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Alumni Report with Devon Edwards
8/26/2018 7:05:00 AM | Football
By Leslie Gaber, GoDuke the Magazine
After turning in another record-breaking campaign in 2015, former Blue Devil safety DeVon Edwards was poised for continued success as a senior the following fall. A three-time All-America and All-ACC pick as a return specialist, he had his sights set on leading the Blue Devils' defensive backs in 2016.
Edwards, however, suffered a devastating blow in Duke's fourth game of the 2016 season, sustaining a left knee injury that ended his collegiate career and impacted his hopes of taking his game to the next level.
While the injury was difficult for Edwards to come to terms with at first, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and now co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri helped Edwards to see what other doors a degree from Duke could open.
“When I was upset about that, Coach Cutcliffe and Coach Guerrieri were like, 'What did you come here for? Pick your head up. You've done what you needed to do. You're in a good place,'” Edwards recalls. “It wasn't necessarily a disappointment after I finished playing football; it was more of an open door to a new path.”
For Edwards, there was no better place to begin the next phase of his life than the place he had already called home for five years.
“Playing football here, people know my name,” he says. “I did pretty well. I won a couple accolades. That sort of helped me to develop a platform. Now, it's showing people I'm an intelligent individual. I know the business side of things.”
Edwards was brought on to vice president and director of athletics Kevin White's staff in May, about a year and a half after earning a master's degree in liberal arts from the university. That was in addition to a psychology degree and certificate in markets and management studies he'd completed as an undergraduate.
In his current role as a coordinator of administrative operations, Edwards has had the opportunity to develop relationships with several senior members of Duke's athletic department. In addition to working closely alongside White, whom he considers a mentor, Edwards says he's enjoyed time spent with senior deputy director of athletics Chris Kennedy, deputy director of athletics/development Tom Coffman, deputy director of athletics/administration Nina King and deputy director of athletics/resource development Mitch Moser.
Edwards also cites his close relationship with outgoing senior associate director of athletics/internal affairs Gerald Harrison — who was recently name the director of athletics at Austin Peay — as integral to his continued learning.
“(Gerald and I) talk about our days,” Edwards says. “We talk about things that are going on in different departments. He connected me with a lot of people in different departments who I didn't know. It's about being well-rounded — learning about the different sports, contracts, where the money goes and things like that. You really get to learn where the money comes from and how we can best use it to help us continuously make Duke one of the top athletic programs in the country.”
Through working with administrators in nearly every department, Edwards has been able to observe firsthand the many moving pieces that keep an athletic department running. He's also been able to begin building his professional network, forming relationships with everyone from Duke coaches to Iron Dukes staff members to executives within professional sports. The experience gained so far has not only altered Edwards' perspective from his time as a student-athlete, but has also helped him pinpoint career goals within athletics.
“I've been getting my feet wet with a lot of people to see which route I really want to take,” he says.
As he's made the transition from Duke student-athlete to a member of the Blue Devils' athletic department, Edwards has called upon values he attributes to Cutcliffe and the football program.
“Coach Cutcliffe and Coach Guerrieri always looked at me as someone who was not only a football player, but someone who could be a leader, someone who could handle his business,” he says. “I want to carry myself in a way that leaves a good mark on everybody. I'm really close with Art Chase (associate director of athletics/external affairs and communications contact for football). We talked a lot, and continue to talk, about the image I wanted to have after my playing career ended.”
As training camp continues and kickoff approaches, Edwards will watch the action from a different angle — from Blue Devil Tower as a member of the athletic department. Still, some things feel the same to Edwards, who equates preparing for all of Duke's athletic programs beginning their 2018-19 seasons as a “preseason” of sorts.
“We're trying to have everything planned for the weeks to come,” he notes. “When I started in May, baseball was playing in the postseason. I got a little taste of what it's like being around sports in season, but right now, it's preseason. It's sort of like getting ready to play football all over again. In about three weeks, it's going to really kick it up and I'll get to learn what goes on in more depth once the student-athletes get back to campus.”
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