 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-09-16)September 16, 1954 (age 71) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1976–1979 | Banks HS (AL) (assistant) |
| 1980–1981 | Banks HS (AL) |
| 1982 | Tennessee (assistant) |
| 1983–1988 | Tennessee (TE) |
| 1989 | Tennessee (RB) |
| 1990–1991 | Tennessee (QB) |
| 1992 | Tennessee (PGC/QB) |
| 1993–1994 | Tennessee (OC/QB) |
| 1995–1998 | Tennessee (AHC/OC/QB) |
| 1998–2004 | Ole Miss |
| 2006–2007 | Tennessee (AHC/OC/QB) |
| 2008–2021 | Duke |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 121–126 |
| Bowls | 7–4 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| SEC Western Division (2003) ACC Coastal Division (2013) | |
| Awards | |
| Broyles Award (1998) SEC Coach of the Year (2003) ACC Coach of the Year (2012, 2013) Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2013) The Sporting News Co-Coach of the Year (2013) Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year (2013) Bobby Dodd Coach of The Year (2013) AFCA Coach of the Year (2013) | |
David Nelson Cutcliffe (born September 16, 1954) is an American formercollege football coach. Under Cutcliffe, in 2012 theDuke Blue Devils ended an 18-year bowl drought and also brought the Victory Bell back to Duke after beating arch-rivalUniversity of North Carolina. The following season, Cutcliffe led the team to a second straight bowl appearance, another win over North Carolina, anAtlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division championship and the first 10-win season in school history.[1] He also earned multiple college football coach of the year awards from theWalter Camp Football Foundation,[2] the Maxwell Football Club, and the Bobby Dodd Foundation.[3]
Cutcliffe was born and raised inBirmingham, Alabama, which played a formative role in his development as a football coach.[4] He has two brothers (Charles "Paige" Cutcliffe, and Raymond Eugene "JR." Cutcliffe) and three sisters (Mary Marlyn Cutcliffe Sullivan, Margart Lynn Cutcliffe, and Elizabeth "Buff" Cutcliffe Easterly). Cutcliffe attendedBanks High School in Birmingham where he played football. He attended theUniversity of Alabama, where he worked as an assistant director of the athletic dormitory.
In 1976, Cutcliffe took a job at Banks High School where he served as an assistant and later as the head coach. In 1982, he was hired as a part-time coach at theUniversity of Tennessee. A year later, he was promoted to full-time status as the tight ends and assistant offensive line coach. By 1990, Cutcliffe was promoted to quarterbacks coach. He became offensive coordinator as well in 1993. As coordinator, Cutcliffe helped lead the Vols to twoSoutheastern Conference championships and anational championship. He also helped groomHeath Shuler and futureSuper Bowl MVP andPro Football Hall of FamerPeyton Manning, serving as their position coach.
On December 2, 1998, Cutcliffe was hired as the head football coach atOle Miss afterTommy Tuberville left forAuburn. Cutcliffe had success at Ole Miss, where he recruitedEli Manning, son of Ole Miss playerArchie Manning, to play quarterback. In 2003, Cutcliffe's Rebels tiedLSU for theSoutheastern Conference West Division title, and they won theCotton Bowl Classic, the Rebels' most prestigious bowl game since theJohnny Vaught era. The bowl victory capped off the Rebels' first 10-win season in 32 years, and only their second since Vaught's tenure.
Cutcliffe was fired by Ole Miss Athletic DirectorPete Boone in December 2004 after his only losing season at Ole Miss. Boone had asked Cutcliffe to fire some assistant coaches and provide a detailed plan for improving the program, specifically the defense and recruiting. Cutcliffe refused to fire any staff members, and was subsequently fired along with his assistants.[5]
After his stint at Ole Miss, Cutcliffe was hired by head coachCharlie Weis as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach atNotre Dame,[6] but health problems forced him to resign before his first season there.[7] In 2005, he underwent successful triple-bypass surgery to correct a 99-percent blocked artery.[8] After taking a year off he returned toKnoxville to coach Tennessee again and join his sons, Chris Cutcliffe and Marcus Hilliard, then Tennessee students, on campus (his oldest daughter, Katie Cutcliffe Kolls, would also attend Tennessee). After Cutcliffe's successor as offensive coordinator at Tennessee,Randy Sanders, resigned,Phillip Fulmer rehired Cutcliffe to replace him.
