David Cutcliffe on Getting Chase Brice and Other QBs Ready

Clemson transfer not allowed to participate in meetings yet

Duke is in a less than ideal spot with the quarterback position. Likely starter Chase Brice was unable to participate in the team’s abbreviated spring practice—Duke had three practices before the pandemic shut everything down—because he’s technically still a student at Clemson. Until the graduate transfer gets his degree, he’s not allowed to participate in Duke team activities.

For the same reason, he’s not able to participate in Duke’s remote team meetings during the offseason to this point.

Coach David Cutcliffe wasn’t ready to declare him the starter, saying, “You don’t know what’s going to happen, to be fair to everybody there. He knows he’s got to work.”

Despite that, Cutcliffe is doing his best to get Brice up to speed while staying within bounds of NCAA rules.

“He’s gotten terminology,” Cutcliffe said, “all the things we can legally send him. He’s got access to video, which we can legally do. He’s studying. He’s working. As soon as we can, we’ll include him in the meetings.”

Cutcliffe is also getting the quarterbacks currently on the roster ready to go. That includes Chris Katrenick, who played sparingly last season as the backup to Quentin Harris, and Gunnar Holmberg, who is recovering from a leg injury that cost him all of last season.

“Our current quarterbacks, we’re trying to finish school, but they did get three days of spring practice,” Cutcliffe said. “They took advantage of that. I’m in contact with all those guys. They do ask some football questions from time to time, but our focus isn’t football right now.”

Regardless of whether or not Brice throws the first pass of the season, Cutcliffe wants all three quarterbacks ready and able to start.

“What you know as a football coach, regardless of who your starters are—period, any position—I’ve always said this: You want to look at how good your team’s going to be, look at your second and third teams,” he said. “If you’re doing a good job of coaching and recruiting, those folks should look pretty good, and if you’re a really good football coach, don’t measure yourself on what your starter knows. Measure yourself on what your backup knows. We’re coaching all of them, and we’ll coach all of them as hard and well as we possibly can.”