‘Tis the season for coaching staff adjustments, and Duke’s next up in the rotation.
While neither firing nor hiring anyone, David Cutcliffe has, though, significantly tweaked his Duke staff. Both Kirk Benedict and Gerad Parker were on the receiving ends of promotions to on-field positions -- the former from graduate assistant to assistant coach/special teams & defense and the latter from football operations assistant to wide receivers coach.
Parker takes over for Jeffrey Faris, who moves to tight ends coach as well adds the title of recruiting coordinator (offense) to his job description. Jim Bridge had been tight ends coach; now, he’s moved to overseeing the offensive line after Marcus Johnson left last month for Mississippi State. Bridge had also been special teams coordinator the past two seasons but ceded those responsibilities as well.
Finally, two longtime Blue Devils assistants were given additional titles -- Jim Knowles, defensive coordinator since 2010, is now the assistant head coach while Derek Jones, cornerbacks coach and a Cutcliffe assistant since 2008, is the assistant head coach for defense as well.
Cutcliffe is entering his 11th season as the head coach of the Blue Devils. His 59 wins are third-most in program history, behind only Wallace Wade‘s 110 and Bill Murray‘s 93.
