July 29, 2004
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Duke took part in the 2004 ACC Football Kickoff earlier this week as head coach Ted Roof, RB Cedric Dargan and DL Phillip Alexander all headed over to Greensboro, N.C., to meet with the media. Duke will open the season Sept. 4 against Navy at Annapolis, Md., at 6 p.m.
On being a head coach during the offseason
It's crazy. The offseason is always hectic, but instead of having to worry about a portion of the football team, you had to worry about everything in the football program. It was a first time for me, but it's something that you're groomed to do. As an assistant coach, you spend a lot of time with the X's and O's, but spending all the time organizing and planning an entire football program is the difference. It's not brain surgery it's football, so we did OK.
On addition of Virginia Tech and Miami to the ACC
They're great additions. I think we're the premier football conference in America right now. They certainly bring a lot to the conference, though the Atlantic Coast Conference was already a great conference. We don't need to worry about who's in our league or who they tell us to play. We just go play who they say we play, when we play them and don't worry about stuff that we can't control.
On how the end of last season affects preseason attitudes
Our last game, there was a lot of confidence and hope and belief from the team-that monkey got off their back-for within the conference. Belief and hope and confidence are all powerful things and they took into the offseason, into spring practice, into summer and now into the preseason ... We're excited, no different than any other team.
On developing mental toughness in the athletes
We're going to have to be mentally tough because that's an element that relates to winning and control. We need to make sure that we can push through things. That's mental toughness.
It all goes back to relationships and when kids know that you care about them, they'll let you drive them and push them as far as they need to, provided that they know you care. Part of developing mental toughness is putting them at points of fatigue and negative situations. Just like the ebb and flow of a lot of ballgames, there's going to some positives, but there are going to be some negatives too. We put them in those situations, forcing them to respond, as a part of practice.
On media perception of Duke football
We have a lot of convincing to do. I'm not going to lose any sleep over that [ACC Preseason] Poll right there ... I'll use anything to motivate my team to play better.
I can't control how sportswriters think or believe. They have minds of their own and I don't want kids worrying about what they think. I want them worrying about getting themselves ready to win. If we win enough games, then the perception they [sportswriters] have of Duke football will change.
On quarterback situation during offseason
It was healthy because it was competitive. Any time you have some depth and competitiveness, it's good for everybody. Mike Schneider is our starter and Chris Dapolito and Curt Dukes will play. Each one of them have their own strengths ... [Schneider] has a really strong arm and is a good decision-maker back there. He can make something good out of something bad and obviously that's a good quality to have in your starting quarterback.
On Cedric Dargan stepping up to fill Chris Douglas' roll
Cedric is a good back. He got some good reps and good experience at the end of last season, but he doesn't need to worry about replacing Chris Douglas. He needs to worry about being Cedric Dargan and making Cedric the best that he can be.
On the recruiting process
I received a lot of letters from a lot of schools and received a few phone calls from places like Wake Forest and ECU called me a few times. I knew that, with my injury halfway through my junior year, that I didn't have the stats that everyone else was going to have, so I decided to go to a few camps before my senior year and winding up going to the Duke camp and they offered me a scholarship.
On the decision to come to Duke
There's a good balance between academics and athletics and I love the location. It's only about two hours away from home and a half hour away from my brother. I love the coaching staff and I decided to be a part of the rebuilding of the program.
On the increase in recruits from North Carolina
I think it's a combination of Coach Roof and Coach Knotts. He's a coach that we picked up from Independence High School [Charlotte, N.C.] and has a lot of contacts throughout North Carolina. We also have a lot of guys coming in from Georgia because of Coach Roof, so that's a strong recruiting area for us now too.
On the attitude and optimism of the team going into this season
This is the first season that we're coming off a win in our final game, so everyone has been in high spirits during the offseason and we're looking forward to starting up the new season. We went through the offseason more confident and we want to get that feeling of winning again because it's just an unbelievable feeling ... I feel like I've been here forever and this is finally my time to shine. I got a lot of rest this spring, which was good and I'm ready to go out there and prove myself and show that our running game is still strong.
