Project hope: football has been an exercise in futility at Rutgers, Indiana and Duke, but signs of change are rising from the ruins

Sporting News, The, Oct 6, 2003 by Tricia Garner, Mike DeCourcy, Matt Hayes

DUKE Wising up

The linebacker hops on the elevator in the new football-only facility at Duke. Going down, of course. Just finished class," Malcolm Ruff says. Blue Devils coach Carl Franks, the perfect fit in an utterly untenable situation, asks Ruff what classes he finished. It is here we find the essence of Duke football: "French III and Earth and Ocean Sciences," Ruff says. Heady stuff, Duke stuff.

The elevator doors open into a posh, expansive jewel of a facility that could make NFL owners envious. Still, the $21 million, 70,000-square-feet, futuristic Yoh Football Center almost is an eyesore among the historic brick and brownstone on this campus. And it's a long 3-pointer flora the most famous building in town, Cameron Indoor Stadium. But it is there we get a glimpse of the current state of Duke football: "Some of those basketball players are jealous of what we have," says wide receiver Deon Adams.

And there you have it, the long and short of Duke footbalL A team with flawless academic standards--last year's graduation rate: 100 percent--and suddenly spiked football aspirations. The Blue Devils haven't won an ACC game since 1999, but hope smells as fresh as the new building to this program, whose claim to fame is acting as host for the 1942 Rose Bowl because there was concern about holding a sporting event on the West Coast after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Naturally, the Dukies lost that game, too.

This is Carl Franks' world. He is devoted to his alma mater, loyal to a fault. Duke has lost 25 consecutive league games, yet Franks points out the window of his office to Wallace Wade Field and says without hesitation, "Our great, untapped resource." National powers Miami and Virginia Tech will join the ACC in 2004, making Duke's climb even tougher, but Franks says confidently, "No one can match what we can offer."

It's that enthusiasm and vision that convinced the university administration that sports at Duke should go beyond the ultrasuccessful men's and women's basketball teams. It begins with the Yoh Center and includes a change in recruiting philosophy. When Franks arrived in 1999, high school players needed a 3.0 grade-point average and a 1,000 on the SAT to be recruited. The new rules are more flexible, allowing Franks to confer with the school's admissions director on recruits who haven't reached those standards.

More than anything, the new rules allow Franks to sell his vision to recruits: a degree from one of the nation's most prominent institutions and a chance to change history on the field. He has seven career wins at Duke, but don't think he can't get it turned around. The most glaring change since Franks' arrival: The university is actively looking for ways to help Duke football become something other than a way to pass the time until Midnight Madness starts another basketball season.

Around Durham, the proof can be found. The sign at the Brookwood Inn reads: "Go Duke, keep the streak alive." That, after a loss to Northwestern snapped a two-game winning streak and before the Blue Devils were blasted by ACC heavyweight Florida State. No matter. "Those boys need support," a clerk says.