David Cutcliffe: When You Don't Have the Victory Bell You Miss It Every Day

Blue Devils, Tar Heels meet for rivalry game prize

For the second time this season, Duke was able to celebrate a win. The locker room following the Charlotte game was a happy one.

“Oh my goodness,” said coach David Cutcliffe. “Good music, good dancing, lots of enthusiasm, great team spirit. Oh, we needed that. Obviously, our first time to do it at home. I love it for those guys. They were doing a group picture when I walked in—I was a little late getting up the ramp from doing a little media down on the field. It does my heart good to see the guys having that much fun.”

As he normally does after big wins, Cutcliffe joined in with the dancing in the locker room, to mixed results.

“I try to copy and mimic them,” he said. “I don’t do a very good job of it. I know they’re laughing at me. That’s okay with me. I do love to dance. I enjoy it. I don’t care if anybody else enjoys it or not. I do.”

Now Duke turns its attention to North Carolina. This week is the annual rivalry game, with the Victory Bell as the prize for the winner.

“We know that feeling in this program,” he said of winning the bell. “Obviously, we miss it. It’s intense. It’s extremely intense. It’s more than bragging rights. We have a special place for it. When you don’t have it, you miss it every day. We didn’t earn it a year ago. It’s also something you have to earn. It’s not easy to come up with it. So it’s a huge, huge challenge, but it’s extremely important to us.”