Duke Spring Football Notebook: Kicking Off 2026

Duke tight end Jeremiah Hasley, wearing a white helmet, white jersey and white pants, crosses the goal line with the ball in his arms for a touchdown on Duke's opening drive versus No. 16 Virginia in the 2025 ACC Championship Game.

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Spring Football Notebook: Kicking Off 2026

3/17/2026 1:36:00 PM | Football

Watch Head Coach Manny Diaz Spring Availability

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke begins its spring football practice period Thursday morning. The Blue Devils finished 9-5 in 2025 and capped the season by defeating Virginia in the ACC Championship Game and topping Arizona State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

Duke returns to the practice field for its second spring workout Saturday.

DIAZ THOUGHTS HEADING INTO DAY ONE
With a number of Blue Devils out for the spring practice period, head coach Manny Diaz is making similar adjustments to this year as last spring.

"We have 24 new players on our campus," Diaz explained. "That's 13 transfers and 11 high school midyear early enrollees. Those guys have been getting a crash course in what Duke is all about. We have players who will not be able to participate in the full-speed drills. Very similar to what we did a year ago, our practices will look different than they did 15-20 years ago. We will modify things to allow everyone on the roster to take some sort of team reps. If it's in a walkthrough or jog through format, it will allow everyone to teach, learn and be engaged."

11 EARLY ENROLLEES
Eleven signees from this year's crop enrolled at Duke in January and are spending spring practice with the Blue Devils. Ayden Cain (DT), Chadwicke Cannon Jr. (DT), Kavon Conciauro (WR), KD Cotton (S), CJ Givers (RB), Brody Keefe (WR), Benjamin Moseley (TE), Tyson Sanford (CB), Sean Stover (OL), Jayvian Tanelus (RB) and Terry Walker III (QB) will go through spring drills with Duke.

13 TRANSFERS JOIN FOR SPRING
Duke's spring roster is also bolstered by the addition of 13 transfers. Running back CJ Campbell Jr. (Rutgers), offensive lineman Nick Del Grande (Coastal Carolina), quarterback Walker Eget (San Jose State), cornerback Dylan Flowers (Western Kentucky), tight end Nate Kurisky (Louisville), cornerback Kyon Loud (Montana), offensive lineman Braden Miller (California), linebacker Jon Morris (Connecticut), wide receiver Javen Nicholas (Charlotte), quarterback Ari Patu (North Alabama), defensive tackle Dakota Quiñonez (Dartmouth), cornerback Evan Smith (Northwestern) and defensive tackle Owen Wafle (Penn State) are going through spring drills.

All have one year of eligibility remaining except Loud, Morris and Wafle, who have three.

BLUE DEVILS OUT FOR THE SPRING
Duke will be without running back CJ Campbell Jr., offensive lineman Matt Craycraft, defensive lineman Bryce Davis, offensive lineman Nick Del Grande, quarterback Walker Eget, offensive lineman Kai Jacobowitz, cornerback Kyon Loud, defensive lineman Sampson Onuoha, cornerback Kimari Robinson, cornerback Tyson Sanford, linebacker Elliott Schaper, safety DaShawn Stone, cornerback Evan Smith, defensive lineman Kobe Smith, defensive lineman Owen Wafle and quarterback Terry Walker III this spring due to injury.

TWO COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS
The offseason brought just two position coach changes to Diaz's staff with the addition of Rodeny Freeman II, who will guide the Blue Devil running backs, and Trent Harris, who will oversee Duke's defensive tackles.

Freeman II comes to Durham after a two-year stint (2024-25) at East Carolina University serving as the running backs coach. During his time in Greenville, Freeman II helped the Pirates to a 17-9 overall record and two bowl victories versus ACC foes. In 2025, Freeman II guided a four-man running back rotation to 1,886 yards as each crossed the 250-yard plateau in helping the Pirates to a 9-4 record, 6-2 conference mark and 23-17 victory against Pitt in the Go Bowling Military Bowl.

Harris, a former defensive end under Diaz at the University of Miami, has coached outside linebackers at Illinois the past two years, helping the Fighting Illini to 19 wins, the program's most in a two-year span. Harris assisted as Illinois captured six ranked wins, including victories against No. 14 South Carolina in the 2024 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl and No. 23 Tennessee in the 2025 Music City Bowl. In 2025, Harris coached All-Big Ten First Team selection Gabe Jacas, who led the Big Ten in sacks (11.0) during the regular season and ranked second in forced fumbles (3) and fourth in sack yards (60).

