Blue Devils coaching staff receiving conference and national honors
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke Blue Devils head football coach David Cutcliffe was named the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coach of the Year as voted on and announced by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA) on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Maxwell Football Club also announced that Cutcliffe was one of three finalists for the Club’s Collegiate Coach of the Year Award – a national award that put him on the final ballot along with Gus Malzahn of Auburn and Gary Pinkel of Missouri.
Now in his sixth year leading the Duke program, Cutcliffe has guided the Blue Devils to a 10-2 record this season including the ACC’s Coastal Division championship.
The 10 wins are the most in school history, topping the previous standard of nine set by the Blue Devils’ 1933, 1936, 1938 and 1941 teams.
Cutcliffe also captured the honor in 2012, becoming the seventh coach in league history to receive the award in consecutive seasons, joining Maryland’s Jerry Claiborne (1975-76), Clemson’s Charley Pell (1977-78), Virginia’s George Welsh (1983-84), Duke’s Steve Spurrier (1988-89), Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer (2004-05) and Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson (2008-09).
“It’s awfully humbling,” Cutcliffe said.
“I’ve said it time and time again, we’ve got a terrific group of coaches in this league. But this is not an individual award – this is a program honor because of the young men who prepared each and every week to the best of their abilities, and then played the games on Saturdays with tremendous effort. And certainly a great deal of credit goes to our staff, which has come to work each and every day with the desire to help make our program the best it can possibly be.”
The 20th-ranked Blue Devils will kick off against top-ranked the Florida State Seminoles in the 2013 ACC championship game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Saturday at 8 p.m.
A native of Birmingham, Ala., Cutcliffe has guided the Blue Devils to 31 victories in his five-plus seasons after the progrma managed to earn just 10 wins in the previous eight years to his arrival.
In ACC COY voting, Cutcliffe received 62 of 65 votes, while Boston College’s Steve Addazio got two votes, and Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher tallied the last one.
Voting for the 2012 ACC Coach of the Year award was conducted by 65 members of the ACSMA.
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2013 ACC COACH OF THE YEAR
David Cutcliffe, Duke (62)
Steve Addazio, Boston College (2)
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State (1)
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Roper named finalist for Broyles Award
In addition to Cutcliffe’s recognitions and honors, Duke assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper was named one of five finalists for the prestigious Broyles Award, an honor presented annually to the top assistant coach in the nation, as announced on Monday.
The Broyles Award is presented by The Rotary Club of Little Rock and the winner will be announced on Tues., Dec. 10.
“We are certainly so proud for Kurt with this recognition – it is truly deserved,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.
Cutcliffe, who won the Broyles Award in 1998 while a member of the staff at Tennessee, spoke from experience regarding the qualities that Roper exemplifies in being considered for the award.
“I know what the award stands for and without a doubt Kurt Roper has earned the opportunity to stand next to the finest assistant coaches in America. What he has done, over the past 10 months, with our quarterbacks is incredible. We lost a three-year starter in Sean Renfree to the NFL Draft and then, to lose the projected backup in spring ball could have been so devastating to our team. But Kurt persevered, and put his heart and soul into his work and it is not an accident that we’re 10-2 and playing in the ACC Championship this weekend.”
Roper has helped Cutcliffe and his staff pace the Blue Devils to its school-record 10 wins along with the ACC’s Coastal Division championship.
Duke’s offense is one of just four in the ACC to compile 20-plus rushing touchdowns and 20-plus passing scores, doing so for the first time in school history.
In addition, the Blue Devils have generated four game-winning, fourth quarter scoring drives this season including last week’s effort in the 27-25 win over North Carolina.
In 2013, Duke’s balanced offense has generated an average of 33.7 points per game.
Roper is joined by Rhett Lashlee (Offensive Coordinator, Auburn), Philip Montgomery (Offensive Coordinator, Baylor), Jeremy Pruitt (Defensive Coordinator, Florida State) and Pat Narduzzi (Defensive Coordinator, Michigan State) as finalists for the award.