For a moment, it looked like Duke football’s massive gains from the past two years could be wiped out in just a few days.
Following Mike Elko’s sudden departure from the program, over a dozen Blue Devils announced they would enter the transfer portal and leave Durham. With no head coach, and then with a new one, every passing day bore the risk of talented players transferring out of the program. New head coach Manny Diaz had to act swiftly to prevent his new team from falling apart.
“Any time there’s a coaching change, [players] don’t know what’s going on,” Diaz said at ACC Kickoff. “There are a lot of rumors, and especially in this era with the portal, there’s a lot of uncertainty. Players have a right to leave in a way they just wouldn’t have thought about four or five years ago. So you have to quickly connect with them.”
With the combination of the NCAA’s 2021 transfer legislation, which allowed college athletes to switch teams without having to sit out an entire season, and the proliferation of name, image and likeness opportunities for marketable players, mobility in college football has reached an unprecedented level. The portal incentivizes disgruntled athletes to leave their current schools for better opportunities both on and off the field.
Consequently, Diaz immediately scheduled meetings with 15 or 20 of Duke’s veterans, asking them a single question.
“What can we do better? A lot of good has been done over these last 24 months, but what can we do even better?” Diaz asked his players.
He explained that rather than trying to pitch himself, he wanted to hear from his team, “because great leaders listen.” Diaz’s approach clearly made an impact. In a twist contrary to the modern game’s trend of rampant player mobility, several Blue Devil stars who initially entered the portal decided to withdraw and return to Duke.
However, Diaz’s job was not just convincing existing players to stay. Although the transfer portal poses challenges for coaches who must protect their program from teams who might pilfer their most talented stars, it also allows them to act offensively and quickly rebuild by signing experienced veterans and potential superstars alike. The Blue Devils’ new head coach passed this second test with flying colors.
‘People want to be at Duke’
During the 2024 offseason, 18 players from around the country transferred to Duke, demonstrating Diaz’s command of the portal.
Perhaps the most important transfer came in the form of Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy. A former four-star recruit and potential NFL prospect, Murphy committed to the Blue Devils Dec. 22 after being heavily sought out by at least ten schools. The Inglewood, Calif., native projects as one of the most talented Blue Devil quarterbacks in recent memory.
A few years ago, bringing a signal-caller of Murphy’s caliber and potential to Durham would have been unthinkable. The fact that Diaz captured Murphy's signing is a testament not only to his ability to capitalize on the portal, but also on how much the Duke football program has grown over the past few years.
“He just let me know about the opportunity I had here,” Murphy said of his early talks with Diaz. “Being able to come in and earn and work for the starting quarterback job and lead this team to more wins than they had the previous year. That’s all I can ask for from a head coach.”
Murphy’s reasoning for choosing the Blue Devils was one shared by many of this year’s transfers, including defensive tackle Kendy Charles, who comes to Durham after four impressive years at Liberty.
“I wanted to go to a school where I could challenge myself and be a difference-maker, help the team win and showcase my talent at the highest level,” Charles told The Chronicle. “I felt like coming to Duke was that on and off the field. The opportunity that the Duke logo brings to you as a player is incredible.”
Some newcomers highlighted the university’s elite academics as another reason to bring their talents to Durham, which Diaz believes gives the Blue Devils an advantage in the portal and on the recruiting trail.
“People want to be at Duke,” Diaz said at ACC Kickoff. “The parents of our student-athletes want their sons to be at Duke. They want them to graduate from Duke and I think that's where we're a little bit uniquely poised than some of these other schools who, their recruiting pitch is football, and we can sell so much more.”
Eric Schon spent four years bolstering Holy Cross’s offensive line before transferring to the Blue Devils as a graduate transfer and enrolling in the Fuqua School of Business.
“I wanted to find a place that allowed me to pursue a master’s degree, specifically along the business track,” Schon said.
The Barrie, Canada native noted that while he “was also looking for a place that was gonna be a good fit, had good culture and was going to allow [him] to continue to grow as a person…the most important thing was being able to further [his] education in a really meaningful way.”
‘To play in a whole different way’
Duke football’s incoming transfers largely agree that their transition to a new environment has been greatly facilitated by their incredibly supportive teammates and coaching staff. At the same time, many have also noted that transferring definitely poses significant challenges.
As Charles aptly put it, “change is hard. Any type of change is hard.” Both Diaz and several players pointed to strength and conditioning coach David Feeley’s arduous offseason program and intense summer conditioning as a particularly difficult adjustment for new transfers.
“I’ve been very impressed,” Charles said. “I’ll be very transparent. When I first got here, I really struggled with the intensity, the detail aspect of [the workouts] and their urgency. There’s no wasted time, no wasted movements. Feeley is an incredible strength coach, probably the best in the country. I’m in the best shape of my life right now [and] it’s all credit to him and his program.”
Schon echoed Charles’ sentiments, adding that Feeley’s “attention to detail is something [he’s] never been able to experience before,” and that Feeley “is so deliberate with his coaching and his program. There is no stone or leaf that goes unturned.”
While Charles noted that he came to Durham partly because of Diaz's reputation for building stout defenses, learning Diaz’s scheme has been more difficult than expected.
“I tell myself everyday I have to forget how to play the position,” Charles said. “The way we play here demands you to play in a whole different way. You have to play with great detail and with violence at all times. We want tackles for losses. We want sacks. We want to create negative plays. And that’s what we take pride in.”
On the other hand, Schon immediately faced the difficult task of building chemistry with his new teammates on the offensive line. With stalwart linemen Graham Barton and Jacob Monk drafted to the NFL, nearly half of the Blue Devils’ projected starters on the offensive line are incoming transfers themselves.
“It definitely takes time to build that camaraderie and build that culture amongst the group of guys,” Schon told The Chronicle. “But you have a bunch of guys who are going through the exact same thing. Many of us are taking classes together and doing the exact same program at Fuqua. We had a chance to spend a ton of time together all summer… [which] is vitally important to building that culture, as much as it is playing on the field with each other.”
How quickly and effectively these incoming transfers adapt to their new team will be a determining factor in Duke’s success this season. Murphy, Charles, Schon and the rest must shine in order for the team to power through a tough ACC schedule.
Regardless, the foundation Diaz has built this offseason and his ability to recruit talented transfers will endure far beyond just this season. If one thing is clear, it’s that Diaz and the Blue Devils are ready to face the portal head on, and that ability will prove extremely important to producing lasting success in this new era of college football.
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Rodrigo Amare is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.