Franks just wants season to start

 In a business-as-usual tone at his weekly press conference, head football coach Carl Franks expressed his desire to end the unknowns of the preseason by starting what looks to be Duke's most successful year since its 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl season.

 "I don't know what the strengths and weaknesses [of Virginia] are going to be," he said. "Especially because its the first game. I have no clue. We play against ourselves, and I don't get to watch them play. I don't even know the strengths and weaknesses of our team. You don't really have a good handle on where you are until you play. I really have no clue what their strengths and weaknesses are right now." Despite being naturally unsure about the still virgin season, Franks was optimistic about his team's progression.

 The team's captains--Alex Wade, Drew Strojny, Ryan Fowler, Terrell Smith and Matt Zielinski--have especially asserted themselves, while other starters have also provided good direction for the teams younger players.

 "You start with our captains," Franks said about leadership. "The other guys that are leaders are Rusty Wilson, Adam Smith... Chris Douglas. On defense, Kenny Stanford.... Those would be the first few I would name. We've got a lot of good leadership out of our fourth and fifth-year seniors. A lot more so than we've had in the past.

 "Leadership is a funny thing. As a coach you have to develop that in your players. I talk to them about leadership qualities, and we're trying to do that now with our younger guys."

 With the new leadership, Franks said the team responded positively to drills addressing last season's weaknesses.

 In 2002, Duke lost five games by five points or less largely because of its inability to score touchdowns in the red zone. Franks said that after repeating red zone drills continuously, his team is beginning to respond.

 "We discovered that there were certain areas not executing the assignment that was needed," Franks said. "It's going to require that everybody understand that things happen much quicker when you shrink the field. Mistakes get magnified, and you're just not allowed to make mistakes down there. Everybody now understands how critical it is for everybody to execute their jobs down there. "

 Franks also admitted that in certain circumstances in tight games, his decisions were the problem, not the players' execution.

 "The first thing we do is 'did we have a good play called?'" Franks said. "We didn't have good plays called every time."

 Franks will have less pressure calling the shots this season, as the Blue Devils named last season's quarterback's coach, Jim Pry, as its offensive coordinator. Franks said that Pry's role has mostly gone unchanged in the preseason, but his new title will evolve as the season progresses.

 Senior safety Terrell Smith also spoke at the press conference, saying he was confident that the secondary, which was statistically the worst in the ACC last season, has improved.

 "[The players in the secondary] worked hard this summer and in the spring and in the preseason," he said. "Our goal during the season is for people to be like, 'They aren't the weak link, they're the strong link.'"

 Despite the confidence in improvement, Franks expressed his quibbles with opening the season against the No. 18 team in the nation. "I wish we didn't have to play them at all," Franks joked when asked if he'd rather play the Cavaliers to open the season or further along in the fall.