joannes3000

We had a small class of 10 to recruit this season and I think we landed extremely high-quality recruits with nearly every one of them. And while my recruit ranking of 35 doesn't reflect that, I think this class has the talent and potential to be one that pushes us into contention before too long. We spent dearly to land the players we did, but it sent another clear message to the schools around me (especially Virginia) - Duke is becoming a legit team and we will contend for nearly any recruit within 300 miles of us. --------------- Offense QB John Schmidt has above average athleticism and game instinct; average stamina and technique; and below average work ethic, strength, and elusiveness. WR Chris Brown is one of the gems of our class - a skilled player at a skill position. he has excellent athleticism, hands, and elusiveness; above average speed; average work ethic and technique; and below average stamina. TE Patrick Lange is another stud - a polished blocker who will develop into a receiving threat. He has phenomenal athleticism, speed, and hands; excellent work ethic, strength, and blocking; average game instinct; and below average stamina and technique. OL Frank Smith projects to be a solid backup in our OL rotation. He has excellent athleticism, blocking and game instinct; above average work ethic, stamina, and strength; and below average technique. OL Christopher Vasquez is a masher coming out of HS and projects to be an all-around monster on the OL once he works on his fundamentals. He will benefit from a RS and should become an immediate impact as a starter next season. He has excellent athleticism, work ethic, strength, and blocking; and below average stamina, game instinct, and technique. OL Kevin Walton is another gem in our class, who became unexpectedly available when an elite school went with another prospect. Walton's signing allowed us to RS Vasquez. He has phenomenal strength and technique; excellent blocking; above average work ethic and stamina; and below average athleticism and game instinct. Defense DL Chris Castillo projects to be a solid starter, but his lack of technique will ultimately hold him back from being an elite presence. We wanted to sign one more DL with this class, but when Kevin Walton became available, he was slightly better than a DL that we had lined up. Castillo has excellent tackling; above average athleticism, strength, and game instinct; average stamina; and below average work ethic and technique. LB Randall Matthews projects to be an above average starter, although his lack of athleticism will likely limit his playmaking ability. He has excellent tackling; above average game instinct and technique; average speed, work ethic, and stamina; and below average athleticism and strength. DB Richard Mosely was a LB in HS but he will roam our secondary as a DB. He projects to be an above average starter. He has excellent elusiveness and technique; above average speed; and below average athleticism, work ethic, stamina, hands, and game instinct. DB Thomas Terry has the makings of a shutdown DB, with raw abilities that already make him a starter. Once he gets his mechanics down, he will be a QB's worst nightmare. He has excellent speed and elusiveness; above average work ethic and technique; average athleticism and hands; and below average game instinct. ------------ As you can see, we literally broke the bank to land the class that we did. We got into several costly battles with the likes of Virginia and South Carolina, but we won all of them. The only local player that we let walk away was a DL prospect that signed with South Carolina after we decided to offer a scholarship to OL Kevin Walton instead. Beyond that, we were able to land nearly all of the top prospects we had our eyes on. I think our small recruit class hurt our recruit rankings, because we only had the 35th class in the country and the 4th best class in the ACC. I thought we landed a top 25 caliber class myself. One interesting thing to note is that Florida State took on 10 AC recruits out of a class-size of 14, making me wonder if the coach was around for recruiting... Boston College - 32 Clemson - 70 Florida State - 88 Maryland - 27 NC State (sim)- 115 Wake Forest (sim)- 89 Duke - 35 Georgia Tech (sim)- 90 Miami (FL) - 4 North Carolina - 48 Virginia - 76 Virginia Tech - 53

From: Timothy Patel To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Disappointing season Sent: 3/12/08 3:03PM Coach, I know it was a tough season for you, so I wanted to let you know that we're still behind you. Both Loyd Poole and myself know that you are the right person for this program and you'll turn things around next year. How's the recruiting class looking? Timothy Patel Athletics Director ---------- As expected, the AD is already breathing down my neck after only two seasons at the helm. If we can sneak into a bowl game next season, I should maintain my job status at "secure".

I'm in, and anyone in last season's league can attest to the fact that I will be active the entire season. As soon as the squawk league is created, someone please sitemail me the league ID and pass.

The humbling continues during the home stretch of our season as we went upstate to face powerhouse Syracuse. We were never close, as expected, but once again we're showing progress against the big boys. We ran for 152/2 and passed for 103/0/1. Our offense put up 255 yards and our defense allowed 485 yards. 17-40 L Next, we traveled to New Brunswick to face Rutgers. We led 13-10 at the half, but once again just don't have the depth yet to pull the upset in the 2nd half. We ran for 136/2 and passed for 141/1/0. Our offense put up 277 yards and our defense allowed 332 yards. 21-29 L One more road game before our home finale, this time against Pittsburgh. In a testament to his coaching ability, mjmage administered the largest beatdown we suffered all season. We ran for 145/0 and passed for 154/0/0. Our offense put up 299 yards and our defense allowed 520 yards. 3-46 L Our regular season finale was at home against West Virginia and we nearly pulled the upset. It wasn't until we failed to convert a 4th and long at midfield that the game was decided. We ran for 220/3 and passed for 192/0/0. Our offense put up 412 yards and our defense allowed 372. 34-27 L ------------ This season was much easier to stomach than last season, given that we won 5 games this year. Not only that, but we had near-upsets against Ohio, Rutgers, and West Virginia. So while our increased win total is a decent indicator of our team's progress, it's the scoreboard results that tell the story. We're going into season 3 of the rebuild next year, and I expect to hit 7+ wins next season. Just like with my rebuild at Duke, year 3 is typically the time you see teams turn the corner. 3/4 of the roster will be my guys, and with Temple, it will be more than that. Only 17 players remain from the teams sim-coach days, and at least 9 of them will be graduating this offseason. Another solid season of recruiting should give us enough ammunition to pull some upsets within the division next season. With a cupcake OOC schedule, and hopefully one or two upsets in conference play, we could very well be bowling this time next year.

