DURHAM
Duke will begin its first football season under Coach David Cutcliffe today when 93 success-starved players hit the practice fields near Wallace Wade Stadium for summer's first workout.
Cutcliffe is eager to see how much improvement the players have made on their own since the end of spring practice, his first opportunity to work with them. An intense conditioning program has led to most players shedding up to 25 pounds or more and has improved their quickness and mobility but Cutcliffe has no doubts that hard work still remains before the Aug. 30 season opener.
Cutcliffe, a former Mississippi coach and Tennessee offensive coordinator, will try to revive the fortunes of a program that has had one winning season since 1989 and that has lost its last 25 ACC games.
"I'm going to be really interested in seeing where our team is," Cutcliffe said. "We need to be better than we were in all of our skills when we finished spring practice.
"I would suspect that about halfway through or three-quarters into the practice I'll get a little feel in my gut, one way or the other, to be anxious and excited or to realize just how much work we still have to do."
Duke returns 19 starters and 49 lettermen from last season's team that finished 1-11 and endured the program's third consecutive winless ACC season under the previous coach, Ted Roof.
Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and linebacker Michael Tauiliili are talented veterans but numerous shortcomings must be addressed. Cutcliffe will look at five place-kickers and three punters the rest of the month in his first attempt at improving one of the ACC's least-effective kicking games.
Cutcliffe said that, if the kickers do not improve and give Duke the help that it needs, he will not hesitate to keep the offense on the field on fourth downs. He is worried about the offensive line and tight ends, also.
Duke will play its first four games at home but Cutcliffe is not necessarily looking for immediate success in his long-term, program-building plans.
"I don't think it's got any great significance," Cutcliffe said of winning early. "People have talked about that a great deal. Obviously we want to come out of the chute playing well, hopefully winning, but the biggest thing is playing well. We're not going to put all our eggs in one basket in that regard."
Cutcliffe is more concerned with Duke's finish than its start. The last five games will be against Wake Forest, N.C. State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
"What's going to define this Duke team is November," Cutcliffe said. "Being able to finish better -- whether it's the fourth quarter or the end of the season -- is going to define this team. I think the critical part of all (our work) is how well we finish in November."
Cutcliffe is working as a head coach for the first time since undergoing heart bypass surgery in the spring of 2005 and sitting out the season. He is a head coach for the first time since the 2004 college season, when he finished his sixth season at Mississippi with his only losing record.
He had a 44-29 record at Mississippi and took four teams to bowl games but will coach somewhat differently the second time around in a slight concession to health because of the heart surgery.
"I'm not going to sweat every little, small thing that happens to us," Cutcliffe said. "We're going to enjoy this. I'm going to absolutely make sure our team understands hard work but that they have fun playing football. I think if you're not careful as a coach you can take the fun out of this game.
"I have a strong enough personality that I can make people miserable if I'm not real careful. My mother tells me that and I realize that. Outside of that I really wouldn't do anything differently than I've done before. I love to be at work and I love to get to know the players….
"I am absolutely going to make sure the folks around us have a good time."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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