David Cutcliffe turns down Michigan

LandArchDawg

Junior
Sep 14, 2003
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Dumpster fire. They have gone the way of Tennessee as being damaged goods, and it will be a long, hard process to come back from it.
 

Optimus Prime 4

Redshirt
May 1, 2006
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He'd likely be fired in three years. He doesn't recruit that well, and is a decent but not good enough coach for them. for his sake I hope he got Duke to agree to some facilities upgrades, it's beyond belief how bad their stuff is.

 

Hammer Down

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Jul 19, 2014
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I disagree. I think he would do just fine there. His age might be a problem, in the present. Are you an Ole Miss fan? Only Ole Miss fans still promulgate the theory that Cutcliffe is not a good coach. My question is how can he turn Michigan down, a team that is tailor-made for his coaching (assuming he is allowed to fully run the program his way - which may very well be the reason he turned them down).
 
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Hammer Down

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Jul 19, 2014
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Dumpster fire. They have gone the way of Tennessee as being damaged goods, and it will be a long, hard process to come back from it.

I am inclined to agree, but for the life of me I cannot understand why those programs have languished so much. The resources are there.
 

codeDawg

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Nov 13, 2007
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My question is how can he turn Michigan down, a team that is tailor-made for his coaching (assuming he is allowed to fully run the program his way - which may very well be the reason he turned them down).

Quality of life. I'm sure he's not lacking for money at this point in his career.
 

LandArchDawg

Junior
Sep 14, 2003
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Likewise, the administration and boosters are about as big of headcases as those of Penn State. Anyone who is not desperate, or doesn't have the sack to stand up to them, will not even give Michigan the chance right now.
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
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He'd likely be fired in three years. He doesn't recruit that well, and is a decent but not good enough coach for them.

That's funny. Michigan hired Brady Hoke who had 3 winning seasons in CFB. Michigan had 3 losing seasons in the past 50+ years. Anybody can recruit at Michigan. Not everybody can win at Michigan.

When you win in a power conference with obstacles to recruiting (e.g., Vandy, Duke, etc.), you can win at places with no obstacles to recruiting.
 

johnson86-1

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
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I disagree. I think he would do just fine there. His age might be a problem, in the present. Are you an Ole Miss fan? Only Ole Miss fans still promulgate the theory that Cutcliffe is not a good coach. My question is how can he turn Michigan down, a team that is tailor-made for his coaching (assuming he is allowed to fully run the program his way - which may very well be the reason he turned them down).

He would do fine there, as he could recruit at Michigan at much the same way he recruits at Duke. The problem is that would get him the same results he gets at Duke, a good program in a weak conference. He'd get a division title if he's in the weaker division, but is not going to be competitive for a national title. That would get him fired at Michigan after a few years.

Duke and Cutcliffe are the perfect match for each other. They both want to be competitive, but winning isn't the most important thing in the world. They type of players Cutcliffe excels at coaching would be attracted to Duke. He also won't have many if any players that were recruited by boosters and disrespectful to him as a coach.
 

Optimus Prime 4

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May 1, 2006
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My sister and her husband went to Duke so I semi-follow them, even go to a game once a year usually. Even their fans don't like some of what he does, and he doesn't recruit well at Duke, just well enough to beat bad ACC teams. He would fail miserably going against Urban. He would end up just like Hoke. Fired after three years. He's perfect for Duke. Hoke won early with RichRod's recruits but has failed with his own.
 

FlotownDawg

All-American
Aug 30, 2012
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If any of Duke's fans don't like Cutcliffe they are complete morons. Here is the Duke's record from 1995 to Cutcliffe taking over in 2008: 3-8, 0-11, 2-9, 4-7, 3-8, 0-11, 0-11, 2-10, 4-8, 2-9, 1-10, 1-12, 0-11. That's a combined 22-125 record, a winning percentage of .149. Absolutely pathetic. Here are Duke's records under Cutcliffe: 4-8, 5-7, 3-9, 3-9, 6-7, 10-4. 9-3. Combined 40-47 record, a winning percentage of .459. He took over the worst program in FBS football and after taking his lumps for the first few years, has turned them into a team that competes for championships in the ACC. I like how you said he recruits well enough to beat bad ACC teams, when Duke was the WORST ACC team for about a 20 year period and now are one of the top teams in the conference. So apparently he's recruiting pretty well to take a team that had lost 125 games in a 13 year period to one that played in the ACC Championship Game last year and was one win away from playing in it again this year.
 