STARTING 11 WEEKEND
Duke athletics welcomed members of the Starting 11, a leadership giving society supporting Duke football, to campus for an exclusive weekend experience February 27-28.

The Starting 11 initiative brings together a select group of supporters who are committed to advancing the future of Duke football through leadership-level philanthropy. Members receive exclusive access to Duke football experiences and opportunities to engage closely with the program's coaches, staff and student-athletes. Events like the Starting 11 weekend highlight the strong connection between Blue Devil football and the supporters who help continue its growth.

During the most recent weekend emersion experience, members enjoyed a private dinner Friday followed by the men's basketball game versus Virginia, an exclusive session with Duke football inside the Yoh Football Center and another private dinner with Duke athletics and football leadership inside the Yoh on Saturday.

ONE OF ONE
With Duke men's basketball capturing the ACC Championship last Saturday, Duke became the first school in league history to win ACC titles in football, women's basketball and men's basketball titles in the same academic year.

BLUE DEVILS KEEP MAKING HISTORY ????

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— Duke Athletics (@DukeATHLETICS) March 15, 2026

HASLEY AND SHEPPARD RETURN TO ANCHOR OFFENSE
While the Blue Devils may have a quarterback battle, they return two of their offensive stalwarts from the 2025 campaign in tight end Jeremiah Hasley and running back Nate Sheppard.

Hasley earned Honorable Mention All-ACC accolades after a breakout year of 40 receptions for 454 yards (11.35) and six touchdowns. The College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree caught two TDs in the ACC Championship Game, including the game-winning score on fourth-and-one in Duke's overtime possession. Hasley's reception total was tied for the 10th most by a Duke tight end in a season while his six TD grabs tied for the third most by a Blue Devil tight end during a campaign. He enters 2026 with eight career touchdown catches, four shy of the Duke record by a tight end.

Sheppard also rewrote the record books during his first season on campus. He led Duke in rushing with 1,132 yards on 200 attempts (5.66) with 11 scores. His rushing yardage total is the sixth most in a year in program history and made Sheppard the only 1,000-yard rookie rusher in Blue Devil history. Sheppard, a Second Team All-ACC selection, became a starter in game five and averaged 94.40 yards per game and 1.10 touchdowns per tilt during the final 10 contests . For the season, he added 37 receptions for 286 yards (7.73) and one score with the 37 catches tied for the fifth most by a Duke rookie in program history.

LINEBACKERS RETURN DEPTH
Aiding Duke's defensive effort in 2026 will be the linebackers with Luke Mergott, Nick Morris Jr. and Kendall Johnson returning. Injuries swept through the room last fall, which resulted in extended time for Mergott and Johnson, as well as experience gained by true freshmen.

Mergott was thrust into the starting role in week five and thrived, becoming the star of the ACC Championship Game and Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl with interceptions to seal both victories. On the first play of Virginia's overtime possession in the league title game, he intercepted a pass to end the contest. In the bowl tilt, Mergott picked off Arizona State's Jeff Sims with 1:57 to play in the fourth quarter, allowing Duke to run out the clock and claim the postseason crown.

Mergott was filling in for Morris Jr., who recorded 18 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery in the season's first four games before being shelved for the rest of the campaign due to injury. Morris Jr., whose brother Jon also joined the Blue Devils after his transfer from Connecticut, will be entering his sixth year with the program.

Johnson saw action in 10 games and started two, versus Illinois and North Carolina. He recorded a career-high 37 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, one caused fumble, two pass breakups and four quarterback pressures.

Plenty of young talent also experienced action in 2025 and will look to continue development this spring. Three of Duke's five true freshmen to letter in 2025 were among the linebacker crew in Will Felder Jr. (3 tackles), Bradley Gompers (14 tackles; 1.5 TFL) and Elliott Schaper (16 tackles; 2.0 TFL; 2.0 sacks; 1 INT).

PRO DAY COMING
A collection of former Blue Devils will turn their attention to Duke's Pro Day, set for Monday, March 23.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils football, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeFootball".

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