On addition of Virginia Tech and Miami to ACC
Luckily we only have to play one of them this season-Virginia Tech. We're looking forward to going down there for our third game of the season. We start the season off with three away games and we're just looking forward to the challenge in all of our games. We have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on them.
You get used to playing the same teams year after year and we're not playing all them this year. That's the biggest difference. You look forward to playing certain teams each year and now it's just totally different.
On the team's confidence in Coach Roof
For him to do what he did in such a short period of time, you have to feel good about what he's doing and feel good about being a part of it.
On the lessons learned from Chris Douglas and Alex Wade
I learned how to adjust from high school to college. Chris had some of the same problems I did freshman year and he told me just to relax and play. The running backs group has been very close the last few years and this spring, without the two of them in the meeting room, it just didn't have the same feeling.
Last year, we had a few big stars. This year, we have five or six good players that can have a great game. I think that we're a little bit harder to scout this year because you have to look beyond just Chris and Alex. You have to focus on a lot more people this year.
On the expectations of the freshmen
I'm very determined. I think this is the best recruiting class we've had since Phil's [Alexander] and my year and I'm looking forward to playing with them. A lot of them are going to play early and be able to help us out a lot. We have a lot of speed and really good athletes coming in.
On his running style
I think I'm combination between Chris [Douglas] and Alex [Wade]. I don't have the breakaway speed that Chris had, but I think I run in between the tackles a little bit harder than he did. Alex was a total bulldozer and I don't have the size he did. I'm a downhill runner. I don't hesitate; I just hit the hole and run. I'm not so much a make you miss guy; I'm just a downhill runner.
On the tragic loss of Micah Harris
He was such a great person and when we lost him, it was a huge blow to everybody. When we all traveled to his funeral in Ohio and saw his family and high school, it made me realize how precious life is and how lucky I am to be here. It gave us all a chance to step outside ourselves and see how lucky we all really are.
On the effects of the coaching change
We knew we had the talent to do it, we just weren't playing up to our abilities and we all knew it. The coaching change had something to do with it, but we, as players, needed to step up. When the coaching change happened, Coach Roof was uncertain about what his future would be. He told us that we have five games together and let's go out with a bang. That whatever happens happens and we just need to lay it all on the line. Give us everything you have and we'll give you everything that we have.
We had a lot of talent last year, but we only showed it in glimpses. It all came together in the game against Georgia Tech. We definitely had the talent last year, we just wouldn't get everyone playing together at the same time. We just had to get together.
On preparation to start the year with three road games
We need to just take it one game at a time. Right now, all of energy is going towards Navy. We have to be very disciplined with the triple-option and we're working on that. After that, we'll focus our efforts on UCONN, but right now, we're just thinking about Navy.
On Cedric Dargan getting more playing time
Cedric definitely paid his dues. He came in behind Chris [Douglas] and waited until he could get in there and show us what he can do. We're real confident about Cedric and I'm anxious to see him play this year.
On the attitude change from past seasons
I was telling some of the freshmen that I've been through some of the 0-11 and 0-10 seasons and it wasn't any fun at all. It was pretty depressing. You just had to remember what you came to school for and why you're playing football and just make sure that you were doing everything possible to try and win. Now, I think we have the most talent since I've been here and I'm anxious to see what we can do this year.
On changes in the conference structure
The ACC is a tough conference. I think it's one of the toughest in the nation. That's just how it is and how it's set up, so we need to find a way to succeed in it ... I think it's great for the conference. It will be exciting to see how we match up against some of the best teams in the nation.
On Coach Roof's goals for the season
He said the basis he wants to build this program on is toughness. Snap after snap, play after play, we're just going to try to outwork them. Coach Roof wants us to keep playing, keep pushing ourselves past our limits and go a couple more steps. That's the thing that he hangs his hat on.