Cutcliffe led a major turnaround of the Tennessee offense during the2006 season. Tennessee quarterbackErik Ainge ranked among the nation's top 25 passers by yardage, and wide receiverRobert Meachem had the third-most receiving yards of any player.[9]
Cutcliffe was hired as the head football coach atDuke University on December 14, 2007,[10] replacingTed Roof, who had amassed a 4–42 win–loss record (1–31 in theACC) over four years at the school. Cutcliffe inherited a program that had tallied only three winning seasons in the last 25 years and, before the 2008 season, had not beaten an ACC opponent in over three seasons.[11]
Cutcliffe immediately began a strength and conditioning program, challenging the team to collectively lose 1,000pounds after finding the team in less than ideal physical shape.[12]
On Saturday, August 30, 2008, Cutcliffe won his first game as Duke's head coach, defeating theJames MadisonDukes 31–7, before a crowd of 32,571, the largest in Wallace Wade Stadium since 1994.[13][14] The game marked the introduction of a number of rituals that Cutcliffe hoped to turn into Duke traditions, including the Blue Devil Walk, which parades the players and coaching staff fromDuke Chapel, throughWest Campus and pastCameron Indoor Stadium toWallace Wade Stadium,[15] and the "Blue Devil Rock", located in the stadium tunnel and mined from the same quarry used in the construction of Duke's West Campus.[16]
In Cutcliffe's second game, Duke lost toNorthwestern in a mirror image game of the previous season's matchup, twice falling short of a touchdown deep in Northwestern territory. After the home loss against Northwestern, Duke hostedNavy, prevailing 41–31. Cutcliffe next led Duke to its first ACC victory since 2004, with a 31–3 rout ofVirginia.[17] This was a complete turnaround from the team's 2006 game against UVA, in which the Blue Devils were shut out 37–0 in Wallace Wade. Duke proceeded to lose toGeorgia Tech andMiami before notching its first road win of the season, a 10–7 victory over SEC opponentVanderbilt. Next, on the road atWake Forest, Duke lost in overtime, 33–30, missing what would have been a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. This was another in a string of such painful kicking miscues for the Blue Devils, including a miss atNorth Carolina in the previous season. The next game, Duke went on to lose toClemson, 31–7, before fighting to a surprisingly close 14–3 loss to powerhouseVirginia Tech and suffering a disappointing close loss toarch-rival North Carolina at season's end.
In January 2010, followingLane Kiffin's abrupt departure after just one season at the helm of the Tennessee football team, Cutcliffe quickly emerged as a leading candidate to replace Kiffin.[18] Cutcliffe, however, ultimately rebuffed Tennessee's overtures, remaining at Duke and stating, “After much thought and consideration, Karen and I reached the decision that Duke is the place for our family. We have both family members and lifetime friends in the Knoxville community and share a deep respect for the University of Tennessee. Our ties to the school and the Eastern Tennessee area are obvious. But before Tennessee’s hiring process comes to a conclusion, I know that Duke University is where we want to coach.”[19] Cutcliffe's decision was widely lauded as a rare example of commitment and integrity among prominent college football coaches.[20][21]
On October 20, 2012, Coach Cutcliffe led the Devils to their first win overNorth Carolina since 2003. In doing so, Duke became bowl eligible for the first time since 1994 to theBelk Bowl. The Blue Devils appeared poised to win their first bowl game in 51 years after building a 16-0 lead against theBig East Conference co-championCincinnati Bearcats. But the Bearcats stormed back, finishing the game on a 48 to 18 run denying the Devils the victory.[22] Still, the successful season earned Cutcliffe the ACC Coach of the Year on November 27, 2012.[23]
On October 26, 2013, Cutcliffe led the Blue Devils to an upset of #14Virginia Tech, 13–10. This was Duke's first win over a ranked opponent since beating #14Virginia in 1994. With this win, the Blue Devils became bowl eligible for a second consecutive season for the first time since the 1988 and 1989 seasons.[24] A win overNC State the following week guaranteed the Blue Devils their first winning season in 20 years, and only their ninth in 50 years. On November 29, with a close 27–25 win over North Carolina, the Blue Devils clinched their first-ever Coastal Division title, as well as the first 10-win season in their over 100-year football history. They also garnered a berth in the2013 ACC Championship Game falling to the eventual National ChampionFlorida State Seminoles andHeisman Trophy winnerJameis Winston 45-7. Duke's historic 2013 season concluded on New Year's Eve in Atlanta, GA, at theChick-fil-A Bowl against theTexas A&M Aggies, led by 2012Heisman Trophy winnerJohnny Manziel. In a high-scoring affair totaling 100 points, Duke took a 38–17 halftime lead before ultimately succumbing to a Manziel-led rally, 52–48.