The humbling portion of our season begins with our first home game of the season. Playing host to South Florida, we were reminded of our lack of depth. We went into halftime down 13-10 but were outscored 20-0 in the 3rd and 34-7 in the second half. We ran for 215/0 and passed for 92/1/1. Our offense put up 307 yards and our defense allowed 529 yards. 47-17 L We traveled to Milwaukee next to face Marquette on the road. Our breakdown occurred in the 2nd quarter where we were outscored 21-3 but we managed to play them even throughout the rest of the game. We ran for 226/2 and passed for 132/1/0. Our offense put up 358 yards and our defense allowed 445 yards. 24-42 L On the road again, this time in Chicago to face sim-coached DePaul. We got a chance to win a game in between the rest of the in-conference beatdowns. We ran for 407/3 and passed for 77/2/0. Our offense put up 484 yards and our defense allowed 233 yards. 34-10 W We came home in time to face national juggernaut UConn and I was happy that the game wasn't as big a blowout as last season's 63-10 slaughtering. We ran for 122/2 and passed for 177/1/1. Our offense put up 299 yards and our defense allowed 522 yards. 49-20 L ----------- Well, the beatdowns are getting lighter. UConn only beat us by 29 (53 last year) and South Florida only beat us by 30 (35 last year). I'm also pleased that we've been able to muster up a bit of a running game in our losses. Last year we typically had our running attack limited to less than 100 yards, but with a bit of a passing attack this season to go with us attacking out of balanced formations, it's tougher to key in on our running game. The remaining games don't look to be any different than these - we're likely to lose all of them. Maybe we pull an upset against Rutgers or West Virginia on my ability to game plan, but we're still quite far behind in terms of talent compared to nearly every team within the conference. ----------- 3/3/08 at Syracuse 3/4/08 at Rutgers 3/5/08 at Pittsburgh 3/6/08 West Virginia

We started the season with a bang on the road against sim-coached Central Michigan. A 7-7 tie was blown wide open in the 2nd quarter when we scored 21 unanswered points. We ran for 408/5 and passed for 107/1/0. Our offense put up 515 yards and our defense allowed 297 yards. 45-14 W We traveled to Logan next to face sim-coached Utah State. We got off to a strong start again, taking a commanding 30-3 lead at the half and never looking back. We ran for 483/6 and passed for 152/1/0. Our offense put up 635 yards and our defense allowed 305 yards. 50-9 W For game three we traveled north to face Kansas State. Once again we got off to a strong start, rattling off the final 14 points of the 1st half to pull away. We ran for 387/4 and passed for 169/2/0. Our offense put up 556 yards and our defense allowed 288 yards. 45-17 W Off to Athens for our 4th consecutive road game, this time against Ohio. Having played in the MAC for two seasons, I was familiar with the program and the coach and I knew this was going to be our toughest game to date. We were down 16-13 at the half, took a 27-23 lead going into the 4th, and had the game tied at 30 with under 2 minutes to go when our team's lack of depth finally bit us. We lost the game on a 26 yard FG with 1 second on the clock. We ran for 252/2 and passed for 130/1/0. Our offense put up 382 yards and our defense allowed 370 yards. 30-33 L Staying in the MAC, we traveled to face sim-coached Buffalo for our 5th and final road OOC game. After playing to a 7-7 tie in the 1st, we went off for 27 points in the 2nd and went on to win handily. We ran for 454/7 and passed for 115/0/0. Our offense put up 569 yards and our defense allowed 397 yards. 54-27 W ------------ Our 4-1 start quadruples our win total from last season and we should've won against Ohio. We played teams comparable to us in terms of talent (other than Ohio, who was better) and I like the results. We dominated the teams we were supposed to and nearly had an upset against a better team. I'm very pleased with our offense's progression going into the first full season of our new balanced attack. Our running game is effectively setting up our passing game and controlling the clock. The only loss we've had so far was one where we lost the TOP battle. Our defense is holding it's own, getting it's fair share of stops and turnovers. GD is undeniably slanted toward offense, however, so 'limiting' teams to under 400 yards of offense is typically a good day. Looking at conference play, it won't surprise me if we only win one more game (against sim-coached DePaul). Our conference is entirely too strong and my team is entirely too young (35 FR/SO) to make a lot of noise. ------------ 2/28/08 South Florida 2/29/08 at Marquette 3/1/08 at DePaul 3/2/08 Connecticut

Season two of the Temple rebuilding project has already gotten off to a hot start with our recruiting class. We actually have some decent depth in place on both sides of the ball now; compared to last season where we had some talent but no depth. With the infusion of talent we got with our recent recruits, we could actually scare some teams. With an OOC schedule full of sim teams, we will have no problem matching 1 win from last season. We have 4 sim teams on tap altogether, so we should be able to bank on 4 wins at the very least. Kansas state is a likely upset candidate, given their rebuilding status and an average coach. Unfortunately, we drew Marquette and South Florida from the opposite division, and we're not looking at any upsets within our division. 5 wins is our goal, with 6 being extremely optimistic. --------- 2/23/08 at Central Michigan 2/24/08 at Utah State 2/25/08 at Kansas State 2/26/08 at Ohio 2/27/08 at Buffalo

Quote: i dont see the point in making that trade at all.... who are the falcons trying to draft at #1 that wont be there at #3............. is that the entire trade? Agreed. The Falcons would be insane to trade up to the #1. They'll have their choice between whomever falls among Dorsey/Ellis/Ryan/J. Long/McFadden. All will fill areas of need (not so much McFadden IMO) so I don't see why on earth we would want to trade up unless Dimitroff sees an absolute cornerstone player.

