To say Duke reveled in its win
over UNC in football would probably be an understatement. According to what
we heard, the cheerleaders and some players went after the Victory Bell while
the clock was still winding down. UNC turned off the scoreboard as soon as
the game was over - no Spurrier-esque photos this time - and the bell was taken
out to the midfield logo, where it was celebrated. Needless to say (and
understandably so) the UNC fans were not impressed and chanted "go to hell
Duke," as we would have at them.
The bell then was brought in at halftime and rung in Cameron.
You have to think, after closing so strongly - pushing State to the last play
of the game, giving Tennessee an unexpected tussle, upsetting Tech, and beating
UNC - that Ted Roof has made a name for himself. The ugly loss to Clemson
was an exception, but given the rest, not a disaster.
This is the first time in forever that Duke football has really stirred fans
juices. The
Chronicle has posted an article listing candidates for the full-time job.
Listed are Bobby Ross, Norm Chow, Dick Biddle of Colgate, an alum, Paul
Johnson of Navy, and Jack Bicknell of Louisana Tech.
First of all, though Bobby Ross has been a great coach, the man is almost
70. That's a bit long in the tooth, and not a long-term solution.
How do you recruit when you are that age? You can't make promises. Bobby Bowden
and Joe Paterno have already run into this problem.
Chow, Biddle, Johnson, and Bicknell are all really solid candidates.
Chow, for some reason, has coached for 30 years and been a masterful offensive
coordinator, but has yet to be a head coach. One does wonder why. But
still, he's on Steve Spurrier's level as an offensive mind.
It's hard to get away from what Roof has accomplished, though. In a few days,
he instilled a fighting spirit in his team and took State to the absolute
wire. We actually posted on a mailing list we use that we thought Duke
would give UT a game. But the Tech game was a total shock, and while UNC wasn't
- let's face it, they couldn't make a tackle at a nursing home - that was still
sweet.
So we hope Roof's star is rising. He's a guy with charisma and leadership
qualities, and, we might add, an ability to improvise.
Furthermore, Duke could even take most of the salary they'd give a first-line
defensive coordinator, let Roof mostly oversee it, which is his specialty, and
put most of that money into hiring a crackerjack offensive mind. We doubt
Chow would take the job as an assistant, but why not think big?
Bonus link:
Bunting's embarrassed! Maybe he's got a point, but not in the way he
meant it. He and his staff - and Dick Baddour - were booed by the home
crowd; players ran off the field so they didn't have to shake hands after losing
to Duke...nothing wrong with losing to a team which plays better, but yeah, some
of this stuff is embarrassing. The reality is that Duke is not the Duke it
was at the beginning of the year. Bunting apparently thought it was an
automatic win - "Thirteen years, we've been beating
Duke, 13 years," Bunting told the Herald-Sun. "It's embarrassing to
play like that."
No doubt. But it's also embarrassing to act like some people in Kenan did.