Just five games into its season, the football team has already learned one of the most important lessons in college football -- success on the field leads to success in the recruiting wars.
With its 5-0 start, the Duke program has obtained a national ranking, an article in Sports Illustrated and more importantly, the respect of various high school seniors across the nation. Players who formerly rejected the Blue Devils are now considering Duke a good match.
"You know, recruiting is a lot like dating," Goldsmith said. "Now you've got your A' list, and you call them, and all of them say it's too early. They say,Well, I don't know, we'll see.' Now you can call somebody on that `B' list, and they'll say yes right away.
"It's kind of like recruiting. You try to get these visits from these great players. You call them and they say `Well, I hadn't really scheduled it. I don't want to do it right now."'
Goldsmith pointed out that once the Blue Devils began to win on the field, those `A' list players became more enthusiastic about visiting Durham.
"You win a few games like the win at Tech," Goldsmith said, "and all of a sudden you call last week, and three or four [players] say, `Oh yeah, you know that date you gave me two weeks ago? I'd love to come then."'
Duke has already received three early commitments from high school seniors.
The three Blue Devils, who cannot sign a binding letter-of-intent until after the season, are linebacker Chris Norkus from Raleigh Sanderson High School, kicker Sims Lenhardt from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., and linebacker Marc Ludvigsen from South Iredell High School in Statesville.
"The three commitments that we do have are guys that were being recruited by everyone else, and they are good football players," Goldsmith said
Norkus, the first recruit to commit for the 1995-96 season, had been contacted by the Blue Devils since his sophomore year, but never considered Duke seriously. When Goldsmith replaced former head coach Barry Wilson last December, Norkus began to pay attention.
"I wouldn't have even considered going to Duke without the coaching change," Norkus said. "I just didn't see the fire that I see now with Coach Goldsmith."
And once Norkus met the Duke head coach in person, he knew he wanted to be a Blue Devil.
"I went into a meeting with him, and a couple of weeks later decided to sign," Norkus said. "After meeting Coach Goldsmith, that really made me decide to go to Duke."
Like many other high school seniors, Norkus was disenchanted by the Blue Devils four straight losing seasons. Yet now that the Blue Devils have risen to the top of the conference, Norkus is even more excited about playing for the program.
"I'm really excited about playing for a team that has its foot in the door to becoming a top program in the ACC," Norkus said. "I'm looking forward to building up a program like I had to do in high school."
Norkus believes high school seniors who have not yet committed will now look at Duke in a more favorable fashion.
"I'm sure that guys who haven't made the decision -- seeing the turnaround and the new coaching staff -- that's the biggest difference in their minds." Norkus said. "A lot of guys want to play for a big name and for a big-time program. [The start and media coverage] will help out tremendously."
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