The2014 season under Cutcliffe started off with four double-digit victories overElon at home,Troy on the road,Kansas at home andTulane at home. In week 5, they lost for the first time that season on the road againstMiami, 10-22. In week 7, Duke upset #22 ranked opponentGeorgia Tech inBobby Dodd Stadium, 31-25, and beat Virginia the following week at home. By week 9, they had entered theAP Top 25 for the first time that season, coming in at #24. Duke won a double-overtime thriller on the road atPittsburgh, 51-48, where wide receiverJamison Crowder caught 9 passes for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns. Following a 27-10 victory overSyracuse in theCarrier Dome, Duke entered their week 11 matchup againstVirginia Tech at home ranked #19 in the nation. After starting out with a 10-0 lead and eventually coming to a 16-7 lead late in the third quarter, Virginia Tech kickerJoey Slye made a 35 yard field goal in the final seconds of the third quarter to cut the lead down to 6 points. Virginia Tech would score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and upset #19 Duke 17-16 on the road.North Carolina dominated the Blue Devils 45-20 the following week, and Duke fell out of the top 25. Duke lost theSun Bowl against #15Arizona State, and finished the season 9-4.[25]
In2015, Cutcliffe's team started out 2-0 with blowout victories overTulane andNorth Carolina Central. On September 26, 2015, Duke upset #20Georgia Tech, 34-20. Duke began the 2015 season with a record of 6-1, and reached as high as #22 in the AP Top 25. Following these accomplishments, the Blue Devils lost four straight games, including a 35-point loss toNorth Carolina on the road. Cutcliffe's squad would finish 8-5 on the season, and defeatIndiana in the2015 Pinstripe Bowl 44-41. This bowl marked Duke's first bowl victory in 54 years. Also, it was and it remains the highest scoringPinstripe Bowl in the game's history.
Duke was projected to finish near the bottom of its division in the ACC in2016, being quarterbacked by-then redshirt freshman, former walk-on, andfuture first-round NFL Draft pickDaniel Jones. After starting the season with a 49-6 win overNorth Carolina Central, Duke would fall to 3-3, a record from which they would not improve. The only remaining game Duke would win during the 2016 season was an upset over its rival, no. 15-rankedNorth Carolina, by a score of 28-27. Cutcliffe's team would finish with a record of 4-8 overall and a 1-7 record in the ACC.
Despite a fairly strong first season from Daniel Jones in 2016, the 4-8 season finish led Duke's2017 squad to be voted to finish second-last in its division in the preseason ACC polls. Duke would nonetheless start the season very strongly, and be undefeated through their first 4 games, including on the road against their hated rival inNorth Carolina. However, their opponents were weak; two (Baylor, UNC) failed to win more than 4 combined games, and one (NC Central) was an FCS program. Duke would be defeated in its next six games after winning its first four; four of those losses during that streak were by one score. But Cutcliffe's team would once again go on a positive streak and win its next three games, including the2017 Quick Lane Bowl againstNorthern Illinois, and finish the season with a record of 7-6.
Cutcliffe's 2018 team would start the season 4-0 with impressive road victories overBaylor andNorthwestern, the latter playing in theBig Ten Championship Game later that season. Entering their game againstVirginia Tech, Duke was ranked in the AP Poll for the first time since 2015.[26] Duke would lose to Virginia Tech and ultimately lose four more conference games to finish with a disappointing ACC record of 3-5, good for second-last in the Coastal Division. However, Cutcliffe's team defeatedNorth Carolina in a 42-35 shootout, and would ultimately score 50 points to theTemple Owls' 27 in theIndependence Bowl. Duke would finish the season 8-5. Redshirt junior quarterback Daniel Jones would enter the2019 NFL draft following a strong 2018 campaign and ultimately be selected in the first round by theNew York Giants.
In2019, Duke was projected to take a step back and finish 5th out of 7 in the Coastal Division. Duke would open the season with a 4-2 record thanks in large part to a relatively easy schedule, but Duke would lose all their remaining games except for the finale against theMiami Hurricanes, including a defeat to rival North Carolina. Cutcliffe's team finished 5-7 with a 3-5 conference record, which was second-worst in their division.
Duke's 2020 team was projected to finish 12th in the ACC out of 15. In the bizarre and restricted2020 football season, the ACC's divisions were temporarily dissolved[27] (before making the change permanent in2023[28]), and Duke would play just 11 games, with the majority of those contests happening behind closed doors. Duke would win just two games against aSyracuse team that finished 1-10 and aCharlotte 49ers squad that went 2-4. Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils finished 2-9 overall and 1-9 in the ACC, tied for last with the tiebreaking win over Syracuse.
