David Cutcliffe's Reaction to Duke's First Win: It's Time to Dance

Coach celebrated with players in locker room

Duke coach David Cutcliffe often dances in the locker room after big wins. After losing the first four games of the season, was a win over Syracuse worth dancing over?

“Absolutely,” he said after the game. “How would I not? I think they’ve all been waiting for that moment, as I have, and we had a good time just letting off a lot of steam. That moment is so much fun to go in there. You’re so close to those guys. I can’t tell you the joy in my heart. People forget I’ve been in these guys’ homes I know their parents. I know the sacrifice they’re making, the sacrifice … their parents aren’t getting to see their sons. It’s time to dance. There was a lot of emotion in that locker room.”

Then it was time to get back to work

“First of all, we have to believe that running to an issue, never running away is a Duke standard—a Duke football standard. It’s how we climb the mountain. It’s not running away from any challenge, and when we got beat, we still got better. When you win, you’d better get better. That’s the next step. I told them in the locker room, after all the dancing and the happy, I said our Sunday and our Tuesday and Wednesday can’t be the same as last week. They have to be better. Nothing stays the same. No relationship, nothing on earth stays the same. It’s going to get better or it’s going to get worse. So we have to take that mentality to work with us.”