The administrative tasks are winding down, the office is organized and recruiting for next year has ended.
Carl Franks can finally begin what he came to Duke to do in the first place-coach a football team.
Franks and the Blue Devils open spring practice this afternoon and no one is as eager as Duke's 19th head coach to get started.
"I'm very anxious to get going," Franks said. "All the other parts are the things you have to handle getting settled. Now you get to do the real part of football that certainly all football coaches should enjoy the most."
Duke certainly has a lot of work ahead over the next month. Franks admits he still doesn't know a lot about his players and looks forward to seeing them play in person, though the players themselves may have an even greater education ahead of them.
Starting today, Franks will begin the installation of the Blue Devils' new offense. He doesn't intend to wait until August to unveil most of the wrinkles.
"Hopefully this'll be an offense they can hang their hats on for some time," Franks said. "The continuity should help them and make the offense more effective. We need to get the offense in as fast as we can and they need to learn as fast as they can. It will be a learning experience for the whole team."
A new offensive philosophy underscores one difference from Franks' coaching style and the way in which practices were run in the past. The new head coach intends to be more hands-on and instructive, mainly with the offense, instead of watching over everything at once. Fundamentals will be a focus during the spring.
And despite the fact he is the offensive coordinator and has the task of bringing in a new offense, Franks does not intend to neglect the defense.
"I don't want those guys to feel like the head coach is just a guy that worries about offense all the time," he said. "I like to be involved. I'm not a guy that jumps up and screams all the time. When I yell, it's usually because somebody is loafing, mentally or physically."
Loafing or any other letdown could cost the players. Although Franks admitted there initially has to be "a starting point where starters take the field," he said every position is up for grabs.
On a team that returns almost every starter from last season on both sides of the football, it might seem like a new coach is just coming in and stirring things up.
But Franks feels this spring will be just like any other in that regard.
"You have to compete every spring, every fall and every week," he said. "Our job as coaches is to get the best players on the field, and you're not just going to get that job from year to year; you're going to have to earn it. There's going to be a lot of competition out there this spring.
"If you're good enough, you're going to play. It doesn't matter to me if you're a first-year freshman or a fifth-year senior. Whoever is working the hardest, knows their assignments, is in the best condition-those are the guys that are going to get a chance to play."
Those best players, in Franks' mind, give Duke a realistic shot at a good season in the fall. The Blue Devils split their first eight games in '98 before losing three straight.
Some take the side that having so many returning starters doesn't guarantee any improvement. Franks feels otherwise.
"We've got very good players on our football team," he said. "We've got an excellent chance to have a good season next year. Who are the guys going to be? That's why we're going to go to spring practice."
Notes: Duke is tentatively scheduled to practice today and Thursday before taking off for spring break.... The spring game is scheduled for April 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Wallace Wade Stadium.... In talking about the enthusiasm generated since his hiring, Franks pointed to increased interest among former players. "Hopefully me being here as a former student and a former player gives [other former players] more of a feeling of ownership of the team," he said. "I think they'll like to come around to my office, to the practices, to the games and just feel more involved. I've heard that from those people."
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