Team preview: Duke

Blue Ribbon Illustrated previews the 2004-05 college football season, exclusively on Insider.

Originally Published: July 28, 2004
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COACH AND PROGRAM

Soon after Duke athletic director Joe Alleva fired Blue Devil head coach Carl Franks midway through the 2003 season, he met with reporters and told them that he was surprised by the quantity and quality of coaches interested in filling the vacant position. That was hard to believe. Few jobs in college football appear – on paper – to be less attractive than the one at Duke.

Decades of mediocrity have left the once-proud program with little fan support. Tough academic standards have limited the recruiting pool. ACC expansion means that the future coach will have to butt heads with powerhouse programs such as Miami, Virginia Tech and Florida State, not to mention budding wannabes Maryland, Clemson, North Carolina State and Virginia.


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