It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has followed the ACC but it became official Tuesday when Duke Football Coach David Cutcliffe was named the conference coach of the year.
Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe was named the ACC Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
Cutcliffe essentially clinched the honor five weeks ago after his Blue Devils defeated North Carolina to go to 6-2 on the year and become bowl eligbilbe for the first time since 1994.
In his five years since coming to Duke, Cutcliffe has amassed a 21-39 record and won more games than his two predecessors combined. His 6-6 (3-5 ACC) record wasn’t really even seen a probable heading into the season as the Blue Devils faced a loaded schedule and were down several starters.
Those factors lead the Blue Devils to be voted on by nearly every writer to finish last in the ACC Coastal Division and up until two weeks ago they were still in the race. The Blue Devils finished fifth in the division after losing their last four games of the season. Still the achievement of getting a program many believed completely irrelevant is an accomplishment worthy of reward.
“This honor is both humbling and rewarding because of the quality of the coaches in our conference,” Cutcliffe said in release by Duke University. “Like all awards, the credit reaches far beyond one person and this is truly one for our entire program. Ultimately, the acclaim goes to both our staff and the group of young men that came to practice every day with a desire to improve and prepare, gave their best effort on Saturdays, succeeded academically and served our community with pure selflessness. While this was a season of progress for our program, many of the goals we laid out five years ago have not been reached and we’ll continue our pursuit of excellence.”
Cutcliffe received 25 of 46 first place votes, with Clemson’s Dabo Swinney finishing a distanct second with 7 first place votes.
Duke currently is awaiting word on which bowl game it will be going to. Right now according to ESPN.com they are project to be in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte on December 27 but things could always change depending on how the ACC Title game plays out this coming weekend.
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