Expanding The Market

This story originally ran in the Football Issue of GoDuke, the Magazine -- Aug. 2020

Duke football hasn't been very active in the grad student transfer market over the years. Until recently Duke has had only one, Ohio State's Evan Lisle, who played his graduate year at Duke in 2017 and started at right tackle.

Two reasons account for this. First, it's difficult to get into grad school at Duke. Most grad student athletic transfers end up in the Fuqua School of Business' one-year master's program.

But something else is at work. Coach David Cutcliffe isn't running a fantasy league. He wants a comfort level before he brings someone into his program. He's not interested in "taking a stab at somebody I don't know."

So, what's Duke doing with three grad transfers on the 2020 roster?

Well, it turns out that Duke recruited J'Marick Woods, Devery Hamilton and Chase Brice in high school. All played at high-level college programs, all are academic standouts and all play positions of need for Duke.

And all found what they were looking for at Duke.

Let's start with Woods, the only one of the three who enrolled at Duke for the spring semester last year. Woods is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound safety from Florence, Ala. He says that Duke was one of the first schools to offer him in high school. He ended up at Michigan, where he contributed but was never able to nail down a consistent starting role.

He looked for a reboot and Duke topped the list.

"I knew them from the recruiting process back in high school and felt like they were a great fit for me. What Duke stands for lines up with my core values."

An Academic All-Big 10 selection, Woods graduated from Michigan with a degree in kinesiology, then arrived at Duke for a truncated spring experience. Yet, still a valuable one.

"I was able to learn what Duke stands for, what they value, build some relationships with some of my teammates, my coaches, some of my professors, even some regular students on campus."

And those handful of spring practices?

"I wanted to go out and show my teammates what I can offer."

New Duke offensive line coach Greg Frey was at Michigan when Woods was a freshman. Frey wasn't Woods' position coach but he saw enough of Woods to form some strong opinions.

"What an electric personality, a great smile, a great player, loved the game, loved to practice. Coming here you see the same thing. You enjoy having guys like him as a teammate. A great fit for Duke, the effort, the character, the academics."

Woods came to compete for the starting safety spot vacated by Dylan Singleton, who was an elite tackler. Woods embraces that role.

Fully cognizant of the punnery, he says "tackling? That's what I'm known for. I'm known for laying the wood. I'm definitely a big-time tackler but you've got to be very versatile and I've focused on my weaknesses and improving those."

Weaknesses?

"My covering ability is actually pretty good against tight ends, bigger bodies like mine. I can definitely improve in the slot against smaller, quicker guys."

Woods adds that Duke's 4-2-5 and Michigan's system "have a lot of similarities, so I'm adjusting to it very well. That extra DB almost makes it easier on the safeties. It's a great system for me."

Woods was a special teams standout at Michigan. He blocked a punt against Florida in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

"I want to be on all of them," Woods says of special teams. "I always want to be on the field. It helps the team and improves my stock for the next level."

About that next level. "I have two years of eligibility but I'm going to go out and play like I have one," he says. "The NFL is definitely one of my goals. At the same time I love Duke and could definitely see myself here for two years."

Devery Hamilton may be the first Duke football player to have been born in Germany. His paternal grandmother was in the U.S. Army. Hamilton's family moved back to the United States when he was in the third grade and he was introduced to football when he was in the fifth grade.

Hamilton prepped at Baltimore's Gilman High School, where he was coached by former Duke lineman Biff Poggi, a Maryland prep-coaching legend.

"He's one of the best coaches I've ever been around and one of the best people I've ever been around," Hamilton says. "He taught me so much off the field; preparation… teaching me what it would take to be a football player at the college level. He set me in the right direction."

Initially, that direction was west. Hamilton signed with Stanford, attracted by its blend of academics and athletics.

He had a checkered career there. He helped block for Bryce Love in 2017 when Love finished second in the Heisman voting, an experience he calls "some of the most fun I've ever had playing football."

But he missed time with injuries and Stanford moved him from his preferred tackle position.

"They asked me to move to guard, which I wasn't too keen on. I showed scouts at the next level that I can play multiple positions. But the decision to come back east in part was that wanted to play tackle again. My frame is built to play tackle. That was a big thing. That was something I let the coaches know early on."

He also wanted to make it easier for his family to attend games.

Poggi alerted Duke that Hamilton was leaving Stanford and Duke sealed the deal on a January visit.

"I met players, coaches, support staff, shadowed (Quentin) Harris in Fuqua, talked to deans. I felt like it was the right place, the place I wanted to be."

Frey was hired at Duke on Jan. 21 and was on a plane to California the next day. That says something about Duke's interest in the 6-7, 300-pounder.

"What a great kid he is," Frey says. "Want to talk about somebody who has brains and brawn? He's a good, unique person… He understands the game. He understands how to learn, how to take angles, how to do those things. He's fluid, he's got good feet, he understands what he's trying to do on a play. I like what I see at tackle."

