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David Cutcliffe Press Conference Quotes: MTSU
9/11/2019 5:20:00 PM | Football
DURHAM, N.C. - Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe met with members of the local media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference inside Blue Devil Tower.
The Blue Devils head back on the road Saturday when they travel to Middle Tennessee State for a 7 p.m. ET out-of-conference matchup at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium. That contest will be broadcast live on Stadium on Facebook with Chris Hassel, AJ Hawk and Kristen Balboni on the call.
David Cutcliffe Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening statement)
 "Good afternoon. I thought today's practice was the best we have had on a Tuesday in all three phases. Winning always helps. Our team is maturing a little bit and understanding how much better we can get and have to get to be successful as we dig into this schedule. I've known Rick Stockstill a long time and many people on his staff. He's got a veteran staff. He is a veteran coach. They have a great program. This is a championship program. Hats off to him, Middle Tennessee State is a great football school. I've been there many times, all the way back to Boots Donnelly. Coach Donnelly was a great coach there for years. This is a big, tough challenge for our football team. They know it. They are very aware of that. We talked about it Sunday. Anxious to go play another tough game and another one on the road. Here we go."
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(Ref.: On traveling to Middle Tennessee State)
"I have been a lot of places throughout my time in the southeastern conference. We played at Arkansas State while at Ole Miss. We played at Memphis. We played a lot of places on the road. We have seen an equaling in most of college football. I know there are people that we talk about all the time at the elite level. For years and years, good college programs have home and home arrangements. I like that and support that. I like for our team to go on the road in hostile environments. We were at Baylor and at Northwestern a year ago. Those are tough places to play. Middle Tennessee State is a tough place to play. That makes you better when you go into conference road games. We will finish up September on the road. I think this is a good opportunity for us to grow as a team."
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(Ref.: On the team's potential)
"We have the right people. We have a lot of people that have played and been in a lot of different environments and won games. I don't have a lot of question marks all over the place. The biggest thing that we don't know while we grow back toward somewhat of a full strength is 'how good can this team be?' We have to continue to see freshmen grow. We saw that against (North Carolina) A&T. We are going to need those guys because we have so many people out. We need playmakers on offense. Defensively, that's a pretty veteran group for the most part. We have to continue to grow some depth there."
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(Ref.: On the offense having slow starts)
"It is always a concern. I was a little disappointed. We had a great kickoff coverage to open the A&T game. They started inside their 10-yard line and then with a penalty and giving up what should have been a sack to a big play, we started inside our 10-yard line offensively. At the beginning it was a good drive and then we had penalties occur in that drive. We can't start any game that way. It is not just how your offense starts a game, it is how your team starts a game. It takes all three phases. Friendly field position always helps any offense. We have got to find ourselves a little quicker in a game. No question about that. We are working hard at that. It takes a bunch of work but I feel like our offense is continuing to mature."
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(Ref.: On leaving the offense on the field for fourth downs)
"You all know that I am going to go in with a plan to win the game. You can say you call baseball by the book. Soon as you don't go by the book you generally pay for it, right? I believe in that and I have studied statistics. I like it and I like the numbers game, but if I believe that is going to help us win, I am going to continue to do that and not get to the point of panic. One of the great ones you can argue – right or wrong – is when Bill Billicheck went for it way back against Peyton Manning. He didn't think he could win the game if he didn't make the fourth down. They didn't make it and he got butchered, right? I think he's a pretty fair football coach and honestly, I think he had the right idea. If he can keep the ball, they can win the game. He didn't think he had an answer for Peyton and that offense no matter where they got the ball, so I am all into that type of thinking."
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(Ref.: On recruiting Jalen Calhoun)
"He was just such a football player. We talked to him about playing corner because he has great feet and quickness. You can see that playing quarterback and I didn't think he threw it well enough to be a quarterback. He throws the ball well and we'll see that at some point along the way. What I thought – and this is what helped us with him – he needed to get the ball. He's dynamic with the football and deep in his mind I think he wanted to play offense and that's why he ended up at Duke. I know this summer, because our quarterback would tell us, he could not get enough work on his own. Anytime he wanted to he went to the Pascal and threw with him. He's very comfortable and committed to learning. He's spent a lot of time watching tape with any of the players who would sit down with him and I think it has paid off. He's going to learn that there are still going to be tough days. That's what happens with veterans and young folks but boy he's just a natural ball player."
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(Ref.: On new players starting in the two deep)
"Well I think that's never easy. I think there are lessons you learn in football when you get 'beat out' and most of us have in all sorts of things not just sports, we get beat out in life, right? I told them this morning and I think this is true to both football and life and we are going into a tough environment – it goes with those guys who are dealing with a little adversity. About 10 percent of life is what happens to you, the other 90 percent is how you respond. And if you take it, you quite likely have written your own story. I like the fact that now we have guys competing for playing time. That's been the dream here, that you have earned the opportunity to be a starter and if you get beat out, you better earn the opportunity to become the starter again or to just play more. I talk with young people. I don't put them out there on their own but I absolutely encourage them and talk with them and I won't ever take it personal. It's never an easy decision for a coach but we have to do what's best for our program."
