David Cutcliffe on Duke's Special Teams: I'm Enthused

Duke had an accurate placekicker last season in AJ Reed, who hit all 34 of his PAT attempts and 15 of 18 field goal tries. Austin Parker also gave the Blue Devils a weapon at punter, averaging 45.7 yards per punt.

Both of them are gone, however. In their place are three-star punter Porter Wilson and three-star kicker Charlie Ham. Wilson arrived as the No. 12 punter in the class of 2019, while Ham was the No. 7 kicker. Ham got a taste of game action last year, kicking off five times while preserving his redshirt. Wilson didn’t see any playing time.

“We’ve got to break in a new punter and a new placekicker,” coach David Cutcliffe said. “I’m glad they were here and redshirted a year ago. They know our system.”

The young specialists had time learning under Duke’s special teams coaches, which Cutcliffe considers one of the team’s strength.

“Kirk Benedict has done a phenomenal job,” Cutcliffe said. “Not enough is said about him as a special teams coordinator. I call him Captain Benedict. That’s his platoon—his special teams. If you don’t know, he served two tours in Afghanistan as a combat platoon commander. He’s a perfect fit in that role. I really like Charlie and Porter.”

The rest of Duke’s special teams looks solid. “We’ve got our deep snappers back,” Cutcliffe said. “We ‘ve got our holder back. We’ve got some return people. Damond Philyaw-Johnson may break all kinds of records as a return man. So if I sound enthused about this team, I am. We’ve got to stay healthy. That may be the biggest challenge.”