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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS

July 20, 2015

PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Jeremy Cash. Questions for Jeremy.

Q. Jeremy, a little inexperienced up front. You lost a great linebacker. That's putting a lot of pressure to what is an outstanding secondary. That's a lot of mail to carry. Is the defense going to be stronger in areas that people are concerned about?
JEREMY CASH: I honestly don't think the secondary has much outside pressure. As a team we're going to come together and bond together to help bring some of those younger guys along, whether it be at D-line or linebacker, to help fill those voids.

Q. Jeremy, to define this Duke defense, not just the secondary, what can you say coming out of the spring and how you look at yourself and the rest of the guys around you?
JEREMY CASH: I think as a defense we define ourselves as being a very physical defense. At any given point our main goal is to get the ball. We have a saying 'ODB,' stands for 'Our Dang Ball.' If the ball is in the air, we're going to go get it, or if we see a running back carrying the ball loosely, we're going to get it out. One way or another we have to win the turnover margin.

Q. The big four schools have been so good in basketball for so long. Football just hasn't measured up to Virginia Tech and Florida State. Especially your program, how much better Duke has gotten, how much closer are the big four schools to getting that good in football?
JEREMY CASH: I definitely think that we've made tremendous success. Florida State, for example. They've had nothing but tremendous success with their football program. Us, Duke University, as well, we've gone from 3-9 seasons to 10-win seasons. That's almost unheard of. We have four and five star recruits committing early to our program. A lot has changed. Our trajectory is endless.

Q. What do we need to know about Thomas Sirk stepping into Anthony's shoes?
JEREMY CASH: I would say for Thomas, X marks the spot. He's really worked a lot on his arm and with his precision. He went down to the Peyton Manning camp and came back with a lot of tips. He's one that can hurt you really with his feet. We've seen that as the type of athlete he is. But now he's worked on his craft and has perfected his throwing motion, his precision, his accuracy.

Q. What were some of the variables that led you to think you needed to come back for your senior season?
JEREMY CASH: At the end of the day when I sat down with my girlfriend and her parents, first off, we value the education. I mean, we knew at that point that it was the best decision for me. Your life is this long, and football is about this much of it. What's going to happen once you're done playing football? Me personally now, I don't have that deer in the headlights look. I'll have two degrees from Duke University. I'm currently pursuing my master's and am only three classes away from gaining it.

Q. You talked about Thomas' ability to run. There are a number of quarterbacks in this league that can run. James Burgess just said nobody likes a scrambling quarterback. What are your thoughts about trying to defend quarterbacks like Marquise Williams or Jacoby Brissett?
JEREMY CASH: No one likes playing a scrambling quarterback, that is a true statement. It actually is quite difficult because that is essentially an offensive weapon that goes unaccounted for. That's why your defensive line has to have discipline as far as not overrunning the play. You can make a void right up the seam for him to simply scramble right through.

Q. Did you watch the Ohio State game and how many of those guys do you know?
JEREMY CASH: I did watch the Ohio State game. I know a handful of them. Most of them have now graduated since the season has ended. If you're leading to my feelings of the game, I was actually really happy for them. They actually put in the time and effort that it took to not only get to that point in their career, but to win that game. I don't I guess have any regrets on the decision I made because it was by faith that I ended up here at Duke University and I've had nothing but tremendous success.

Q. You won't see the finished product, but clearly you see something that's a different animal than it was. How fulfilling is it to see some of that done on your watch and know you contributed to some of the success that got the momentum going for this big upgrade?
JEREMY CASH: It's really a great feeling. I mean, it's kind of that 'aha' moment where you realize, Dang, all the generations before us have done and all we've helped contribute to, it's finally paying off. It's a true testament to where the program is going. We're essentially rebuilding.

Q. With all these degrees, what do you want to be when you grow up?
JEREMY CASH: Once my playing career is over, I would actually like to pursue a career in the Federal Government. Last couple months I've been going back and forth with pursuing the dream of becoming an FBI agent. That's really something of interest to me.

