A couple of weeks after losing an assistant to Oregon, David Cutcliffe has hired a very familiar replacement to fill that spot on his Duke coaching staff.
The Blue Devils announced Monday that Scottie Montgomery has been hired as the football program’s associate head coach, passing-game coordinator and wide receivers coach. The latter two titles were held by Matt Lubick, who left last month for the Ducks, while the former title was held by Ron Middleton before he left for a job in the NFL.
According to Cutcliffe, the decision to bring Montgomery home was a no-brainer right from the start.
“When myself and Kurt Roper and the offensive staff got together and looked at the possibilities across the country to replace two coaches, we started in one place,” the head coach said in a statement. “We wanted to hire the best football coach that we could hire and who we thought was the best football coach in America. That came to Scottie Montgomery – it started there; nowhere else.”
Montgomery spent four seasons (2006-09) after a Blue Devils player career (1996-99) that saw him earn All-ACC honors as a receiver. He’s still fourth and sixth in receptions and receiving yards, respectively, on the school’s all-time list.
The past three seasons, Montgomery has served as the receivers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I am extremely happy to be at Duke University,” Montgomery said. “We have the best football program in college football because of, first and foremost, David Cutcliffe. And when I had the ability to come back and work for him, it made things a lot easier than a lot of people might think.
“When I went to Pittsburgh, my ideal was to become a better coach,” Montgomery continued. “When I came back to Duke, it’s the same deal – I came back to be a better coach. Not only are our players striving for excellence, but one of the things Coach (Cutcliffe) has always pushed on me is that ambition would drive us to another level. And my ambition is to become a better coach, and that’s why I’m here.”
(Photo credit: Pittsburgh Steelers)