Boy, talk about late! Too much stuff going on, as usual. Year two of recruiting went a lot better on several key fronts. Number one, we filled a huge class of 21 scholarship players without taking on a single AC signing. As I mentioned before, that means we've turned over 35 of 50 players in two seasons, giving us a much needed injection of talent. In an already loaded recruiting area (Penn State, Syracuse, Connecticut, Boston College) we need to get established a lot faster so we can get our share of recruits. Number two, we landed quite a few quality players. We secured both lines and surprised even ourselves by landing a pair of playmakers on offense. This class, while void of elite talent, is still an impact class due to the size and overall quality. --------------- Offense QB Ernest Flowers has excellent work ethic; above average athleticism and elusiveness; average technique; and below average stamina, strength, and game instinct. He will take a RS his FR year to let his work ethic do it's thing. Flowers could turn into something special in two years. QB Carlos Gunn has above average work ethic, stamina, and game instinct; average athleticism and technique; and below average strength and elusiveness. Gunn will be our starter this year and should develop into a capable backup after Flowers takes over next season. QB Curtis Yates has average athleticism and game instinct; and below average work ethic, stamina, strength, elusiveness, and technique. Yates was recruited solely as an extra body this season and will likely have his scholarship rescinded next season. RB Kenneth Goldstein was a DB in highschool but will excel as a RB for us. He has phenomenal elusiveness; excellent athleticism and speed; average work ethic, strength, hands, and technique; and below average stamina. Goldstein is going to be an immediate impact and will become a part of our regular RB rotation. RB Scott Pierce has phenomenal elusiveness; excellent strength and hands; above average speed; average work ethic; and below average athleticism, stamina, and technique. I'm afraid that Pierce's abysmal ATH will hold him back and that's why I was able to get him with relatively little fanfare. His other core attributes (ELU, STR, SPD) project him to be an excellent RB, giving us a quartet of young studs - Pierce, Goldstein, and last season's standouts Miguel Munoz and Herbert Fink. WR Jack Huffman has phenomenal speed and hands; excellent technique; above average elusiveness; and below average athleticism, work ethic, and stamina. Huffman is the gem of our class; one of those guys you fully expect to leave after 3 seasons. There must have been a ton of local talent at WR this past season, because we didn't battle any elites for him. WR Raymond Walker has excellent speed and hands; above average elusiveness; average athleticism; and below average work ethic, stamina, and technique. Walker will be limited by his low technique but if he improves steadily, he could become a very capable sidekick to Huffman. TE Matthew Fontenot has phenomenal speed and hands; excellent strength and technique; and average athleticism, work ethic, stamina, blocking, and game instinct. Fontenot will be menacing in our short passing attack, possessing the speed and hands of an above average WR. He's also a average blocker, but he won't waste much energy run-blocking. He's going to wreck LBs in coverage. OL Carlos Anderson has phenomenal work ethic; excellent strength and blocking; above average athleticism, stamina, and game instinct; and below average technique. Anderson was one recruit we broke the bank to get. He's an instant starter on our depleted OL, and even on a competitive team he would be a great addition. He already carries above average cores (BLK/STR/TECH) and his tremendous work ethic means he will only get better. OL Kyle Burton has excellent work ethic, strength, blocking, and game instinct; above average technique; and below average athleticism and stamina. Burton's low stamina will be an issue for the time being, but his high work ethic should take care of that. He projects to be an anchor on the line right beside Anderson, and we dug deep into our recruiting budget to land him also. OL Theodore Riley has phenomenal blocking; excellent work ethic and strength; average game instinct; and below average athleticism, stamina, and technique. Riley is the 3rd piece of a MAJOR overhaul of our OL. Like Burton, his low stamina will be an issue, but his high work ethic will take care of that. Riley also projects to be a stud, giving us 3 critical pieces at one of the most critical positions. We dug deep into our recruiting budget once again to land Riley. Defense DL Michael Ferguson has phenomenal tackling; excellent work ethic; above average strength and technique; and below average athleticism, stamina, and game instinct. Ferguson has above average cores (TKL/STR/TECH), but his secondary attributes (ATH/GI) and stamina keep him from being a stud. That said, his great work ethic project him to be a monster. DL Steven Sears has phenomenal tackling; excellent stamina; above average game instinct; average technique; and below average athleticism, work ethic and strength. Much like Ferguson, Sears is a tremendous tackler, but his below average strength will hinder him. His low work ethic project him to be a solid, if not spectacular starter. DL Joseph Stafford has excellent strength and game instinct; above average tackling, and technique; average athleticism and stamina; and below average work ethic. Stafford projects to be another solid starter, but his low work ethic will keep him from developing into something spectacular. DL David Winkler is to our defense what Jack Huffman is to our offense - a dynamite recruit. Winkler has phenomenal strength and tackling; above average athleticism and work ethic; average game instinct; and below average stamina and technique. If Winkler had higher technique, he would've been recruited by every elite in the country. As it stands, we had to fight off several local schools, but we went all-out to the tune of close to 90k spent to pry him away from Rutgers (his hometown is Bridgeton, NJ). LB Danny Hernandez has above average speed, work ethic, tackling, and technique; average stamina; and below average athleticism, strength, and game instinct. He will benefit from a RS this season and will hopefully develop into a rotational starter. DB Benjamin Brown has excellent athleticism; above average work ethic, stamina, hands, and elusiveness; average speed, game instinct, and technique. Brown projects to be an above average starter in two seasons. DB Craig Jensen has excellent elusiveness; average athleticism, speed, and work ethic; and below average stamina, hands, game instinct, and technique. Jensen will RS this season and hopefully that will give him time to develop the rest of his cores (SPD, GI, TECH). His ELU is already top-notch. DB Jorge Johnson has phenomenal elusiveness; excellent stamina; above average athleticism, speed, and work ethic; and below average game instinct and technique. Johnson is one of those raw athletes coming out of HS. His good work ethic projects him to be a solid starter, and if his GI/TECH grow into the above average range, he has the potential to be a standout DB. DB Richard Rose has phenomenal work ethic and elusiveness; excellent speed; above average stamina and technique; average athleticism and game instinct; and below average hands. Rose projects to be a stud in the secondary for us. His speed will make up for his average GI, and his ridiculous WE means he will continue to improve. Rose is already the #1 DB in our passing defense and he will likely hold that spot until he graduates or leaves early. P Jeffrey Johnson has above excellent work ethic; above average technique; and below average strength. He will handle the kicking and punting duties during his tenure. ------------ Well, we definitely went all-out during this recruiting period. As you can see, there was a lot of terrific talent and the majority of it was local once again. There were quite a few studs that Penn State, UConn, Syracuse, and Boston College gobbled up, with Penn State grabbing the majority, but we got our fair share also. On average we spent a little more than the allotted 15k per scholarship namely due to some costly battles against Rutgers, but it was very well worth it. Recruit rankings pegged our class curiously as the 50th best in the country. I fully disagree with that. The coach at Syracuse does an annual recruiting recap and here's what he had to say about our class - "Temple - B Grade doesn't match the rankings but the Owls had a huge class this season and really were able to make a jump in their overall talent. WR Huffman is a quality talent and added some quality talented depth on both lines." Here's how the recruit rankings fell for the conference: Syracuse - 6 Connecticut - 14 West Virginia - 8 Pittsburgh - 16 Rutgers - 40 Temple - 50 South Florida - 30 Marquette - 56 Cincinnati - 59 Colorado State - 47 Depaul (sim) - 99 Louisville (sim) - 98

