Duke opens its season Saturday against a Tulane team that brings plenty more than a routine first-game feel.
This isn’t one of those soft openers against Elon, NC Central or NC A&T. Tulane won 11 games last season, reached the College Football Playoff and beat Duke 34-27 in New Orleans. Duke dug itself into a 24-3 first-half hole in that game before rallying hard and coming up just short.
Now the rematch arrives on Saturday with a 3:30 kickoff, which means it will be fighting for attention on a crowded TV slate. It also falls on Labor Day weekend, so the in-person crowd could be stretched thin for reasons that have nothing to do with football. And with the heat index expected to push triple digits at kickoff, depth and conditioning figure to loom large.
Manny Diaz knows exactly why this part of the calendar still hits different. He has been coaching opening day since his days as a grad assistant at Florida State in the late 1990s, and the rush hasn’t worn off.
“All the other stuff you have to do as a college football coach, gameday is why you do it. There’s nothing like it.
You can’t bottle it. I love gameday.”
The bigger question around this matchup is Tulane itself, which enters the season with major turnover in a college football world built on NIL and the portal. Even by those standards, the Green Wave have plenty to sort through.
Head coach Jon Sumrall left for Florida after two seasons, and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock went with him to Gainesville as quarterbacks coach. Defensive coordinator Greg Gasparato also headed to Florida, where he is now the Gators’ linebackers coach.
Still, Tulane did keep some continuity in place. Will Hall, who was the pass-game coordinator last season, was promoted to replace Sumrall.
Hall has head-coaching experience after going 12-30 at Southern Mississippi from 2021 until he was fired late in the 2024 season. He also had success at West Alabama and West Georgia, both D-II programs.
Russ Callaway is the new offensive coordinator. Last year, he held that same job at Florida. On defense, Tayler Polk - yes, that’s how he spells his first name - moved up from co-defensive coordinator to defensive coordinator.
Whew. Tulane had a lot of coordinators last season.
In Other News...
Duke Fans Have A New Reason For Confidence In 2025
Dukes season has already taken on a different feel with the unexpected absence of quarterback Darian Mensah, leaving Manny Diaz to sort through a new layer of uncertainty on offense. But if there is a place where the Blue Devils believe they can steady things, it is on the other side of the ball, where Diaz and defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke have been stressing a sharper edge and a higher standard as camp moves along.
Patkes message has centered on competition, with players having to earn their spots and the staff continuing to push that battle for roles throughout the roster. Diaz has been encouraged by the way the defense is carrying itself, and the tone around that unit suggests Duke thinks it can become a source of confidence even as the offense adjusts to a very different reality this fall. [Read more 🡒]
Duke's Push For Colton Hiller Just Hit One Early Complication
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The early wrinkle for Duke is that Hiller is also planning an official visit to Florida, which adds another heavyweight to a recruitment that already has a family connection elsewhere. Florida is where his older brother, Maxwell Hiller, is committed, so this one is not shaping up as a simple head-to-head pitch for the Blue Devils. For Scheyer, the visit still gives Duke a chance to make its case in person, but it also makes clear this recruitment may have more layers than the usual top-ranked prospect chase. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Opener Vs Tulane Comes Down To One Huge Offensive Test
Duke opens its 2026 season against Tulane at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium with a late afternoon kickoff on the ACC Network, and the matchup already has the feel of an early measuring stick. The Blue Devils are favored by 7.5 points, but the real focus is on how the offense comes together in its first live test, with Nate Sheppard expected to be part of the ground game plan and the new quarterback situation drawing plenty of attention.
Walker Eget will make his Duke debut under center, adding another layer of intrigue to a game that could be shaped as much by the conditions as by the matchup itself. Kickoff is expected to come with heat near 95 degrees and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, which could make the opener feel even more like a stress test for Dukes rhythm, depth, and ability to finish drives against a Tulane team ready to spoil the start. [Read more 🡒]