When special teams coach Denny Creehan was forced to have prostate cancer surgery this season, head football coach Carl Franks announced that special teams duties would be split among his assistant coaches.
Although none of the coaches had significant experience coaching special teams, new offensive line coach Rich McGeorge had experience coaching one very special team.
Last season, McGeorge was the offensive coordinator and head assistant coach for the XFL's Memphis Maniax.
"My wife said to me, 'I always knew I was married to a maniac, but now I'm sure of it,'" McGeorge said.
Although the league is looked at as something of a joke now, McGeorge took the job seriously, not letting the entertainment value of the new league interfere with football strategy.
"They tried to make it entertainment, but it was real football," he said. "We didn't change our coaching style at all. My only disappointment was that we only played one year."
The Maniax met with mixed success, compiling a 5-5 record including two victories against the Los Angeles Xtreme, the champions of the XFL's lone season.
Being the head assistant coach, McGeorge led tryouts and commanded the draft, as head coach Kippy Brown was busy with his job as an assistant coach for the Green Bay Packers.
Despite the fun he had in an alternative professional football league, McGeorge is cherishing his time at Duke, his third run with the University in a span covering over 20 years.
"Duke is definitely a step up from the XFL," he said. "This is a special place, a very special place."
Franks adamantly agreed with McGeorge on this subject.
"Well when you go from a league that doesn't exist anymore to one that does, I'd say that's a step up," he said.
After becoming a two-time All-American at Elon College and spending nine years with the NFL's Green Bay Packers, McGeorge had his first two years of coaching experience at Duke from 1981-82. During that tenure he served as tight ends coach and had the privilege of coaching Franks while he was a player at Duke.
Both men now say that there has not been any difficulty with the reversal of superiority.
"Rich and I have had a long relationship dating back to 1981," Franks said.
The XFL was not McGeorge's first experience in coaching football at the professional level. He served on the staff of the USFL's Birmingham Stallions from 1983-84 before becoming offensive coordinator for Steve Spurrier's Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL.
McGeorge coached at Duke again from 1987-89 before a brief stint at the University of Florida from 1990-92; both jobs as each team's offensive line coach came while Spurrier was at the helm. After leaving the Gators, McGeorge undertook a longer job with the Miami Dolphins as the tight ends and offensive line coach from 1993-99. Before joining the Maniax, McGeorge spent part of 2000 in coaching stints with the Packers and the Arena Football League's Tampa Bay Storm.
The Roanoke, Va., native has used his varied experience to fuel the offensive line to notable improvement this season. The line has pushed Alex Wade to two games in which he ran for over 100 yards, and has given the inexperienced quarterbacks Adam Smith and Chris Dapolito time to throw.
"The offensive line is doing a phenomenal job," Wade said. "With my size, I need bigger holes than Chris [Douglas] does."
As long as the line continues at this pace, McGeorge won't be returning to maniac form for a while.
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