Quote: I am a McFadden fan but I really think Jake Long would be perfect. Joe Thomas was a pro bowler in his first year with Cleveland last year and all projections say Long is just as good. One thing to note is that in last season's draft that saw Joe Thomas and Levi Brown go so high, it was Jake Long that won the Big Ten OL of the year award. I've been a huge Jake Long supporter and while he may not be the best pass-blocker coming out, I think he's the most devastating run-blocker coming out and that fits perfectly with what Smith and Mularkey want to do - run the ball.

From: John Baxter To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Rebuilding? Sent: 2/25/08 3:05PM Coach, I know it was a tough season for you, so I wanted to let you know that we're still behind you. Both Ali Padilla and myself know that you are the right person for this program and you'll turn things around next year. How's the recruiting class looking? John Baxter Athletics Director ------------- This is getting frustrating to the point that I contacted Customer Service to find out what I have to do to keep my freaking job! For the 3rd consecutive season I've increased Duke's win totals by 2 games. Here's Duke's storied history from the time they were last human-coached. Records are as follows - overall record, conference record, home record, road record, WIS ranking. 35 joannes3000 9-5 4-4 3-3 5-2 39 Alamo Bowl - Won 34 joannes3000 7-6 3-5 3-3 4-3 65 No bowl invitation. 33 joannes3000 5-8 3-5 2-3 3-5 66 No bowl invitation. 32 Sim AI 3-10 2-6 2-3 1-7 73 No bowl invitation. 31 Sim AI 5-8 3-5 3-5 2-3 73 No bowl invitation. 30 Sim AI 3-10 3-8 3-3 0-7 NR No bowl invitation. 29 Sim AI 2-11 2-9 0-7 2-4 NR No bowl invitation. 28 Sim AI 1-12 1-10 0-8 1-4 NR No bowl invitation. 27 Sim AI 0-13 0-11 0-7 0-6 NR No bowl invitation. 26 Sim AI 0-13 0-11 0-5 0-8 NR No bowl invitation. 25 Sim AI 2-11 2-9 2-6 0-5 NR No bowl invitation. 24 Sim AI 4-9 2-9 4-4 0-5 NR No bowl invitation. 23 Sim AI 0-13 0-11 0-7 0-6 NR No bowl invitation. 22 Sim AI 0-13 0-11 0-7 0-6 NR No bowl invitation. 21 Sim AI 5-8 3-8 4-4 1-4 NR No bowl invitation. 20 Sim AI 3-10 2-9 2-6 1-4 NR No bowl invitation. 19 Sim AI 4-9 3-8 2-3 2-6 NR No bowl invitation. Note the bolded area, which is my tenure at Duke. I mean, really, what the hell else could I have done in 3 seasons? This is pretty much what I asked Customer Service, only in a more civilized manner. Our 9 wins was the 4th most in the conference behind NC runner-up Virginia (14-1), elite FSU (12-3), elite Miami (12-3), and Clemson (11-3). We won more games than Boston College (8-5) and Georgia Tech (6-7). I guess I can look at Clemson as an example of what I need to do. They just fired their coach after the same stretch as our school: 35 cavone 11-3 6-2 6-1 5-1 45 Motor City Bowl - Lost 34 cavone 11-3 6-2 6-1 5-1 57 Hawaii Bowl - Lost 33 cavone 8-6 3-5 3-4 4-2 54 Las Vegas Bowl - Won 32 cavone 6-7 2-6 3-3 3-4 53 No bowl invitation. 31 cavone 7-7 4-4 4-5 3-1 78 Fort Worth Bowl - Lost 30 Sim AI 2-11 2-9 1-6 1-5 NR No bowl invitation. 29 Sim AI 2-11 2-9 1-5 1-6 NR No bowl invitation. 28 Sim AI 5-8 4-7 2-5 3-3 NR No bowl invitation. 27 Sim AI 3-10 2-9 2-4 1-6 NR No bowl invitation. 26 Sim AI 1-12 1-10 1-5 0-7 NR No bowl invitation. 25 Sim AI 0-13 0-11 0-6 0-7 NR No bowl invitation. 24 Sim AI 1-12 0-11 1-6 0-6 NR No bowl invitation. 23 Sim AI 2-11 2-9 2-5 0-6 NR No bowl invitation. 22 Sim AI 2-11 2-9 2-5 0-6 NR No bowl invitation. 21 Sim AI 5-8 4-7 3-4 2-4 NR No bowl invitation. 20 cavone 10-4 8-3 5-1 5-2 NR Emerald Bowl - Lost 19 cavone 9-5 7-4 5-2 3-3 NR Insight.com Bowl - Won I'm starting to get concerned that I'll have to make at least a level 3 bowl game, which will mean at least 9 wins during the regular season, if not winning a level 3 bowl game. I've heard that a level 4 bowl game appearance will save you no matter what, but we don't have the talent yet to put a level 4 bowl resume together (quality wins, SOS). My job status is now listed as "little to no jeopardy" which puts us two steps before getting fired. If things continue to degrade with my job status, I'll be sitting "in jeopardy" next season. That's still mind-blowing when I think about it. I was a 2nd/3rd tier team in a conference that sent 6 teams to bowl games, one to the NC. Then again, Clemson fired their coach after 4 bowl games in 5 years (1-3) and consecutive 11 win campaigns.

