For the fifth time since the end of a history-making 2013 regular season, David Cutcliffe is on the receiving end of some prestigious coaching hardware.
At its convention in Indianapolis Monday, the American Football Coaches Association announced that Cutcliffe has been named as its 2013 National Coach of the Year. Along with the Duke head coach, North Dakota State’s Craig Bohl (FCS) -- Bohl was hired by Wyoming in early December -- Northwest Missouri State’s Adam Dorrel (Division II), Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Lance Leipold (Division III) and Grand View’s Mike Woodley (NAIA) were honored for their work at their respective levels of college football.
Cutcliffe had previously been honored as Coach of the Year by the Bobby Dodd Foundation, Maxwell Football Club, Walter Camp Foundation and Sporting News. He’s also been accorded ACC coaching honors each of the past two seasons.
In his sixth season with the football program, Cutcliffe and his Blue Devils set a school record in 2013 for wins in a season with 10 and earned its first-ever Coastal division title. Duke played in its first-ever ACC championship game last month, and played in a bowl game in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program’s 92-year history.
In the six years with Cutcliffe on the sidelines, the Blue Devils have won 31 games; in the 15 seasons prior to Cutcliffe’s arrival and dating back to 1993, Duke won a combined 33 games. Eight of those wins came in 1994.