Interim head coach Ted Roof has been recommended as Duke's next head football coach by athletic director Joe Alleva and the football search committee, according to sources close to the situation who spoke to The Chronicle on the condition of anonymity.
Only formalities in the process remain, as Duke's Board of Trustees still needs to approve the selection at a meeting Friday. The Board is likely to follow Alleva's recommendation.
The other finalist for the position was former NFL and college head coach Bobby Ross, who had retired in the middle of the 2000 season while he was at the helm of the Detroit Lions.
Duke had also interviewed Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and Colgate head coach and Duke alum Dick Biddle.
Alleva did not respond to phone messages or e-mails left at his office by The Chronicle.
The selection of Roof will appease many of Duke's players, who have been very clear in their desire for Roof to be retained by the Blue Devils. Roof, formerly the defensive coordinator, took over for Carl Franks Oct. 19 and immediately produced results, as Duke was competitive against Bowl-bound N.C. State and Tennessee before blasting Roof's alma mater, Georgia Tech, in the Blue Devils' first conference win since 1999.
Duke then headed to Clemson, where it was handed a 41-7 loss. But Roof and the Blue Devils regrouped with a 30-22 victory over arch rival North Carolina, a team that Duke had not defeated since 1989, when current-Washington Redskins head coach Steve Spurrier led the Blue Devils to a 41-0 shellacking of their Tobacco Road rivals.
Following the victory, senior linebacker Ryan Fowler expressed the sentiments of many of his teammates.
"We wanted to give Coach Roof a fair shot at the job next year," he said. "He's done so much for this team since he took over.... Give him some more time and he'll do more and more."
Now, the former All-ACC linebacker at Georgia Tech will have at least a few years to work with the Blue Devils, a team that has not been to a bowl game since 1994. But Roof began to prepare Duke for the future back in October, as he has already landed five football commitments, each of whom is rated a two-star player according to TheInsiders.com. In addition, each of those recruits had indicated in recent weeks that they wished Roof to remain as the head coach.
Roof came to Duke as the defensive coordinator in February 2002 from Georgia Tech, where he held the same position. The 39-year old had previously held positions at Alabama ('87-'88, graduate assistant), West Georgia ('89, linebackers coach), Duke ('90-'93, outside linebackers coach), Massachusetts ('94-'97), Western Carolina ('98, defensive coordinator) and Georgia Tech ('99-'01, defensive coordinator).
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