We started the Alamo Bowl about as good as I could've asked for. North Texas got the ball to start the game and we immediately forced a 3 and out. We got the ball on our 32 and drove the ball effectively 68 yards for a TD, only having to convert one 3rd down. North Texas came out throwing on their next possession and they showed the passing firepower I mentioned on their way to a TD. Our next possession was going smoothly, but just as we got into the redzone we threw a pick; our first of the entire season. So rather than going into the 2nd quarter with a lead, we went in tied at 7 and North Texas had the ball. NT was killing us through the air again, but our defense came up with a critical 8 yard sack to stall their drive. They missed their FG attempt also, allowing us to dodge a bullet. Our offense got back on track, this time driving 80 yards for a TD. NT took to the air again, needing only 3 completed passes (5 attempts) to go 63 yards for a TD of their own. With 6 minutes to go, we drove for another TD to take a 21-14 lead. We couldn't slow down the NT passing attack though, and we were fortunate to limit them to a FG to end the half. We started the 3rd quarter with a 21-17 lead and the ball, which is a great position to be in. Our ball-control offense kicked in, as we drove 59 yards and ate up 5 minutes of clock with our opening TD drive. Our defense provided a key stop, and that's when the tide turned for us. We drove 74 yards for another TD and you could sense the NT defense was starting to get fatigued. Our defense forced another punt, and you could feel the last gasp of hope leave the NT sideline. We ended the 3rd quarter driving into NT territory with a 35-17 lead. We opened the 4th quarter by finishing off a 3rd quarter drive with a TD. NT aired it out on their possession and scored a TD, but it was too little too late. If there was any glimmer of hope left, we extinguished it on our next possession. With 8 minutes to go, we started a drive on our 5 yard line. 6 1/2 minutes and 95 yards later, we scored the final 7 points of the game. 24-49 F ----------- We ran for 312/3 and passed for 239/4/1. Our offense put up 551 yards and our defense allowed 439. The vaunted NT running game was absolutely crushed, amounting to only 49 yards and 0 TDs. ----------- After losing 2 gut-wrenching bowl games in Rockne, I finally broke through in my first bowl game in Leahy. And while North Texas isn't in the same league as the teams we played in Rockne, we rightly dispatched a team that we had a talent advantage over. This win should help solidify our team's status as a threat to any non-elite, non-dynasty DIA teams. I've gotten several commendations by other coaches for the job we've done - taking Duke from a sim team to a bowl winner in 3 seasons. Hopefully this will be a springboard to the next level, which for me is the 10 win plateau. 8 wins is the new floor for us. We should be able to beat North Carolina and VaTech every year within our division and we can schedule 5 wins for OOC. And as long as we don't draw Boston College, FSU, and (for now) Clemson from the other division we should be able to make that mark.

Quote: Quote: Quote: How big will the bowl game be for your recruiting and how much bigger will it be if you win? It's hard to say with certainty because team prestige isn't defined - compare that to coach prestige where you can see a letter grade. The best way to determine team prestige is to look at the rolling 4 year win/loss totals. Not counting the bowl game, my record over the past 4 years is 23-29. The beauty of DIA recruiting, however, is the fact that every school can see every available recruit. At lower levels your team prestige plays heavily into whether you can see fringe recruits one level above your own. Functionally, at the DIA level, our increasing team prestige helps when we get into battles during recruiting. Getting a bowl bid increases your team prestige, as does winning a bowl game, but it's hard to determine the exact effects. The way I see it, I want to get into as many quality games as possible and win as many of those games as possible also. Will you get additional money to spend in recruiting as well as a result of the bowl game? Not exclusively for my team, no. Any postseason money is split evenly between all teams in the conference. We sent 6 teams to bowl games this season, amounting to about an extra 50k in recruiting money for the conference. I have ~200k bankrolled right now, which is nice. A lot of recruiting has to do with perception - good teams and good coaches typically don't get messed with. When coaches see a good coach or team on a recruit, they typically stay away. I know I do. And while I may not be seen by everyone as a good coach or at the helm of a good team, I'm starting to get more recruits simply by showing up on recruits first. I will never dominate my geographic area because of the number of elites in the SE (FLA, TENN, FSU, MIA), but I'm hoping to slot myself into the 2nd level of teams/coaches (UGA, GA Tech, Clemson, Louisville, South Carolina, West Virginia). Things could get a lot nicer soon, with some neighboring schools having coaches in the hot seat: Clemson's coach is in jeopardy - they will likely get fired if they don't win their bowl game. Louisville's coach is in little to no jeopardy - 2 steps away from getting fired. These two teams play each other in the Motor City Bowl. Georgia Tech's coach is in little to no jeopardy - 2 steps away from getting fired, and they didn't get a bowl invite. The other BCS teams in our region aren't much of a threat, because the teams are either rebuilding (UNC, VATech, Maryland, Vandy, Kentucky) or sim teams (NC State, Wake Forest). Wow, talk about rambling off topic.

