Duke football’s top storylines for the 2024 season

Intro welcome on into another edition of wrl triangle in two I'm Lis Fernandez he's Mark Bergen we are previewing the local ACC teams ahead of the college football season today we are talking about the Duke Blue Devils if you have not seen our episodes on UNC or NZ State be sure to check those out WL Sports fan.com 99.9 the fans YouTube page Mark Bergen Manny Diaz year 1 lot of change in Durham with Duke Mike Elco heading to Texas A&M Manny Diaz is the new head coach for the Blue Devils that does not even begin to look at the different changes on the roster and stuff like that so we are looking at the top storylines for Duke going into this college football season we're going to do this draft style Mark what is your first choice you were on the clock you spoil me Lis and I'm gonna go what does year one look like with Manny Diaz it's pretty simple can you build off the last two years of growth under Mike El and these are just questions that I have we can talk about the attributes that he brings uh his familiarity with the ACC given his previous coaching stops uh you know the one that gets the most attention is when he was the head coach at Miami which we'll discuss here in a second but hopefully he can take some things that he learned when he was the defense coordinator over at Penn State bring them to this Duke program that has been on the up and up the last two years when Mike Elco took over a program for David cutcliffe where Mike Elco took over a program that had lost 13 consecutive ACC games so can you build on that I mean like we saw college game day in Durham and it wasn't for Hoops was for the grid iron and football that's what I'm talking about Lewis and and you know when you look at last year right they were a fourth and long stop away from being undefeated beating Clemson and Notre Dame in Durham in the same season folks in Wallace W in the same season this team was had a had a lot of success last year even if they Trail down the end because of injuries primarily let's talk a little more about Manny Diaz um the image that I have in my brain was the final year he was coaching Miami opening game Alabama Bryce Young's coming out party connects downfield the Jameson Williams goes for a touchdown and Manny Diaz is just pointing at someone on the screen I don't know if it was his own player I don't know if it the referee he clearly wasn't happy with the result and the outcome of that game like that is okay when I think of Manny Diaz that's what I think of For Better or For Worse and I know that he has a lot more coaching experience than that um but that's just the image that I have seared into my brain going into this year and again like even for me like six wins in a bowl of appearance is a success again just considering you have a new regime and a new head coach and you try to maintain what you've built the last few years with Mike ELO who you know now got a higher profile job over with the Texas A&M agies sure okay so your first storyline is just Manny Diaz's year one year One what does that look like I I'll How Duke handles its schedule kind of piggyback off that a little bit um one storyline that I will be watching for Duke this year is how they handle their schedule and what I mean by that is last year wow that schedule was tough uh you look at the team that they had to play um whether it be Clemson Notre Dame you know UNCC NC State they had like a really difficult row there they were at Louisville they played um at Florida State like they had a really tough sledding there of games their schedule is kind of similar this year where they just have a very difficult back half of the season I could very realistically see Duke starting the season 4 and0 right um with the teams that they're playing they're playing Elon Northwestern Northwestern uh you've got Yukon um there's another team in there that I'm I'm forgetting but they they have they have a lot of they can have a lot of early success get a chance to grow into this team but they back half the back half of their schedule you look at like uh they they open ACC play home against UNCC that's always a tricky one rivalries at Georgia Tech team that they lost to last time they played them versus S FSU highest ranked ACC team in the preseason AP Top 25 pole versus SMU a team that a lot of people say could be a dark horse no pun intended uh Team to make it to the ACC Championship Game the first year they are in conference I got your back first four games where like what are you talking about LS Fernandez Duke going 4 and0 to start the season in football you're spot on though Elon Northwestern two Friday games hopefully that doesn't weird goof also play FSU on a Friday Yukon and Middle Tennessee to start middle Tennesse at Middle Tennessee State so it's like those those are all winnable games yeah if if let me put it this way Mike gko were still here Duke 4 and0 at penil and in the W's so so I think and that's going to be interesting just to kind of see how they grow over those first four games I'm sure at Northwestern is going to be you know tricky just because it's a Friday night game on the road um but then they once again they they finish off that schedule with um they are at Miami so uh uh Manny Diaz kind of homecoming also at MTSU another place that Manny Diaz coached so you know a lot of a lot of Manny Diaz games this this season he coached at State too so it's at then at NC State um and then versus Virginia Tech so their their back half of their schedule is very challenging so how does Duke continue to grow into these tough schedules second second year in a row now where they've had just a a really tough slate my second pick now that we Maalik Murphy is QB1 know that Malik Murphy is quarterback one yep can he bring some of that what I'll call Texas swag to Durham and this is a player who knew Manny Diaz from the recruiting circuits down in Florida and they're training together at a Passing League camp and can he bring just a a dynamic element to the offense where a year ago Grayson less has to step in and he wasn't expected to play at all last year and I thought he did a nice job and I thought he did a nice job given the circumstances with injuries to Riley Leonard and the backup as well and so Murphy wins the quarterback competition that didn't surprise me given his connection with