Cutcliffe agrees. "Very athletic. Very strong. I know we're really excited… I think he's going to be immediate help to our offensive front."

Duke retained both starting offensive tackles from last season in Casey Holman and Jacob Monk. But starting guard Zach Baker graduated and Monk was recruited to play inside, so it's not too hard to connect the dots.

Frey says not so fast. Versatility could be even more important than usual in the covid-19 environment so lots of combinations could materialize.

Hamilton says he needed to get stronger and was able to lift weights at an uncle's garage during the quarantine period. He adds that he loves run blocking because he loves "moving someone along," but sees pass protection as a way to show off his athleticism.

"I'm always striving to get better," he says. "I'm versatile as well. I've played every position except center and if you gave me a week to learn how to snap I'd probably be able to do that as well."

Hamilton made the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and graduated with a degree in philosophy and communication. He did not apply for a medical redshirt for his four-game 2019 season so his plan was to be at Duke for just one season.

Will he spend much of his Blue Devil career blocking for Chase Brice? Cutcliffe has been careful not to anoint Brice as Duke's starting quarterback, noting earlier this summer that he hasn't actually seen Brice throw a football in person since Brice was in high school.

But none of Brice's competitors at Duke has much college experience and Brice didn't leave Clemson to spend more time on the bench.

Duke did recruit Brice out of Buford, Ga. But Brice ended up at Clemson, where he redshirted as a freshman and spent the next two seasons backing up Trevor Lawrence. His stats are impressive. Brice completed 82-of-136 passes (61.2 percent) for 1,023 yards with nine touchdowns, against only four interceptions. He averaged over six yards per carry while running the ball.

Clemson had a habit of beating teams by large margins and a lot of Brice's playing time came in games whose outcome had been decided.

But not all of it. Brice gained national attention on Sept. 28, 2018. He began that season as an afterthought, as Clemson platooned incumbent Kelly Bryant and true freshman Lawrence at quarterback. After four games coach Dabo Swinney announced that Lawrence would be Clemson's starter and Bryant announced that he was transferring.

Lawrence sustained a head injury in Game 5 against Syracuse and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Brice came off the bench and rallied Clemson from a 23-13 fourth-quarter deficit with two touchdown drives. The winning drive was 94 yards, a drive kept alive when Brice connected with Tee Higgins for 20 yards on fourth-and-six.

Clemson won 27-23 and ended up winning the national title.

What did Brice learn about himself?

"I learned that anything can happen and that you're here for a reason and that they're depending on you," he says. "I had to grow up really quick. I learned on the fly. I went back to my fundamentals and basics. After that game I knew I could do it. I knew I belonged."

But Lawrence came back and Brice went back to the bench. He accelerated his classwork so that he could graduate in three years and made the decision to leave.

Duke has lots of players from Georgia and Brice played with and against many of them in high school. He reached out to them and all were positive about their Duke experience. Brice and Cutcliffe had built a rapport when Brice was in high school and Brice — whose Clemson degree is in parks, recreation and tourism management — loved the opportunities a graduate degree from Fuqua could offer him in his post-playing career.

"This is the place I need to be at to help me grow," he sums up.

He has two years of eligibility remaining.

What does he bring to Duke?

Cutcliffe calls Brice "a great fit for what we do here," praising Brice's football IQ and work ethic.

The 6-2, 230-pound Brice says his game "is a little unique… I go into it knowing I'm not going to be perfect. Play fast, play physical. If I make a mistake I go back and see what I did wrong, fix it and the next series is 'Hey, let's go score.' I'm not always going to be the prettiest, the most polished but I'll get the job done. Coach Swinney says I've got a lot of moxie. I try to soak it in. Ask questions, rep it. If I do it wrong, I want to know why."

He was able to work out this summer, both at home in Georgia and back at Clemson, always finding someone to throw to. He says he's impressed with the talent at Duke and wouldn't have come if he didn't think Duke could compete.

Brice says he's not a "rah-rah" leader. "I've sat back and tried to see how other leaders have handled the team. I've just tried to find areas where I can help, just encouraging teammates, being a servant leader, earning some trust, cementing a spot within the team."

Woods, Hamilton and Brice understand the uniqueness of the fall of 2020 and the challenges presented by unprecedented time. The focus is staying in the team concept. When asked about the possibility of playing in front of an empty stadium or reduced-capacity crowds, Brice answers, "It will be an adjustment for everybody. You're playing for your team, the guys you play with every day."

Woods agrees. "We are entertainers. We put on a show for the fans. On the other hand we're playing the game we love and we're playing for our team and our teammates. I'll play just as hard without fans in the stands."

#9 J'Marick Woods • SAF from Michigan
#72 Devery Hamilton • OT from Stanford
#8 Chase Brice • QB from Clemson

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