David Cutcliffe named ACC Coach of the Year

Leading the Blue Devils to a 10-win season, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
Leading the Blue Devils to a 10-win season, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe earned ACC Coach of the Year honors for the second season in a row, the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association announced Tuesday afternoon.

Cutcliffe received 62 of the 65 first-place votes. Boston College's Steve Adazio received two first place votes and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher received one.

"For our program, for our staff, for our university, that's big," Cutcliffe said. "I humbly accept that, knowing that there were a lot of right choices and that I'm about that much of it. I've said it time and time again, it's the perfect storm to be surrounded by so many fine people."

Cutcliffe is the first Duke coach to win the award in back-to-back seasons since Steve Spurrier received the honor in 1988 and 1989.

Leading the Blue Devils to their first 10-win season in program history, Cutcliffe's Duke squad will represent the ACC Coastal Division in this week's conference championship game.

The Blue Devils will make a trip to a bowl game in consecutive years for the first time in 101 seasons of Duke football. Cutcliffe's 10 wins this season match the Blue Devils' total from the years 2000-07.

"His passion, his confidence, just his will to not be denied—that kind of trickles down into our players and program," redshirt junior quarterback Anthony Boone said. "His passion started when we first got here. It was him telling us that he was going to change the program."

Cutcliffe was also named a finalist for the Maxwell National Coach of the Year award alongside Auburn's Guz Malzahn and Missouri's Gary Pinkel.

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