Duke football: Mike Elko is building something special in Durham

After spending eight seasons as a Power Five defensive coordinator with Wake Forest, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M, Mike Elko felt that it was time to venture out on his own.

Duke football gave him an opportunity and he jumped at it.

Taking over a football program at a self-proclaimed “basketball school” isn’t exactly a head coach’s dream, but Elko knew that the pressure to make a quick turnaround wouldn’t be there. Duke was a struggling football program at the end of the David Cutcliffe era and it was going to take a heck of a turnaround to even make the Blue Devils relevant on a national stage.

After just one season, it feels like the turnaround is in the rearview mirror.

While that’s not the case and Duke could very well take a step back next season and no one should fault them for it, winning nine games in year one of a major rebuild is impressive.

Duke football proved itself in the Military Bowl

All season long, everyone was counting Duke out. It was a “fluke” that the Blue Devils won eight regular season games and many were waiting on UCF to prove that they still had a long way to go under Elko.

But Elko didn’t give in to the outside noise.

Instead, Duke dominated the Military Bowl against a solid UCF team, controlling the game from start to finish, winning by 17 points, 30-13. The win really never felt like it was in jeopardy.

With the win, the first-year head coach improved to 9-4 overall and he was 5-3 in conference play, winning the ACC Coach of the Year award. For reference, in the three previous seasons, Duke had a total of 10 wins and just four in ACC play. Plus, Duke was fresh off a 3-9 season and 0-8 mark in conference action. And yet he turned it all around and won nine games in 2022.

With most of the key players returning next season, led by talented quarterback Riley Leonard, Elko is building something special at Duke.

I never thought I’d say this, but the future of Duke football is incredibly bright.