THE MODERATOR: Jeremy, thank you. We're joined by Matt Skura. Questions for Matt.

Q. A lot has been said about the offensive line and the offense in general. A lot of pundits trying to figure out where Duke is going to be. Where do you think Duke is going to be?
MATT SKURA: I think we've had the mindset we want to win the coastal and win the ACC championship. I think we've been trying to instill that mindset into all of our younger guys. I think we've been doing a good job of that. It takes a lot of mental and physical toughness to get through a league like this. We've been trying to make our guys the most disciplined and detail oriented they can be.

Q. You have a quarterback who is going to cut his teeth now. You have a lot of depth at runningback, but the receivers are a question mark, the D-line is a question mark. You took a hit at linebacker. Obviously strong secondary. There's concern in your fan base that this could be the year you take a step back a little bit. Is that unfounded concern or are you confident you have the horses to maintain the standard that you've built?
MATT SKURA: Yeah, I mean, as far as the players go, I've never had a doubt, any of us never had a doubt, that we'll fall behind like that. Obviously it's hard to replace guys like Laken Tomlinson, Takoby Cofield, Boone, Jamison, those kind of guys. What they've been doing a good job about is teaching how they were successful, teaching how they used to work. That's now the responsibility of me, Cody Robinson, Lucas Patrick, and Casey Blaser, guys that are more experienced, to show the younger guys how we work. Even at quarterback, Thomas is showing everyone how to get a line, how to execute. Even at the wide receiver level, Max McCaffrey is the leader of that group. Everyone has to be the leader of their own group and leaders of the team and I think that's how we're going to be successful.

Q. The conversation obviously comes up about Duke and basketball every year. How do you feel the climate is and the environment, that change under Cutcliffe, basketball as opposed to football?
MATT SKURA: I think now after 19 wins in two seasons, we're kind of building a foundation that we are a good football program, a school that can play football well. Obviously we're not trying to beat out Duke basketball and try to overshadow them. Now we're trying to work together just to be a great athletic school. I think that's something Coach Cut wanted to do, as well. Other programs within Duke are buying into that as well. I think that's showing up. You have more fans coming to our games, more students coming to our games. We have a brand-new stadium about to be revealed for this entire year. We're extremely excited to get that rolling, yeah.

Q. There are hundreds of good coaches out there. What are the ingredients that David Cutcliffe has that makes him so successful?
MATT SKURA: I think, you know, he pushes you to your limits and beyond them, not only as a player but as a person. He expects you to be disciplined on and off the field, doing the things right in the classroom, in your personal life, and on the field. You know, I think that makes you a better person and a better man. What also I think, he respects all of his players, and in return we respect him back. If you're having any problems in your personal life or in football, you can go directly to him and he's going to help you out. He's going to give you advice or point you to the right people to make you successful.

Q. Not so long ago Duke had extreme difficulty running the ball. Now you're one of the preeminent running programs in the league. How good will the running attack be this year?
MATT SKURA: We just want to take our game one step further. I don't see any reason why we can't be up there in the top two or three or the first in the league. That comes from not only practice reps but getting stronger in the weight room. That's something that I take pride in, is making sure that guys are physically developing the way they should be. Also making sure that on the practice field during our self-practices in the summer that they're not making mistakes. If they have any questions, they can come to one of the older guys and ask us. We're going to maintain and exceed that level of excellence.

Q. Do you anticipate the offense looking different with a new quarterback? A lot of the skill position, weapon guys. Will it be a different look offensively or what we've come to expect?
MATT SKURA: I'd say a little bit of both. I think what we really want to do is keep running the ball even maybe a little bit more. We know Sirk can beat you with his legs, but he can also throw very accurately. I think what the coaches want to do this year is start implementing a little more run game, a little different sets we know we can take advantage of with a quarterback like Sirk. I think that's going to make our offense really dynamic.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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