SN: What was the timeline over the past few days?
DC: I had conversations, obviously. I didn't have to have a formal interview, though I might have if they requested it. Just a lot of real casual conversations that began pretty quickly after they had their resignation. That was over two days, I guess it was, from Tuesday night on. I was speaking in Laurinburg, in Scotland County, Tuesday night, and I left my phone in the truck. I'm glad I did that, or it would have blown up on my hip. I get back to the truck, and I've got 80 text messages and 20-something missed calls. I said, "Holy smokes, World War III started, and everybody forgot to tell Scotland County."
Popular guy...
From Heather Dinich's blog on ESPN:
Cutcliffe went against the grain and in a shocking move withdrew his name from Tennessee’s head coaching search. Tennessee has more money to offer than Duke. Cutcliffe has a longer history with Tennessee. His daughter goes to school at Tennessee. He still has ties to players there, and he has family in the state. And it’s easier to recruit and win there.
Of course Cutcliffe was interested.
“I was torn,” he said.
Yet Cutcliffe’s bags remained unpacked in Durham.
It says as much about the man as it does about the coach who boosted Duke to nine wins in two seasons and the most success the program has seen since 1994.
But probably the best line he said and most heartfelt, that'll leave Duke with peace of mind:
"You follow your heart in big decisions. I have a lot of ties and a lot of people that I'm very close to, and a lot of respect for the University of Tennessee, but my heart is here. We've worked very hard these two years to change the culture, to change the team physically. You feel like the job's not done, and in this era, it bothers me, what we do as coaches, moving here and there. This is mid-January. Nothing about that felt right to me as a person.
And the main article from GoDuke.
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