December 14, 2007
Cutcliffe hired at Duke -- UGA fans rejoice!
Tennessee OC David Cutcliffe has been offered the head coaching job at Duke and will accept the position today.
Cutcliffe is perhaps best known for his offensive schemes, for developing NFL-ready QBs (Shuler, Manning & Manning), for turning around the Tennessee offense and for being fired as the head coach at Ole Miss for refusing to shake up his coaching staff. Cutcliffe has a 44-29 lifetime record as a head coach - all with the Mississippi Rebels.
Former UCLA coach Karl Dorrell had been a top candidate for the Duke position, but reports say that the Blue Devils were concerned about his ability to assemble a coaching staff on the east coast. There are also questions as to whether Dorrell could be successful at a limited facility program like Duke, when he had struggled at fully-loaded UCLA.
While the Blue Devil fans are sure to greet Cutcliffe with open arms, you can expect the Bulldog nation to rejoice at Cutcliffe's departure from UT, too.
Paul Westerdawg points out that Cutcliffe is like kryptonite to Georgia. When he is on the Vols sidelines, UGA has never beaten Tennessee (0-9).
Hat Tips: Corey and PWD
UPDATE - Cutcliffe's contract will approach an average of $1.5 million per year.
Comments:
Zac said:
posted on December 14, 2007 12:46 PM — 209.36.193.14 — link — abuse?
Schmed, I was gonna say Charlie Weiss, but even he won 3 games this year.
I think it's a good hire. Duke has always tended to be offensively minded as a team. It would be interesting indeed, if they could get something of a defense going. Hope you're listening, Dave.
Geauxtigers0107 said:
posted on December 14, 2007 9:19 PM — 68.222.18.35 — link — abuse?
I'm just wondering if he jumped on this job too fast. I'm sure Cut's been wanting to get back to holding the reins but I don't know if I would've accepted this one.
Damn...he was 44-29 as HC? I honestly didn't think he was THAT successful. Winning 60% of your games isn't world-beaters but "it ain't all that bad".
Why wasn't he considered for the Ark gig? Hell, Ole Piss needs a coach now too. LOL.
Geaux SEC
Geaux TigersCollege Pigskin Fan said:
posted on December 14, 2007 10:08 PM — 4.244.0.77 — link — abuse?
This is a good job for Cutcliffe. It's a low profile, low pressure job. For the most part, he can do what he wants to turn it around, and he won't get any University officals butting heads with him.
For those of you that think Cutcliffe can't win at Duke, keep in mind, people use to say that no one could win at Rutgers, Wake Forest and Kansas.
OxfordAndrew said:
posted on December 14, 2007 11:34 PM — 75.66.73.42 — link — abuse?
Why wasn't he considered for the Ark gig?
That's probably for the same reason he hasn't been considered by any other high profile job: he left Ole Miss in shambles after he basically quit recruiting. In his defense, he did have a lot of heart problems for several years (which led to his resignation at Notre Dame).Ramblin' Gator said:
posted on December 15, 2007 12:27 PM — 74.185.133.40 — link — abuse?
For all you Duke-doubters here, remember that Spurrier built a winning team at Duke and he wasn't there long enough to build much of a recruiting machine either. If you don't believe Duke can attract blue chip recruits, take a look at the basketball team.
Coach K said last week that the football team did not have the kind of commitment from the administration to build a winner in Durham. Maybe this hiring is proof that they are going to change.
I still believe Coach Cut could have done better, though.
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gatorhippy
said:
posted on December 14, 2007 9:23 AM — 70.121.185.56 — link — abuse?Good for the Cut...
Dawgs are dancin' in the street...
Win over the Gators and the Cut leaves UT...
Great year, UGA fans...
Merry Christmas...