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The Blue Devils head back on the road Saturday when they travel to Middle Tennessee State for a 7 p.m. ET out-of-conference matchup at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium. That contest will be broadcast live on Stadium on Facebook with Chris Hassel, AJ Hawk and Kristen Balboni on the call.
David Cutcliffe Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening statement)
 "Good afternoon. I thought today's practice was the best we have had on a Tuesday in all three phases. Winning always helps. Our team is maturing a little bit and understanding how much better we can get and have to get to be successful as we dig into this schedule. I've known Rick Stockstill a long time and many people on his staff. He's got a veteran staff. He is a veteran coach. They have a great program. This is a championship program. Hats off to him, Middle Tennessee State is a great football school. I've been there many times, all the way back to Boots Donnelly. Coach Donnelly was a great coach there for years. This is a big, tough challenge for our football team. They know it. They are very aware of that. We talked about it Sunday. Anxious to go play another tough game and another one on the road. Here we go."
Â
(Ref.: On traveling to Middle Tennessee State)
"I have been a lot of places throughout my time in the southeastern conference. We played at Arkansas State while at Ole Miss. We played at Memphis. We played a lot of places on the road. We have seen an equaling in most of college football. I know there are people that we talk about all the time at the elite level. For years and years, good college programs have home and home arrangements. I like that and support that. I like for our team to go on the road in hostile environments. We were at Baylor and at Northwestern a year ago. Those are tough places to play. Middle Tennessee State is a tough place to play. That makes you better when you go into conference road games. We will finish up September on the road. I think this is a good opportunity for us to grow as a team."
Â
(Ref.: On the team's potential)
"We have the right people. We have a lot of people that have played and been in a lot of different environments and won games. I don't have a lot of question marks all over the place. The biggest thing that we don't know while we grow back toward somewhat of a full strength is 'how good can this team be?' We have to continue to see freshmen grow. We saw that against (North Carolina) A&T. We are going to need those guys because we have so many people out. We need playmakers on offense. Defensively, that's a pretty veteran group for the most part. We have to continue to grow some depth there."
Â
(Ref.: On the offense having slow starts)
"It is always a concern. I was a little disappointed. We had a great kickoff coverage to open the A&T game. They started inside their 10-yard line and then with a penalty and giving up what should have been a sack to a big play, we started inside our 10-yard line offensively. At the beginning it was a good drive and then we had penalties occur in that drive. We can't start any game that way. It is not just how your offense starts a game, it is how your team starts a game. It takes all three phases. Friendly field position always helps any offense. We have got to find ourselves a little quicker in a game. No question about that. We are working hard at that. It takes a bunch of work but I feel like our offense is continuing to mature."
Â
(Ref.: On leaving the offense on the field for fourth downs)
"You all know that I am going to go in with a plan to win the game. You can say you call baseball by the book. Soon as you don't go by the book you generally pay for it, right? I believe in that and I have studied statistics. I like it and I like the numbers game, but if I believe that is going to help us win, I am going to continue to do that and not get to the point of panic. One of the great ones you can argue – right or wrong – is when Bill Billicheck went for it way back against Peyton Manning. He didn't think he could win the game if he didn't make the fourth down. They didn't make it and he got butchered, right? I think he's a pretty fair football coach and honestly, I think he had the right idea. If he can keep the ball, they can win the game. He didn't think he had an answer for Peyton and that offense no matter where they got the ball, so I am all into that type of thinking."
Â
(Ref.: On recruiting Jalen Calhoun)
"He was just such a football player. We talked to him about playing corner because he has great feet and quickness. You can see that playing quarterback and I didn't think he threw it well enough to be a quarterback. He throws the ball well and we'll see that at some point along the way. What I thought – and this is what helped us with him – he needed to get the ball. He's dynamic with the football and deep in his mind I think he wanted to play offense and that's why he ended up at Duke. I know this summer, because our quarterback would tell us, he could not get enough work on his own. Anytime he wanted to he went to the Pascal and threw with him. He's very comfortable and committed to learning. He's spent a lot of time watching tape with any of the players who would sit down with him and I think it has paid off. He's going to learn that there are still going to be tough days. That's what happens with veterans and young folks but boy he's just a natural ball player."
Â
(Ref.: On new players starting in the two deep)
"Well I think that's never easy. I think there are lessons you learn in football when you get 'beat out' and most of us have in all sorts of things not just sports, we get beat out in life, right? I told them this morning and I think this is true to both football and life and we are going into a tough environment – it goes with those guys who are dealing with a little adversity. About 10 percent of life is what happens to you, the other 90 percent is how you respond. And if you take it, you quite likely have written your own story. I like the fact that now we have guys competing for playing time. That's been the dream here, that you have earned the opportunity to be a starter and if you get beat out, you better earn the opportunity to become the starter again or to just play more. I talk with young people. I don't put them out there on their own but I absolutely encourage them and talk with them and I won't ever take it personal. It's never an easy decision for a coach but we have to do what's best for our program."
Â
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