The Man With a Plan -Peter Vaas

When the Duke football team steps out onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium, at least one person won't be awestruck.

His name is Peter Vaas, and he first coached at Notre Dame, starting in 1990 under Lou Holtz returning in 2006 under Charlie Weis. Vaas coached just about everywhere in between-from small-time college to Canada to Europe-and he's proven one thing along the way.

He knows how to turn an offense around.

This spring, Vaas left his post as quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame to replace Bill O'Brien-who moved on to the NFL's New England Patriots-as Duke's offensive coordinator. In that position, Vaas is trying to turn around the 112th-ranked scoring offense in the 119-team Division I-A.

And he just might be able to do it. Over the last two seasons, Duke has thrown for 17 touchdowns. Under Vaas, Notre Dame threw 69. Granted, he did that with quite a bit more talent-the name Brady Quinn comes to mind-but he's not exactly arriving to an empty cupboard in Wallace Wade.

Vaas inherits a squad that is at the same time young and experienced. Sophomore quarterback Thaddeus Lewis-or perhaps sophomore Zack Asack, when he returns this summer from a one-year suspension-will lead a group whose only loss from last year is the move of Marcus Jones from wide receiver to linebacker.

"Differences this year will have to do with the fact that we have a sophomore quarterback, not with Peter Vaas versus Billy O'Brien," Vaas says. "Last year, Thad was trying to learn how to ride a tricycle. Now, he can ride a two-wheeler with no hands."

And just how big will those differences be? "It's like if you have four or five different types of ice cream in the freezer," he explains. "Now, if you like vanilla, and I like chocolate, you could say they're completely different. On the other hand, they're still both ice cream."