Team bonding, strength and conditioning are the themes for Duke

CHARLOTTE – On what was supposed to be a “horrible” lifting day this summer, Duke’s strength and conditioning staff threw a curveball.

And whatever other pitches were thrown in that game of wiffle ball.

“It was supposed to be a horrible lifting day,” said offensive lineman Jacob Monk on Thursday at ACC Kickoff. “We just got done running, we went in and did a set of squats, Coach (David Feeley) was like, ‘Get your cleats on.’”

Players thought they were going to have to run sprints again. They played wiffle ball instead.

“It just lets us know that our hard work is being recognized,” defensive lineman DeWayne Carter said. “And that it’s actually a true partnership in this building. It’s like, we work hard for them, they do something for us.”

In Mike Elko’s first summer as Duke’s coach, it’s been imperative for the Blue Devils to get stronger but also grow together. That’s been the genesis for things you’ve seen on social media – strength coaches dressing up like WWE characters, boating trips, bells ringing when a player attempts a personal record in the weight room.

It’s important to Elko that the entirety of being a college football player remains enjoyable. The summer months can be grueling, so providing rewards like a game of wiffle ball or a bowling trip was an easy decision.

“Obviously when you’ve gone through some rough patches, you want to make sure that the kids feel invested,” Elko said. “One of the intentional pieces of trying to ratchet up what we were doing in the weight room was to unite them through the hard work.”

That’s the fun and light side of things, but there’s also the part that Duke hopes translates into on-field success.

In the simplest of terms, Duke had to get stronger. It’d be impossible to compare how important spring practices were against the past two months because they’ve both been foundational starts for Elko’s program, but Elko made it clear how important hiring Feeley as strength and conditioning coach was for his program.

“We spent a lot of time trying to go out and get that hire right,” Elko said. “As much confidence as I had when I hired (Feeley), we knocked it out of the park. He’s absolutely phenomenal.”

Elko reflected that when he was hired, he was laughed at for suggesting the most-important hire is the strength and conditioning coach. When everybody wanted to ask who his coordinators were going to be, Elko was researching Feeley.

The first-year head coach explained it as this: Football coaches can put their heads together and fix schematics, but “if the weight room isn’t right, there’s not a lot as coaches that we can do.”

“I can’t go down there and become a strength coach tomorrow,” Elko said.

Feeley came to Duke after spending the last three seasons as the director of Miami’s strength and conditioning program. He’s well-traveled, having been at Temple, South Carolina, Ball State, FIU and UNLV.

And Feeley has been well-received by players.

“I love Coach Feeley, man,” Monk said. “He’s a great man and a great coach, but an even better man. He’ll push you to your limits, and then tell you right after he loves you. He’s a great person and he’s definitely helping out this program a lot.”