Manny Diaz but what does he look like can he bring some of that pedigree that you would expect from a caliber of recruit that he is in the fact that he's at Texas eers is coming back at Texas Arch Manning's also on that roster who's Arch Manning there exactly exactly but he's my point is he was never gonna see the field in Austin so he now gets his opportunity in Durham can he make the most of that given I mean you get you get a scholarship offer to Texas Lewis like come on now well and so I'll um I'll throw this out there to to kind of complement that right um the offense that uh Duke will be running moving forward with Jonathan Brewer um you know think about what SMU has done over the past couple of Seasons uh it's been uptempo it's been very multiple so that you are able to execute simple plays formations designs out of similar formations so you're keeping the defense on on its toes um and quarterbacks have had a lot of success in this system uh you know Malik Murphy even went as far as say it's part of the reason why you know he was so interested in this situation it's part of the reason why Manny Diaz thinks that they're going to be able to bring good quarterbacks to Duke moving forward is because this offense is very nice to quarterbacks uh over the past two seasons uh the two SMU starting quarterbacks Tanner M morai and um Preston Stone I believe they averaged about 3,300 yard passing and about 30 touchdowns okay Strike Up the Band in two seasons the last time someone threw 3,000 yards at Duke was back in wait for it I think was say 2012 I want to say okay I just wrote this down now it's escaping me and then no quarterback at Duke has ever thrown for 30 pound passing touchdowns so I'm not saying that single a single season so I'm not saying Malik Murphy's going to come out here and you know 5,000 yards Heisman all that stuff no no no no no Manny Diaz has even talked about reigning and expectations and not telling him not to put on the cape you don't have to be Superman but what I'm saying is that you're going to see offensive numbers with Duke football this year and Malik Murphy could be a prime beneficiary of that do you want to go to your second WR Jordan Moore and Co. pick sure yeah let's I'll keep the offensive rhythm going here okay um the Duke weapons are very good Jordan Moore it pains him to say that folks he's a UNC Alum he's a UNC Jordan Moore um is a bitov award watch list second a all team ACC last year I gotta hyp my boy for a second because you're too humble to do this you're reporting on him going into this year oh you more yes over on wrl sports fan.com did take this go check that out if you haven't already about what to expect from him going into this year it's almost like the fun fact about Jordan Moore right like you know when you you have like you're at a work party or you're meeting new people and like you have like an ice breakers type situation like his Icebreaker would be oh I used to play quarterback it's it's like his his fun fact that people put out there um and so he he used to play quarterback this is his third season now playing wide receiver he's talked about how he feels like it's really starting to make sense to him um his very first year playing quarterback he was one of the better players at wde or sorry wide receiver he was one of the better wide receivers in the ACC like he he he is a natural for the position I think that his quarterbacking experience has helped him kind of be on the same page as quarterbacks he's very good he's very talented um you've got you know Samir haens you've got um Eli pankl like you've got a really talented group of wide receivers at Duke jaquez Moore at running back and the name I want everyone to keep an eye out for Nikki dullen the tight end for the Blue Devils he you know almost just ended his time playing football like he's he's a grad student he was kind of like all right I'm just going to move on ultimately decided to come back seeing how things were going this off season um and he is a name that is brought up all the time at practice by players by coaches he's going to be a huge beneficiary of this offense I think watch the tight ends and Nicki Del Molen in general for the Blue Devils it's August so I'm going to Tim stamp this and then as soon as he lights it up this year where it's like he he tried to Lewis tried to tell you folks I'm just I'm letting you know right now okay so How Duke replaces key linemen that is my second pick yeah Mark what's your third pick the foundation of how this blue Duke Blue Devils team achieved success it wasn't Riley Leonard it wasn't uh Jordan Waters who's who's now transferred it's the line it's the lineman GR Barton starting for the Buccaneers do you see that he's a first round pick yeah you have to replace him you replace Jacob monk who's also selected you have to replace Dwayne Carter also drafted a three-time captain the guy who when you go to the ACC kickoff it's just like oh you know here's this player Dwayne Carter's there last several years so those players who built the foundation of what Duke football was starting to emerge to be and what it still can be MH it's why Mike Elco has a new job those line of scage players it's the line of scrimmage game too so how you achiev success the last few years is you played ball control football you dominate the line of scrimmage and you win the turnover battle it's not flashy it's not you know in fantasy football you're going to light up the scoreboard but it's how games won are won and lost particularly in the ACC when you see a lot of close battles replacing those players and some other players who have transferred as well but those three who are all on NFL teams NFL draft picks how you replace them that's something where it's gonna be really really tough to do that Lewis so what's interesting about the um the line in general for Duke right offensive and defensive in the spring they were barely able to do live reps because they they only they I think it was less than 10 offensive linemen maybe even less than that like it was they barely had any offensive linemen on team and then they added a bunch through the transfer portals through freshman coming in you know in the summer and in the fall so you know they they really were not able to practice that much that impacted both the offensive line as well as the defensive line so for fall camp