UpTheMiddlex3Punt

All-Conference
May 28, 2007
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He's already making seven figures, at a job where 7 wins a year guarantees job security, a few hours away from the Outer Banks and a few hours away from the Smokies. Life is good for him. They're on week 6 of winter up in Michigan and the fans will crucify him if he only gets 7 wins a year.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
57,049
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There are 3 coaches who have coached longer than 3 years who have a winning SEC record at MSU or UM. Allyn McKeen, John Vaught, and David Cutcliffe. Plus he's turned Duke into a consistent winner. But continue on with the party line about how he's an average coach who can't recruit.
 

dannyripms

Redshirt
Sep 3, 2013
847
1
18
They had a dang good coach in rodrigez. When hoke won it was because he was following rodrigez. after hoke was there for more than 1 year you saw the results. rich rod was turning that program around and they fired him because he didn't do it quick enough or more than likely he didn't take crap from anyone so they fired him
 

Optimus Prime 4

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May 1, 2006
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They'd be in the playoff if RichRod was still there. He had them on a definite upswing, but he's not "a Michigan man" and that's the most important thing to them. They've steadily gotten worse with Hoke's talent. Denard Robinson was completely wasted under Hoke.
 

UpTheMiddlex3Punt

All-Conference
May 28, 2007
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Didn't Michigan's AD object to Rich Rod bringing his own DC? Rich Rod wasn't fired after three years. He was fired on day 1 and got to serve out three years.
 

DerHntr

All-Conference
Sep 18, 2007
15,831
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When Duke's football coach turns you down you are in a giant world of hurt. I'd be damn nervous if I was an administrator and donor there.
 

SanfordRJones

Senior
Nov 17, 2006
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Even their fans don't like some of what he does, and he doesn't recruit well at Duke, just well enough to beat bad ACC teams.

You might be right about the rest of what you're saying, but their fans not liking what he does is not a valid argument. Exhibit A is Mullen, who is the best coach we've ever had, and he still had morons on this board calling for his head even directly after the LSU game.
 

MSU Fan.sixpack

Redshirt
Sep 17, 2012
209
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Is the person making the hire just the interim AD? Hard for to go somewhere when you know the real AD is going to want his own coach.
 

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
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Not so sure about that. Duke pays their coach well ... the university is rolling in money. The weather there is fantastic, certainly compared to Ann Arbor; they're in a nice, progressive large metro area, whereas Ann Arbor, a nice enough town, is near Detroit; And Duke is one of the finest academic universities in the country. Michigan is top of the line too, but they're not Duke.

Most have covered the football expectations at Duke, and they're even less than at MSU (and considerably less after our season this year); and he's coaching in the least powerful of the Power 5 conferences ... much easier to win there.

I don't blame him at all for staying, and he probably wouldn't get that big a raise anyway.
 

RebelBruiser

Redshirt
Aug 21, 2007
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I disagree. I think he would do just fine there. His age might be a problem, in the present. Are you an Ole Miss fan? Only Ole Miss fans still promulgate the theory that Cutcliffe is not a good coach. My question is how can he turn Michigan down, a team that is tailor-made for his coaching (assuming he is allowed to fully run the program his way - which may very well be the reason he turned them down).

He's a good coach. That's for sure.

He's just not a good recruiter, and he won't spend a lot of extra effort trying to get guys that may seem like they would be difficult to land at his program.

That's why he's perfect at the Duke job. He can sit back and recruit diamonds in the rough that have good grades and want a free Duke education. He doesn't have to work too hard at it, and on top of that, the league he's in is filled with mediocre football teams that can be beaten by teams that are well-coached, even if they don't have great talent.

He'd be stupid to leave for a more competitive job where he was going to be expected to win hotly contested recruiting battles to try to win at the level they expect. It would be an awful fit for him. Plus, if he thought his health took a hit from the pressure of the Ole Miss job, the Michigan job would kill him. Smart move on his part to stay.

He's certainly a good football coach, but he'd never be able to manage an elite program. He doesn't have the drive for it.
 

esplanade91

Redshirt
Dec 9, 2010
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Where is all this "he can't recruit" stuff coming from? There are as many Duke QB's as there are Ole Miss QB's on NFL rosters. His WR's are regularly some of the best in the conference, and didn't his secondary blow the ACC out of the water last season? Give the man a platform like Michigan and I think it would only be better.
 

Hammer Down

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Jul 19, 2014
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Most rational people understand that you must work harder to win at a place like Duke than at an "elite program" as you mention. Give the propaganda a rest, bro.