruiting services. Still his raw talent was undeniable.
“When I first met Donovan down in Miami, I was at his house, and he wasn’t a very big fellow at all,” Cutcliffe said. “Now, he’s pretty stout and has a chance to break the Duke career reception record in his senior season.”
Fellow senior and co-captain Matt Daniels also remembered the struggles that Varner went through as the coaching staff made him a wideout.
“When he got here, he couldn’t really catch,” Daniels said. “He really worked hard on his route running and his hands with Thad Lewis. He has transformed into a top notch ACC receiver who puts fear into opponents.”
There is no doubt that Daniels is both the captain of the secondary and the defense as a whole. He contributed mainly on special teams as a true freshman and has morphed into a hard-hitting, do-it-all safety who is putting himself on the radar of NFL front office personnel. Joining him in the secondary at cornerback is Johnny Williams, who had over 300 yards receiving as a true freshman before switching positions. Lining up with Williams in the secondary will be Butler, giving the Blue Devils a senior laden defensive backfield.
“From a defensive standpoint, we have so many defensive backs that have been in the system that we have a lot of experience in the backfield,” Daniels said. “That’s going to help us a lot in our preparation and pay big dividends on the field.”
Though it is difficult to predict the development of a recruiting class as they transition to the next level, Cutcliffe is very proud of the foundation that his first class in Durham has laid.
“Just to see the change in guys over time is one of the fun parts of being a football coach at the collegiate level,” Cutcliffe said. “You’re out there recruiting 17-year-olds, sometimes even 16-year-olds, and when it comes down to senior year, it gets emotional.”
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