Quote: wasnt it the wrist that hurt last time? man i tell you what. we cannot live for dying, can't fly for falling, can't get a freaking break.... somehow there is a curse on this team. It's the curse of Dominique.

Quote: How big will the bowl game be for your recruiting and how much bigger will it be if you win? It's hard to say with certainty because team prestige isn't defined - compare that to coach prestige where you can see a letter grade. The best way to determine team prestige is to look at the rolling 4 year win/loss totals. Not counting the bowl game, my record over the past 4 years is 23-29. The beauty of DIA recruiting, however, is the fact that every school can see every available recruit. At lower levels your team prestige plays heavily into whether you can see fringe recruits one level above your own. Functionally, at the DIA level, our increasing team prestige helps when we get into battles during recruiting. Getting a bowl bid increases your team prestige, as does winning a bowl game, but it's hard to determine the exact effects. The way I see it, I want to get into as many quality games as possible and win as many of those games as possible also.

From: John Baxter To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Congratulations, Coach! Sent: 2/20/08 3:05PM I just got off the phone with the organizers of the Alamo Bowl and I've accepted their invitation. Great job this year, Coach. I think the exposure we will get playing in this game will really help out the program, not to mention recruiting next season. Keep up the good work! John Baxter Athletic Director Duke University ---------- Yes sir! Our season's body of work resulted in an invitation to a level 2 (out of 5) bowl game. We're matched up against Sunbelt runner-up North Texas, a 12-2 squad. Here's the tale of the tape: Duke OL vs North Texas DL - advantage Duke. Our OL should absolutely MANHANDLE their DL all game long. We're so much stronger than them (77 vs 66) that our OL should be able to literally push their DL around for 60 minutes. Duke passing offense vs North Texas passing defense - advantage Duke. Our QBs thrived this season (19 TDs, 0 INTs) in our conservative passing game and while NT's pass defense is comparable to ours, our passing game has hung in there against much stiffer competition. We shouldn't have to throw very often, and I like our chances when we do. Duke rushing offense vs North Texas rushing defense - advantage Duke. With our advantage up front over their DL, our running game should get on track early and often. Duke DL vs North Texas OL - advantage Duke. Much like our OL, our DL is a lot stronger than their OL (83 v 72). Their OL will have a hard time keeping our DL from penetrating into their backfield. Duke passing defense vs North Texas passing offense - advantage North Texas. NT has a gunslinger QB and a good receiving group. They didn't throw much during the season, but they could have success throwing against our young secondary. Duke rushing defense vs North Texas rushing offense - push. NT has 3 dynamite RBs that have dominated their competition all season. If it weren't for our DL being much better than their OL, this would be a serious cause for concern. As it stands, however, I don't think the NT running attack will be consistent enough to be a true threat. ----------- On paper, we should be able to handle NT with relative ease. I don't see our running game having a lot of trouble executing our ball-control offense. Their running game is dangerous, however, and it could get hectic if their OL can open up some running lanes. I like our chances, and I think we will be favored by ~7.

The back end of our regular season starts with a home game against Virginia Tech. They are one season behind me in terms of their rebuild project, but we're several seasons ahead in terms of the product on the field. We ran for 305/4 and passed for 158/2/0. Our offense put up 463 yards and our defense allowed 232. 7-42 W Our road game against Georgia Tech is our last winnable game of the regular season, making it critical to our bowl aspirations. We've been talking about this game all season because this is a good game to check our team's progress within the conference. Georgia Tech was banged up at LB, so I liked our chances even on the road. At the half the game was knotted up at 14 and Tech took a lead late in the 3rd quarter with a TD. We quickly tied the score in the 4th, but Tech took the lead on a FG with just under 8 minutes to go. Fatigue finally started to set in for the Tech defense, as we drove 80 yards without even going to 2nd down to take the lead with a TD. We left almost 5 minutes on the clock, however, and our defense stepped up big time just outside our redzone, forcing 3 consecutive incompletions to give us the ball back. We couldn't kill the clock entirely, but we pinned the ball at the 1 yard line with 40 seconds left in the game and there were no dramatics at the end. We ran for 157/5 and passed for 263/0/0. Our offense put up 420 yards and our defense allowed 491. 35-31 W After our terrific upset the prior week, we traveled to Virginia knowing we were just playing to keep the score respectable. Last season we were on the humiliating end of a 66-10 blowout, and we managed a much better showing this season. We ran for 112/3 and passed for 190/0/0. Our offense put up 302 yards and our defense allowed 534 yards. 21-42 L Our regular season finale was a home tilt against elite Miami. Again, we were playing to keep the score respectable and we achieved that. After getting throttled 55-10 last season, we managed to keep things decent this season. We ran for 35/0 and passed for 215/1/0. Our offense put up 250 yards and our defense allowed 368. 27-7 L ----------- Our goal of taking the next step this season has been accomplished to this point. We hit 8 wins, which is tough even if I schedule 5 gimme games for my non-conference slate. We should also be in line for a decent bowl berth since we are currently ranked #43 with CC games being played right now. Barring some ridiculous oversight by the bowl committee, we should be a lock for the post season. 4 of our 5 losses have come against top 25 teams, with 3 of them being elites (FLA, MIA, FSU) and the 4th being a powerhouse also (UVA). Our only other loss was against an above-average Clemson team. Our losses came against teams with a combined 58-7 record this season. Bowl bids should be announced later today and I fully expect to be one of the possible 6 teams the ACC sends bowling.