Duke's 2021 football team would hit what was an unforeseen low during Cutcliffe's tenure at the helm. The team was projected by zero ACC media members to finish atop the Coastal Division, as well as being almost unanimously picked to finish last. Duke would start the season with a record of 3-1. Cutcliffe's team once again faced very poor non-conference opponents, and the hot start would prove to be misleading as Duke failed to win a single conference game, with perhaps the hardest loss to stomach being a 7-38 blowout loss toNorth Carolina in Chapel Hill. The 2021 Blue Devils finished with an overall record of 3-9 and 0-8 in conference play.
On November 28, 2021, it was announced that Cutcliffe and Duke University had agreed to mutually part ways following three straight losing seasons.[29] Cutcliffe released the following statement: "After some detailed and amiable discussions with Nina King, we've mutually decided that it is the right time for change in the leadership of Duke Football. Karen and I have loved our time in Durham. Duke University will always hold a special place in our hearts. To our current and former players please know how much joy you've brought to our lives. To all of our coaches and staff, many who have been with us for 14 years, you will always have our love and respect. I want to thank Dick Brodhead for the opportunity to come here. I'm very thankful for Kevin White and Nina and their leadership. I can't say enough about all the faithful alumni and friends that gave us an opportunity to build and win here. I'm not sure just yet what the future will look like, but I am looking forward to some family time to reflect a bit on the past and see what the future holds."[30]
Cutcliffe is third on Duke's all-time wins list, behind only Hall of FamersWallace Wade andBill Murray.
Eight quarterbacks whom Cutcliffe coached in college have gone on to play in theNFL:Heath Shuler,Peyton Manning,Tee Martin,Eli Manning,Erik Ainge,Thaddeus Lewis,Sean Renfree, andDaniel Jones.
Cutcliffe also coached formerColorado Rockiesfirst basemanTodd Helton while Helton played quarterback at Tennessee. Eli Manning's former backup,Seth Smith, is a retired professional baseball player.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ole Miss Rebels(Southeastern Conference)(1998–2004) | |||||||||
| 1998 | Ole Miss | 1–0* | 0–0* | WIndependence | |||||
| 1999 | Ole Miss | 8–4 | 4–4 | 3rd(Western) | WIndependence | 22 | 22 | ||
| 2000 | Ole Miss | 7–5 | 4–4 | 3rd(Western) | LMusic City | ||||
| 2001 | Ole Miss | 7–4 | 4–4 | 5th(Western) | |||||
| 2002 | Ole Miss | 7–6 | 3–5 | 4th(Western) | WIndependence | ||||
| 2003 | Ole Miss | 10–3 | 7–1 | T–1st(Western) | WCotton | 14 | 13 | ||
| 2004 | Ole Miss | 4–7 | 3–5 | 3rd(Western) | |||||
| Ole Miss: | 44–29 | 25–23 | *coached last game of 1998, the Independence Bowl | ||||||
| Duke Blue Devils(Atlantic Coast Conference)(2008–2021) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Duke | 4–8 | 1–7 | 6th(Coastal) | |||||
| 2009 | Duke | 5–7 | 3–5 | 5th(Coastal) | |||||
| 2010 | Duke | 3–9 | 1–7 | T–5th(Coastal) | |||||
| 2011 | Duke | 3–9 | 1–7 | 6th(Coastal) | |||||
| 2012 | Duke | 6–7 | 3–5 | T–5th(Coastal) | LBelk | ||||
| 2013 | Duke | 10–4 | 6–2 | 1st(Coastal) | LChick-fil-A | 22 | 23 | ||
| 2014 | Duke | 9–4 | 5–3 | 2nd(Coastal) | LSun | ||||
| 2015 | Duke | 8–5 | 4–4 | T–4th(Coastal) | WPinstripe | ||||
| 2016 | Duke | 4–8 | 1–7 | T–6th(Coastal) | |||||
| 2017 | Duke | 7–6 | 3–5 | T–4th(Coastal) | WQuick Lane | ||||
| 2018 | Duke | 8–5 | 3–5 | 6th(Coastal) | WIndependence | ||||
| 2019 | Duke | 5–7 | 3–5 | 6th(Coastal) | |||||
| 2020 | Duke | 2–9 | 1–9 | T–14th | |||||
| 2021 | Duke | 3–9 | 0–8 | 7th(Coastal) | |||||
| Duke: | 77–97 | 35–79 | |||||||
| Total: | 121–126 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||