History of Duke Blue Devils football

He sent former Alabama players and future Duke assistants Herschel Caldwell and Ellis Hagler to the school a year early to prepare a team.

[29][37][38] Duke reached their first Rose Bowl appearance, where they lost 7–3 when USC scored a touchdown in the final minute of the game on a pass from a second-string quarterback to a third string tight end.

[29] Due to fears of additional west coast attacks by the Japanese in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the decision was made to move the game to Durham.

[67] The Blue Devils started the season by defeating Washington & Lee,[68] SMU,[69] #11 Tennessee,[70] South Carolina,[71] NC State[72] and #9 Virginia.

[161] After losing to Michigan,[162] the Blue Devils won their next five; defeating NC State,[163] Clemson,[164] Georgia Tech,[165] #4 Navy[166] and Wake Forest.

[178] After losing to Michigan the following week,[179] Duke finished the season on a three-game winning streak; beating Navy,[180] North Carolina[181] and Notre Dame.

[199] After tying South Carolina in the season opener,[200] the Blue Devils reeled off four straight wins; topping Virginia,[201] Maryland,[202] NC State[203] and Army.

8 Georgia Tech,[205] Wake Forest (the Blue Devils' first loss to the Demon Deacons in 13 years),[206][207] Navy,[208] North Carolina[209] and Tulane.

[215] Like the season before, the Blue Devils suffered through a multi-game losing streak, this time a four-game skid; beginning with Clemson in an ugly 3–2 defensive struggle.

9 Tennessee and defeating Washington to start the season,[305][306] the Blue Devils embarked upon a six-game losing streak before tying Wake Forest.

[309] After dropping the season opener to NC State,[310] Duke won four straight; defeating South Carolina,[100] Virginia,[62] Purdue[311] and Army.

[359][360] Wilson's teams became known for their innovative passing attack under offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier, whose 1982 offense featuring quarterback Ben Bennett set a school record for yardage before Wilson retired and Spurrier left to become the head coach of the United States Football League's (USFL) Tampa Bay Bandits.

[378] Duke's 1982 team, with Steve Spurrier serving as offensive coordinator, was the first in Atlantic Coast Conference history to average more than 300 passing yards per game.

[379] There was hope when Steve Sloan was hired that the Duke football program would finally return to its glory days under Wallace Wade.

[403][404] The Duke Blue Devils football program had a string of successful years in the late 1980s when the team's head coach was Steve Spurrier.

[440] In what would become a recurring trend at most of his coaching stops, Spurrier's teams regularly beat their biggest rivals while he brashly "needled" them with jokes and "zingers" that were amusing to his fans but infuriating to opponents.

[441] Spurrier's Duke squads went 3–0 against archrival North Carolina, including a 41–0 victory in Chapel Hill that clinched a share of the 1989 ACC title.

[439] At Spurrier's suggestion, that win was followed by a joyful team picture taken in front of the Kenan Memorial Stadium scoreboard, a photo that still rankles some Tar Heel supporters.

The team raced out to an 8–1 record, and was briefly ranked as high as #13 in the country before losing the last two heart-breaking games of the season 24–23 to NC State and 41–40 to arch-rival North Carolina by missing two extra-point attempts.

[503][504][505][98] Duke lost to Maryland,[503] #4 Florida State,[506] Virginia,[507] Wake Forest,[503] Clemson,[177] Georgia Tech[64] and #8 North Carolina to close the season.

[518][491][519][520] On December 1, 1998, his 38th birthday, Carl Franks, offensive coordinator at Florida under former Blue Devils head coach Steve Spurrier, was hired to replace Fred Goldsmith and tasked with turning around the Duke football program.

[522] The hiring was well-received and applauded, as Franks had overseen one of college football's most potent and explosive offenses that helped the Gators win the national championship in 1996,[523] coached a Heisman Trophy winner in Danny Wuerffel[524] and had many players drafted into the NFL.

[553] After defeating Western Carolina[554] and Rice[555] the next two weeks, Duke lost its next six games, prompting the athletics administration to dismiss Franks as head coach after losing to Wake Forest.

[559] The Blue Devils won two of their last three games of the season, Roof's interim tag was removed, and he was named the program's 21st head football coach in 2004.

[559] Roof's good times did not last, as he also struggled mightily as Duke's head coach, compiling a dismal 6–45 record before his firing after four seasons and a partial fifth.

[649] After dropping consecutive games to Virginia Tech[650] and North Carolina,[651] The Blue Devils closed the regular season with a win over Wake Forest.

[685] After losing to Wake Forest[686] and Northwestern[687] the next two weeks, the Blue Devils upset Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana in the season's fourth game by a score of 38–35.

[689] The Irish, one of college football's most consistent and storied national powers, came into the contest as 21-point favorites at home and suffered one of the worst defeats in their history.

[712][713][714] 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.

[757][758] On November 26, 2023, after initially saying he would stay with the Blue Devils,[759][760][761] Mike Elko resigned as Duke head coach to accept the same position at Texas A&M.