My wife and I went to watch it the other day and we both liked it. I can see why a lot of people get motion-sick during the movie because it's shot first-person style like Blair Witch. I think it was a nice way to capture the effect of what was going on in the movie, however, which was basically running scared from something that's causing a whole lot of carnage in the city.

Our conference schedule starts with a home game against elite Florida State. We ran for 47/2 and passed for 269/1/0. Our offense put up 316 yards and our defense allowed 495. Compared to last year's 24 point throttling, I'm happy that we only lost by 19. 40-21 L Our next game we were on the road against Clemson and I was really hoping to pull an upset after a strong showing against FSU. We're still another season or two away from being close enough from a talent standpoint to beat one of the mid-level conference teams, however. We ran for 58/2 and passed for 286/1/0. Our offense put up 344 yards and our defense allowed 457. 21-38 L On the heels of two straight losses, game 8 has us on the road against a sim-coached Wake Forest team. Things didn't get quite as ugly as when we played UCF earlier this year, but we won handily. We ran for 392/4 and passed for 218/3/0. Our offense put up 610 yards and our defense allowed 274. 49-17 W The annual Tobacco Road game is at North Carolina this year, and they're human-coached for the first time in 10 seasons. It didn't matter much on the scoreboard, however. We ran for 251/4 and passed for 296/2/0. Our offense put up 547 yards and our defense allowed 141. 42-3 W ---------- Well, I think we're slowly making progress against our conference foes. We narrowed the losing margins against FSU and Clemson compared to last season, and I expect more of the same against Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Miami later this season. As long as we beat Virginia Tech as expected, we will match last season's 7 win total. We are currently in line to get a bowl bid this year also, with our team currently ranked #45. We should hover right around that ranking, even as we accumulate losses to end the season. Virginia and Miami will continue to be ranked in the top 25 which will help our SOS. Georgia Tech is having a bit of a down year, and if we can catch them off guard, 8 wins should lock up a bowl bid. ---------- 2/16/08 Virginia Tech 2/17/08 at Georgia Tech 2/18/08 at #7 Virginia 2/19/08 #17 Miami (FL)

Quote: Nice start to the season! I can tell you I am happy that a Duke over Georgia win is pure fantasy, though. Lol, you're absolutely correct. Growing up in Athens, I almost felt like it was my moral obligation to lose the game.

Nothing like a nail-biter to start off the season. Playing at Iowa State, we took a lead going into the 4th after having a masterful 3rd quarter only to have an uninspiring final frame where we gave up 10 straight points. We snapped out of it just in time to score the game-tying TD with just over 2 minutes to go and forced the game into OT. We started on defense and forced a fumble on the first play, leading to the game-winning TD on our possession! We ran for 254/3 and passed for 226/2/0. Our offense put up 480 yards and our defense allowed 382. 38-31 (OT) W Game 2 has us back home against UNLV and we played another dramatic game, this time with the crowd on our side. Once again we scored a TD late in the 4th quarter, this time to win in regulation. We ran for 200/3 and passed for 235/2/0. Our offense put up 435 yards and our defense allowed 390. 34-38 W We didn't have time to celebrate our two clutch wins for long, as Florida came calling for game 3. We hung in tough at the half, staying tied at 21, and had the game tied up early in the 4th until the wheels came off. We played very well against an elite, however, so the loss was somewhat acceptable. We ran for 72/3 and passed for 212/1/0. Our offense put up 284 yards and our defense allowed 474. 41-28 L We traveled south to Sanford Stadium for game 4 and were hopeful of an upset after our good showing against Florida. The game was tied up going into the 4th quarter, and it looked like we were going into OT after a late drive stalled and we had to punt away with just over a minute to go. Our defense came up huge, however, by forcing an INT with 40 seconds to go. Two plays later we scored a TD and silenced the home crowd with a thrilling upset. We ran for 93/2 and passed for 231/1/0. Our offense put up 324 yards and our defense allowed 382. 21-14 W We came home after our upset victory and hosted sim-coached Central Florida. They were 30.5 dogs and we took them behind the woodshed. I knew we had a talented team, but this game got out of hand in a hurry. We ran for 398/10 and passed for 259/1/0. Our offense put up 657 yards and our defense allowed 124. 3-77 W ---------- I'm thoroughly impressed with our 4-1 OOC record, especially with the only loss being against an elite Florida squad. This is far more impressive than our 4-1 start last season when we dialed up wins against sim teams. We were actually ranked #18 going into conference play! We're staying grounded going into conference play, however, because the ACC is going to be brutal as usual. If I can match last season's 7 wins, we should sneak into a bowl game this year due to our increased SOS. If we can pull an upset somewhere and get 8 wins, we should be a lock to go bowling. ---------- 2/12/08 #5 Florida State 2/13/08 at Clemson 2/14/08 at Wake Forest 2/15/08 at North Carolina

I got two emails this morning from players that decided to leave the program due to lack of playing time. Juan Turner and Nathaniel Jackson were two of the three SRs I chose to RS last season in an attempt to balance out my classes a bit. Their decisions leave us with a recruiting class of 21, which is a LOT more than I want to have in any given season. On the bright side, this many defections will let us revamp the team a whole lot quicker if recruiting goes well. If we're able to fill our scholarships this season, we will have turned over more than half of the roster in two seasons - 12 recruits last season plus 21 recruits this coming season. The downside to this is that we will have a very young and unbalanced team. And while it will be nice when this incoming class is playing their SR years, it will be tough having to replace them every 4 seasons or so. I've always been a bigger fan of having balanced classes (12/13/12/13) because I think it leads to more steady play overall. Rather than sweat the details and attempt to balance my classes out, I think I'm going to let things ride and just recruit on a season-by-season basis with this team. The idea is that I'll be able to get competitive sooner by focusing on having 8 OL at all times rather than having 2 FR, SO, JR, and SR playing OL. We'll see what method produces the best results!

