Can Duke football keep winning with Manny Diaz? 5 things to know entering 2024 season

Though his middle-of-the-night departure to Texas A&M last November doesn’t sit well with some, Mike Elko fully completed the job he was hired to do at Duke football.

The Blue Devils won 17 games during Elko’s two-season tenure as head coach, completing both campaigns with bowl victories.

This after Duke closed previous coach David Cutcliffe’s otherwise successful era with 10 combined wins over his final three seasons.

With the program’s 180-degree turn having been quickly navigated, Manny Diaz now has the job of keeping the Blue Devils competitive in the new-look ACC.

Duke plays its first game with Diaz as its head coach on Aug. 30 at home against Elon. So in less than two weeks, Diaz and his new staff get their first chance to show the program did not drop off when Elko bolted for the SEC.

Here are five things to know about Duke football as the season draws near and the Blue Devils aim to string together three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2012-15.

ACC’s top defense strives to stay that way

Lost in the series of injuries that hit Duke’s quarterbacks last season, the guys on the other side of the ball did more than their fair share to keep the Blue Devils winning games.

Duke led the ACC in scoring defense, allowing just 19 points per game last season. That’s another 180-degree turn from 2021, when Duke was last in the ACC in scoring defense at 39.8 points per game.

Elko’s background was as a defensive coordinator, so that level of play makes sense. Now Diaz, who also has a defensive background, works to maintain that success.

With Diaz as defensive coordinator the last two seasons, Penn State allowed 13.5 points per game in 2023 and 18.2 points per game in 2022.

Diaz hired Jonathan Patke as his defensive coordinator at Duke. The two have worked together at Miami, where Diaz was head coach from 2019-21, among other stops in their careers.

They are building on a foundation of good defense shown lately at Duke.

“We talked about the standard around here,” Patke said. “We just practice to a standard. We don’t don’t chase goals, because goals come and go. We just chase the standard.”

Last season, Patke was defensive coordinator at Texas State where his defense forced seven turnovers in a 45-21 win over Rice in the First Responder Bowl.

Skill players fuel fast-paced offense

Duke’s new offensive coordinator, Jonathan Brewer, arrived from SMU and, during Duke’s spring practice, made it clear the offense is designed for little down time between plays.

“I definitely had to get in better shape this offseason when he said that in the spring,” Duke junior running back Jaquez Moore said. “But yeah, that’s the offense. We’re moving at a fast pace, fast tempo, looking to keep teams on their heels. I kind of like it, you know, it pushes the pace and makes me push myself.”

Even after quarterback Riley Leonard (Notre Dame) and running back Jordan Waters (N.C. State) left via the transfer portal, Brewer’s group is still fortunate to have a number of experienced skill position players to make that offense go.

Though Waters led Duke in rushing with 819 yards last season, Moore also played in 13 games while gaining 674 yards with six touchdowns.

At quarterback, Duke brought in Texas transfer Maalik Murphy following Leonard’s departure. The 6-5, 238-pound, strong-armed sophomore started — and won — two games for the Longhorns last season.

This month, Murphy and Grayson Loftis are battling for the starting job for the Blue Devils. After Leonard suffered a season-ending ankle injury, Loftis started Duke’s final five games last season. That included the 17-10 Birmingham Bowl win over Troy.

No matter who the quarterback is, he’ll have Jordan Moore catching passes. Moore had a breakout junior season, leading the Blue Devils in receptions (62), receiving yards (835) and touchdown catches (eight) last year.

An added bonus came following spring practice when tight end Nicky Dalmolin, who had planned to end his career, opted instead to use his final season of eligibility to play at Duke this season. He’s played in 41 games, with 20 starts, with Duke over the last four seasons.

Questions along both front lines

NFL and transfer portal departures left holes along Duke’s offensive and defensive lines that the staff has worked to fill.

On offense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted left tackle Graham Barton in the first round, while versatile lineman Jacob Monk was picked by the Green Bay Packers. Starting right tackle Jake Hornibrook completed his eligibility.

On defense, three-time captain DeWayne Carter went to the Buffalo Bills in the NFL Draft, while fellow tackle Aeneas Peebles left for Virginia Tech and made the preseason all-ACC team. A third tackle, Ja’Mion Franklin, signed with the Baltimore Ravens but was waived because of injury.

After having only seven healthy offensive linemen for spring practice, Duke added Bruno Fina (UCLA), Zachary Franks (Northwestern), Caleb Krings (Elon), Eric Schon (Holy Cross) James Pogoreic (Stanford) and Michael Barr (Lafayette) as transfers this summer.

On defense, junior Aaron Hall will have a more involved role at tackle, while sophomore Wesley Williams will be counted on at defensive end. Defensive tackles Kendry Charles (Liberty) and Will Seiler (Penn) arrived as transfers. Tackle Christian Rorie, who left Duke for Texas State, reversed course and transferred back this summer.

So Duke has bodies and experienced players there. They just will be asked to become formidable units quickly.

Plenty to prove for Tre Freeman

Durham’s Tre Freeman played well enough last season to be voted an all-ACC second team linebacker after leading the Blue Devils in tackles (106). That still wasn’t enough for him to make the preseason all-ACC team this summer, so that gives the junior from Northern Durham High School even more motivation.

He’s a big cog in Duke’s defensive plans under the new coaching staff. With so many key starters gone from the defensive front, the Blue Devils need Freeman to be an impact player in the middle once again. As the new starters on the line engage blockers, Freeman will be asked to roam the field and make stops.

He’s also helped by a solid secondary, with starting cornerbacks Chandler Rivers and Joshua Pickett returning along with safeties Jaylen Stinson and Terry Moore.

Season’s middle is crucial for Duke

The schedule gives Duke an opportunity to start fast with four non-conference games at the start. After Elon, Duke plays at Northwestern (Sept. 6), home with UConn (Sept. 14) and at Middle Tennessee (Sept. 21).

Duke should be favored to win all four.

The Blue Devils open ACC play at home with North Carolina (Sept. 28), a team Duke hasn’t defeated since 2018, before traveling to play at Georgia Tech (Oct. 5).

Then comes the toughest stretch of the season from mid-October to mid-November. Duke plays No. 10 Florida State (Oct. 18) and SMU (Oct. 26) at home before road games at No. 19 Miami (Nov. 2) and No. 24 N.C. State (Nov. 9).

The good news for the Blue Devils is they have open weeks before the Florida State game and after the N.C. State game. The bad news is three of those four teams are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 and a fourth, SMU, received votes.

To make a bowl game for the third season in a row, the Blue Devils need to bank wins early and avoid getting shut out in those middle four games before closing the season at home with Virginia Tech (Nov. 23) and at Wake Forest (Nov. 30).