Please, give Roof a raise

Duke University's athletic department should keep Ted Roof as its permanent head coach. The case for Roof's hiring is overwhelming.

There has been a lot of talk since the firing of Carl Franks on Oct. 19, 2003, that Duke needs to bring in a "big-name" head coach to turn around the horrible program that seemed to be only getting worse. Blue Devil supporters would accept a big time school's coordinator (USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow heads that list) or a former NFL or major college football school coach (former San Diego Chargers skipper Bobby Ross) to lead them from their permanent place in the ACC cellar.

Upon a close look, Roof already has this "big-time" qualification. Before Roof arrived in Durham two years ago, the Georgia native coordinated Georgia Tech's defense to the nation's 12th best rush defense and the 20th best scoring defense. Roof was nominated for the Broyles Award that season, the accolade that goes to the nation's top assistant coach.

After another successful 2001 season, Roof was headed to be the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. Then Notre Dame's incoming coach, George O'Leary, was forced to resign only days after his hiring for inaccuracies on his resume. And with that, Roof no longer had a job at the most storied football school in America.

And unlike other prominent coordinators, the Duke athletic department has seen that Roof has the skills necessary to be a head coach, as his 2-3 record over the last five games of the season demonstrated. Although many coordinators have seamlessly become head coaches, the transition is not always natural. Head coaches must immediately deal with the media on a daily basis, and must take public criticism in ways even the most high-profile coordinators never have to experience.

Roof demonstrated great public relations skills at nearly all of his press conferences, as well as when he addressed the Cameron Crazies at halftime of the men's basketball team's first home game.

The most glaring example of how a renowned coordinator can fail as a head coach is Richie Pettibone. Pettibone was considered a quasi-genius as defensive coordinator for Joe Gibbs during the Redskins hey days of the late 80s and early 90s, but Pettibone lasted only one season with a 4-12 record once promoted to head coach. Roof has clearly already passed the transitional test.

Roof may be more qualified than other coordinators, but why should Duke hire Roof over Bobby Ross, a man who coached Georgia Tech to a National Championship and led the San Diego Chargers to a Super Bowl appearance?

Ross is 67 years old, not the ideal age to turn around a historically decrepit football program. While the Florida Marlins instantly turned their team around with the hiring of 72-year old Jack McKeon, the situation at Duke is far different than it was for the professional team in Miami. It will take Ross at least five years before every player on the field will have been recruited by the veteran coach.

Roof, on the other hand, is only 39 years old. He has shown enormous potential as a head coach in just five games, and could turn Duke into a successful football program for decades to come. Some feel that the Blue Devils should hire Ross and keep Roof as defensive coordinator with the guarantee that Roof will succeed Ross. But that would be guaranteeing Ross would resign as a successful Duke coach rather than being fired after continuing the Duke losing tradition. In effect, that deal would be guaranteeing Duke football wins, which, no matter who is coaching, is never a safe bet.

It also would be naive to believe Roof would not receive offers from other schools, as it is fairly obvious that Roof would leave a Duke defensive coordinator position for a head coaching job at a reasonably prominent football program.

"I'd take a bullet for coach Roof," junior defensive back Kenneth Stanford said with a straight face last season.

If Duke does not hire Roof as its permanent head football coach, the University will only be shooting itself in the foot.