Thanks to a span of complete ignorance, my OOC slate was generated by the sim. That's right, I forgot to schedule any OOC games for the entire duration of season 34. That puts a damper on our chances of winning some easy games since I didn't get a chance to schedule a handful of downtrodden sim teams. That's right - if it works for Kansas, it works for me! We actually didn't get a terrible draw, given my ignorance. We drew one sim team (UCF) which should be a gimme win. And while we drew elite Florida and BCS Georgia to boot, our other two games against Iowa State and UNLV should be competitive at the very least. -------- 2/7/08 at Iowa State 2/8/08 UNLV 2/9/08 #12 Florida 2/10/08 at #20 Georgia 2/11/08 Central Florida

Season three of the rebuilding project at Duke started off successfully in my estimation. The momentum of our 7 wins last season, along with some coaching vacancies within our recruiting area gave us access to some nice recruits given the (non)winning tradition of our team. I continued with my recruiting techniques from season two by recruiting early for several recruits that were local to me. It turned out that the vast majority of them signed for minimal amounts of money because we got little, if any, competition from other schools for their services. This allowed me to key in on a couple of key targets I was willing to battle for. We met all of our determined needs this recruiting season, which is always a plus. I'm especially happy with landing the one extra RB and one extra LB I was hoping for, both of which will RS this season. Part of the leap that I expected to take starts with the recruiting season, as I want to teach people that Duke means business off the field as well as on the field. ---------- Offense QB John Eaton projects to be an average DIA player in all facets, which is rare for me to land. By the time he is expected to throw passes as a JR, he should be above average in all categories. He has above average speed; average game instinct and work ethic; and below average athleticism, stamina, strength, elusiveness, and technique. RB Eugene Gonzalez is the gem of our class, who is a converted TE. He excellent strength; above average speed and elusiveness; average athleticism and stamina; and below average work ethic. He's even an accomplished blocker to boot. He will RS this year and should spearhead our running attack during his time at Duke. RB Joseph Sandoval has above average speed; average work ethic, stamina, and elusiveness; and below average athleticism and strength. WR Jack Beatty is a converted RB. He has above average speed, work ethic, and stamina; average elusiveness and technique; and below average athleticism and hands. WR Martin Jackson has above average speed, stamina, and elusiveness; average work ethic; and below average athleticism, hands, and technique. TE John Abrams has excellent work ethic and blocking; above average strength; average athleticism and speed; and below average stamina, hands, and technique. He is already a devastating run-blocker and if he improves his pass-catching he has the speed to be a dual-threat TE. OL Harold Boyer has excellent stamina and blocking; average athleticism and strength; and below average work ethic, game instinct, and technique. He will need to become more technically sound, but is already a road-grader. OL Ryan Powell has excellent work ethic, stamina, and blocking; average athleticism and strength; and below average game instinct and technique. Like Boyer, Powell is a mauler and I have high hopes of him becoming a stud OL with his high work ethic. Defense DL Leslie Lloyd has excellent work ethic and stamina; above average strength and tackling; and below average athleticism, game instinct, elusiveness, and technique. His high work ethic, along with having plus grades in two core skills (STR, TKL) make Lloyd a candidate to be a game-changer. DL Jeffery Sykes has above average strength and technique; average athleticism, work ethic, stamina, and tackling; and below average game instinct and elusiveness. LB James Flores has phenomenal tackling; excellent speed; average stamina and strength; and below average athleticism, work ethic, and technique. DB Stanley Greene has average athleticism, speed, work ethic, stamina, and elusiveness; and below average hands, game instinct, and technique. DB Gregory Washington has phenomenal speed; above average elusiveness; average stamina; and below average athleticism, work ethic, hands, game instinct, and technique. Special Teams K Michael Reid has average work ethic, strength, and technique; and below average game instinct. He will pull double duty as a punter as well. ---------- Ardikus and his recruit rankings are currently MIA, but the rankings provided by another coach have us with the #50 class. This is a step back from our #43 ranking last season and I think it's due to the new rankings rather than a weaker recruiting class. Nonetheless, that gives us the 5th best class in the conference and the 3rd best class in the division. Miami - 5 Florida State - 17 Virginia - 25 Clemson - 32 Duke - 50 Maryland - 53 North Carolina - 57 Boston College - 58 Georgia Tech - 68 Virginia Tech - 70 North Carolina State (sim) - 99 Wake Forest (sim) - 102 ---------- While we aren't exactly broke, I still felt I overspent a little bit. Our protracted battle over Eugene Gonzalez cost a lot more than I had hoped it would, as I ended up spending over 60k on him alone!

My wife's birthday is on the 13th, so I get hit with the double-whammy each year. This year, it's gonna be 2 dozen roses (from proflowers as well!), one dozen for her bday and one dozen for vday, and a nice dinner out for her bday to avoid the next day's rush. Nothing crazy or extravagant, but we both go to school, we both work full-time, and we have a 2 1/2 year-old. We're just happy to have a little time away from our daily hustle and bustle!