Manny Diaz says Duke is entering its opener against Tulane with a clearer sense of itself, and that matters even more in a season’s first game.
Diaz pointed to the uncertainty that comes with early September, when teams are still sorting out who they are and what they do best. For Duke, that process has already produced a concrete answer on offense: Walker Eget is the starting quarterback. That decision, Diaz said, gives the Blue Devils an identity to build around as they prepare for Tulane at home.
“Yeah, good to see everybody. It does feel like game week now.
It's officially official. And for us, we're just excited to play.
I think what we saw with the week zero game at some point, you got to find out who you are and what you're about. We've moved on from potential season to production season.
And what a great way to test ourselves in the opener. Obviously, a program that got after us a year ago, we've got a lot of respect for.
They're used to winning. And that's important thing to have.
That's what we're trying to build around here, that same expectation. But it changes year to year.
I mean, you look at the people that played in last year's game, it's like the laundry will be similar, but so much personnel is different on both sides. And I think that's another theme.”
Diaz said season openers bring a different kind of pressure because teams haven’t had the chance to settle in. In his view, the first game is less about scouting the opponent and more about eliminating the kind of mistakes that swing these games - ball security, special teams errors and the other hidden plays that show up when teams are still getting into midseason form.
“Great test for us and we're excited, excited to be at home in front of our fans. Student body showed up. Should be a great day and we're excited to get out there and play.”
Asked what he actually knows about this Duke team, Diaz leaned into the uncertainty. He said the Blue Devils like their backs, tight ends and offensive line, and he also sees a different edge on defense than he did a year ago. Still, he stressed that the only thing that matters is what happens once the season starts.
“Well, I don't know if anybody knows anything. What do we think we know more than other things?
Obviously we like our backs, we like our tight ends, we like our offensive line. And so you want to try to be able to feature those, but I think everybody knows that also.
The defense is going to be relatively aware of that. I know we've got a different feel on the defensive side of the ball than we did a year ago.
There's a bite and an urgency about them and it reminds me more of 24 than what we saw in 25. But you got to go out there and do it.
And with so many new faces, guys stepping up into different roles from what they had a year ago.”
That turnover, Diaz said, is just part of the deal. In his eyes, very few players are doing the exact same job they were a year ago, and even veterans are operating with new expectations.
On the defensive side, Diaz said camp has been the most competitive he’s seen so far because players understand that if they don’t handle their business, someone else can step in and do it. He said that depth should matter with a 3:30 kickoff and a game he expects to be decided late.
“It has, yeah. Because they recognize that if they don't do things the right way, that it's not hard to find someone that can.
Now what you ultimately want as a coach is you want many guys that can do the right thing and that way you can stay, which I think will be an important thing with 3:30 kickoff is that you can play a lot of guys and stay fresh for a game that the expectation is it'll be decided in the fourth quarter. So we have had good competition.
I think the coach has done a really good job of pushing our guys through camp and we do feel like we can go way deeper than 11 on the defense side of the ball with guys that can execute for us.”
The quarterback change has become a familiar part of Duke’s recent seasons, Diaz noted, and he said the staff and players have learned how to handle it. The program’s continuity, he said, comes from the fact that the offense has repeatedly shown what works. When a transfer quarterback arrives, the job is to identify what he does best and shape the offense around that.
“Well, we've done it for three straight years, right? The first part of your question, the continuity is that the players understand the expectation and then you have the visual evidence or statistical evidence that it works.
And so the coaches get it, the players understand it, players can explain to other players because they've been through it and they can see Duke guys executing and having it work. When you bring in another quarterback, especially when they're a transfer, they've got their old body of knowledge of the way they used to do things.
All quarterbacks are a little bit uniquely different because they all are going to have different skill sets, not in terms of the physical skill sets, the obvious arm strength, accuracy, those type of things. Certain guys just like certain types of plays better.
Certain guys like play action shots or RPOs or movement plays or whatever.
There's just different things that they feel more comfortable with. So I think what you got to do is when you bring a guy into your program, you got to find out who they are, find out what they do best. And like any other good coach would do is you build your offense around what they feel the most comfortable executing.”
Health-wise, Duke is in decent shape heading into the opener, with one major exception. Offensive lineman Roman Fina will miss the season after suffering a lower-body injury in training camp. Diaz called it a disappointment for a player he believes has a bright future, but said nobody else is ruled out for Tulane.
“So in training camp, a very young, promising offensive lineman, Roman Fina, suffered a lower-body injury that'll take him out for the year. It's a disappointment for him because I think he's got a great future here.
Other than that, health-wise we were pretty good. We do have a couple of guys that are still bumps and bruises type thing, but there's nobody we'd rule out for the opener other than Roman.
So I feel good about that.”
As for Eget’s promotion, Diaz said it settled things inside the building. The answer at quarterback, he said, gives the offense a direction and lets everyone move forward with a clear identity.
“I think there's just a knowing, you know what I mean? So it just makes sense and it's a question answered.
Again, 50 guys on offense, there might be 49 different reactions, but I think more than anything from the standpoint is we have our identity now. We know who we are, coaches know, and so now let's go build an offense wrapped up in that identity that can go win one game this week is all we can do.”
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