Post by elon_phan on Jan 5, 2008 16:44:48 GMT -5
Elon graduate Collins returns for third stint with Duke as linebackers coach
By Bob Sutton / Times-News
January 4, 2008 - 10:19PM
DURHAM — When new Duke football coach David Cutcliffe wanted to find someone familiar with a winning culture at Duke for his staff, Jim Collins might have been the ideal candidate.
So Collins is back for a third go-around with the Blue Devils, and he couldn’t have sounded more pleased about it Friday.
“I knew I wanted to be back in coaching, I just didn’t know where it was going to be,” said Collins, an Elon College graduate. “This is back to a place I’ve always loved. It’s just a special place. It’s hard to explain.
“It’s a little like old home week.”
Cutcliffe named seven assistant coaches to go with defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre, whose hiring was announced earlier in the week.
MacIntyre and five of the latest newcomers — Ron Middleton (associate head coach / special teams coordinator / tight ends coach), Kurt Roper (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach), Zac Roper (recruiting coordinator / running backs), Matt Luke (running game coordinator / offensive line coach) and Derek Jones (defensive backs coach) — were with Cutcliffe when he was head coach at Mississippi a few years ago. The Ropers are brothers.
Receviers coach Scottie Montgomery is a holdover from the Duke staff of the past two seasons.
Collins, who will coach linebackers, was a graduate assistant in 1983 and an assistant under Steve Sloan and Steve Spurrier at Duke. He later coached with Spurrier at Florida and with the Washington Redskins.
Wearing a 1996 national championship ring from Florida, he said likes what he sees with the changes at Duke.
“I think this guy (Cutcliffe) is exciting,” he said. “I think he has got a great offensive mind.”
Collins, 55, spent three years at Marshall, the final two as defensive coordinator, ending in 2006. He didn’t coach during 2007, instead working in a communications business in Ormond Beach, Fla.
“This was my redshirt year,” he said.
Collins, a Northeast Guilford High School graduate, said a mutral friend set up him and Cutcliffe for this week’s hiring. They had known each other as opponents, primarily during Collins’ time at Florida and Cutcliffe’s stints at Mississippi and Tennessee.
“I got tired of getting beat by him,” Cutcliffe said. “He has been around Duke when Duke won. He has lived that, experienced that.”
Slightly more than two years ago, Collins expressed interest in returning to Elon when his alma mater had a head coaching vacancy.
Middleton, a former Auburn tight end and a veteran of 10 professional seasons as a player, joins the Duke staff after spending a year as an assistant coach at Alabama.
Kurt Roper comes directly from Tennessee, where he worked with Cutcliffe, who was offensive coordinator, as the running backs coach. They were with the Volunteers through Tuesday’s Outback Bowl victory against Wisconsin in Tampa, Fla.
Luke also arrived directly from Tennessee, where he was recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach.
Zac Roper was on the Cornell staff for three seasons in a variety of capacities.
Jones spent 2007 as cornerbacks coach at Memphis.
Montgomery is a former Duke receiver and a two-year member of the coaching staff. Cutcliffe is adamant that Montgomery wasn’t retained from the previous staff, but rather hired to the new staff because of his qualifications.
“We didn’t retain him,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s here because he’s the best person available.”
Cutcliffe has one staff vacancy remaining. He said he might wait to fill that and he has yet to decide in what capacity the final staff member will fill.
“We have done 100 percent of what we wanted to do,” Cutcliffe said of the staff.
By Bob Sutton / Times-News
January 4, 2008 - 10:19PM
DURHAM — When new Duke football coach David Cutcliffe wanted to find someone familiar with a winning culture at Duke for his staff, Jim Collins might have been the ideal candidate.
So Collins is back for a third go-around with the Blue Devils, and he couldn’t have sounded more pleased about it Friday.
“I knew I wanted to be back in coaching, I just didn’t know where it was going to be,” said Collins, an Elon College graduate. “This is back to a place I’ve always loved. It’s just a special place. It’s hard to explain.
“It’s a little like old home week.”
Cutcliffe named seven assistant coaches to go with defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre, whose hiring was announced earlier in the week.
MacIntyre and five of the latest newcomers — Ron Middleton (associate head coach / special teams coordinator / tight ends coach), Kurt Roper (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach), Zac Roper (recruiting coordinator / running backs), Matt Luke (running game coordinator / offensive line coach) and Derek Jones (defensive backs coach) — were with Cutcliffe when he was head coach at Mississippi a few years ago. The Ropers are brothers.
Receviers coach Scottie Montgomery is a holdover from the Duke staff of the past two seasons.
Collins, who will coach linebackers, was a graduate assistant in 1983 and an assistant under Steve Sloan and Steve Spurrier at Duke. He later coached with Spurrier at Florida and with the Washington Redskins.
Wearing a 1996 national championship ring from Florida, he said likes what he sees with the changes at Duke.
“I think this guy (Cutcliffe) is exciting,” he said. “I think he has got a great offensive mind.”
Collins, 55, spent three years at Marshall, the final two as defensive coordinator, ending in 2006. He didn’t coach during 2007, instead working in a communications business in Ormond Beach, Fla.
“This was my redshirt year,” he said.
Collins, a Northeast Guilford High School graduate, said a mutral friend set up him and Cutcliffe for this week’s hiring. They had known each other as opponents, primarily during Collins’ time at Florida and Cutcliffe’s stints at Mississippi and Tennessee.
“I got tired of getting beat by him,” Cutcliffe said. “He has been around Duke when Duke won. He has lived that, experienced that.”
Slightly more than two years ago, Collins expressed interest in returning to Elon when his alma mater had a head coaching vacancy.
Middleton, a former Auburn tight end and a veteran of 10 professional seasons as a player, joins the Duke staff after spending a year as an assistant coach at Alabama.
Kurt Roper comes directly from Tennessee, where he worked with Cutcliffe, who was offensive coordinator, as the running backs coach. They were with the Volunteers through Tuesday’s Outback Bowl victory against Wisconsin in Tampa, Fla.
Luke also arrived directly from Tennessee, where he was recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach.
Zac Roper was on the Cornell staff for three seasons in a variety of capacities.
Jones spent 2007 as cornerbacks coach at Memphis.
Montgomery is a former Duke receiver and a two-year member of the coaching staff. Cutcliffe is adamant that Montgomery wasn’t retained from the previous staff, but rather hired to the new staff because of his qualifications.
“We didn’t retain him,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s here because he’s the best person available.”
Cutcliffe has one staff vacancy remaining. He said he might wait to fill that and he has yet to decide in what capacity the final staff member will fill.
“We have done 100 percent of what we wanted to do,” Cutcliffe said of the staff.