Football
DURHAM – Duke football continued its preparations for the 2022 season on Thursday with its eighth official practice at the Brooks Practice Facility.
The Blue Devils were in just shoulder pads on Thursday morning and ran through individual workouts, before shifting to two-minute drills and special teams. At the conclusion of practice, offensive coordinator Kevin Johns and defensive coordinator Robb Smith spoke with the media for the first time in camp.
“I just think it is a mindset,” Smith said when asked about the players adjusting to new schemes. “Any time there is a change there is going to be new things and a different approach. I think our guys have really bought in during training camp so far on how we want to do things on defense and how hard we want to play. We want to swarm to the football, improve on our tackling and cause some takeaways. I think those things have shown up and it’s clear that they’ve put in the work this summer in preparation for training camp.”
Smith added that head coach Mike Elko has put together a great staff.
“Number one is we have tremendous people on this staff. One of the sayings on this staff is ‘you don’t chase money, you chase people.’ I think we are surrounded with a lot of good people in this building and that makes it fun to go to work every day. Not only do we have quality people, but also the experience that the people have, especially in our room, but I really like the guys that I get to go to work with. We know that there is a challenge ahead of us, but if it’s not a fun place to go to work and there is a challenge, that is when things get tough.”
Johns spoke about how the offense has really come together this offseason and what has been the biggest difference he’s noticed.
“Their want and desire to be successful. The look in these guys’ eyes. Every day they just keep coming out and competing. I keep waiting for someone to hit the wall and they just haven’t. We are dumping a ton on them right now and we are just seeing what sticks. We will go back and pick up the other stuff later, but just this team’s desire has exceeded my expectations.”
When asked about the transfers on the offensive line, Johns said he thinks they have done a good job so far.
“They are older guys who have played college football for a while, so that helps. I still think that they are learning about how we do things here at Duke and just our standards and how we want to practice. But they have been welcomed additions and have done a great job. They are learning the schemes and we are for sure going to try to do everything we can do just to give them a chance to compete and be in the mix.”
Duke’s 2022 season opener is Friday, Sept. 2 against Temple. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium and will be broadcast on ACC Network.
Season and single game tickets for the 2022 Duke football season are now on sale. New customers can visit GoDuke.com/FootballTix or call the Duke Athletics Ticket Office at 919-681-BLUE (2583) to purchase tickets. Season ticket holders from 2021 who would like to renew their seats for this season can call the ticket office Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
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