that has been a huge emphasis on them is developing those liveaction reps early and often so how will that translate overall you're I think your spot on it's all about the line of scrimmage for for Duke that's what has made them so good and and I think that's going to be a huge reason why um if they have success this year it's because of that let's go Manny Diaz's defense to your third pick sure um I'm going to kind of circle back to Manny Diaz a little bit his defense man Manny Diaz is one of the best defensive coaches in the country um he's had a lot of success defensively the different places he's gone he's been a defensive coordinator at a lot of different places so how does that defense translate at Duke that's going to be one of my big storylines to watch for um for Duke this year you know kind of rounding this out I that defense is going to be huge is there a player or even just a position group that you're looking at I mean we just spent some time on the line but is there a player defensively we should keep an eye out for for the blue doubles um you know Trey Freeman at linebacker I think he's he's gonna kind of inherent that um you know defensive you know Captain type role essentially like being like one of these stars of this team um in Manny Diaz defense is the way the scheme tends to work is the defensive ends have a lot of opportunity to create Havoc um it's it is almost like you know it's it is designed for them to have success uh at Penn State last year you looked at the team that I believe led the country in sacks uh led the country in I want to say tackles for loss or was near the top um and also was one of the best Rush stopping teams in the country flying to the ball and winning that battle up front that's what that tells me exactly so I look at like you know uh Wes Williams Ryan Smith uh there are a few of those those players that I think have the opportunity to make a name for themselves in this defense this year so you know how how Havoc causing is his defense and when I say Havoc I don't mean just like causing chaos I mean like literally like Havoc as in sacks tackles for loss uh passes deflected those type of stats that are measured all in that one encompassing kind of notion before we get to our recap I've got another honorable mention let me hear it let me hear it the house of fely another one of your reports the Duke Str in conditioning coach you know Manny Diaz goes to the ACC kickoff and he talks about trying to build on that Contin nudy from a year ago and you've got your strengthening conditioning coach who is beloved by the players they adore him David David fely um he is he is like it's so the re whole reason why I even did that story is that when you go to um availabilities you go to practice like his name is brought up just without you even like first time I'm like who we talk it'll be like hey it's like hey how you doing hey do you have your heard of Dave fely like just like randomly so you know he and you know strength coaches are like people it's it's a cliche being like Oh man the strength coach is so great but like a big reason even going back to the Elco days because fely's been there this is g to be his third season um you know fely and his staff have been there uh for for quite some time and have played a big role in why Duke has been able to turn into you talked about the line of scrimmage the defensive oriented the running the ball getting players drafted gettingers players drafted yeah the um grah Barton who was you know starting offensive lineman for Duke uh he was a left tackle at Duke he's gonna play center in the NFL starting center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers they announced that um earlier this week uh and it which is kind of expected like where he would be moving he fits that role very well um he was the first first round pick uh for Duke since 2019 I want to say um and so the the work that their strength conditioning staff has done and it's not something that's just like oh wow okay fun fact but like it's it's something I think that really makes a difference especially when you're talking about transitional time going from Elco to Diaz I think that that really benefits Duke and and helps them with consistency going into this first I was gonna use the word continuity but yeah each other's brains let's do the Recap recap year one with Manny Diaz um my first one was what was my first one um oh um uh oh top Schedule D schedu especially in the back half of the AC easier start to the season so again first four games all very winable very winable uh Malik Murphy now that he's won the quarterback battle uh what does that look like because uh Riley Leonard I know he's at Notre Dame now was beloved at that quarterback position for the Blue Devils but Malik Murphy qb1 again the Texas swag if you're a quarterback at Texas and he got some playing time there but he's not going to play behind ERS and Arch Manning can he bring that playmaking ability to Durham one one thing I'll say about Malik Murphy as we recap um his deep ball accuracy is ultimately what elevated him into this position the way he's able to throw the ball deep down field with touch he's like 65 like 230 he's got he's got a rocket of an arm and so he's not just someone who's gonna throw the ball deep he's gonna throw the ball accurately deep and so that's something to keep an eye out for for him as well um the play he's throwing the balls too that was my next Point um the wide receiver core for Duke Jordan Moore um Eli panl Samir Hain all of them um JZ Moore at running back uh and uh I said Nikki Del Mullen he's a tight end you're really gonna want to watch for he's gonna be a big uh recipient of um passes for this Duke go and the last two losos line of scrimmage line of scrimmage game how you replace key lineman from a year ago the gr Bartons of the world Jacob monk Dwayne Carter up front and then Manny Diaz's defense as well it Havoc causing um you know last year at Penn State they led the country in sacks I want to see tackles for loss as well one of the best um uh Rush stopping defenses in the country so um how how does all that translate to Durham yeah yeah another edition of wrl triangle and 2 Lu Fernandez I'm Mark Bergen if you haven't checked out our preseason previews top story lines for both NC State UNC check that out over on the 999 the fan YouTube page