Duke searching for new head football coach

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Posted 10:37AM on Monday, October 20, 2003

DURHAM, N.C. - For the first time in five years, Duke fullback Alex Wade showed up for practice Sunday and did not see head coach Carl Franks. ``It was odd for me,'' Wade said Sunday after athletic director Joe Alleva announced he had fired Franks. Replacing Franks with defensive coordinator Ted Roof was difficult, but should put the team on the right course, Alleva said. ``He's a good man,'' Alleva said. ``He's worked really hard. It just hasn't worked.'' Franks, a former Duke tight end, was 7-45 in 4.5 seasons and 2-5 this year. He returned to his alma mater in 1999 after nine seasons at Florida as an assistant to Steve Spurrier, a former Duke coach who now coaches the Washington Redskins. He had signed a contract extension through 2006 after going 2-10 last year. Alleva said he believed the team had improved enough to earn Franks another year. ``This year I haven't had that feeling even in the games we won,'' he said. Duke returned a league-high 20 starters from last year's team, but were averaging an Atlantic Coast Conference-worst 15 points a game. They started the season 2-1, but have lost four straight games. Alleva indirectly pointed to the problem when asked what Roof could to right the ship in Durham this season. ``I think Ted's very passionate and very enthusiastic, some of the things that I think our team hasn't shown this year,'' he said. ``I'm looking for a coach that can recruit, that can motivate the team and that can lead this organization be a leader. I think it's a great coaching job. We have nowhere to go but up.'' Alleva said he will assemble an advisory group to help in his national search for a new coach. He declined to set a timetable. ``I'm going to hire the best coach I can and take as much time as necessary to do that,'' he said. Roof will be considered if the Blue Devils do well over the rest of the season, Alleva said. Roof said he's focusing on nothing more than the immediate future. ``We are just trying to get ready to beat N.C. State,'' he said. Franks' firing came a day after the Blue Devils fell behind Wake Forest 42-0 at halftime on the way to their 29th-straight Atlantic Coast Conference loss ``Halftime of the game yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back for me,'' Alleva said. Franks is the third Division I-A head coach to be fired so far this season, joining John Mackovic at Arizona and Todd Berry at Army. Mississippi State's Jackie Sherrill announced last week that he would retire at the end of the season. Franks did not return calls to his home seeking comment. He issued a statement through the school which read: ``I am disappointed that we didn't have more success. I certainly wish I could have finished out the season, but Joe Alleva decided that a change needed to be made.'' Early this season, Alleva said Franks would have to win at least one ACC game and the team would have to show significant progress to keep his job. The Blue Devils have four ACC games remaining and a non-conference meeting at No. 22 Tennessee on Nov. 1. Following a 3-8 record in Franks' first season at Duke, the team had back-to-back 0-11 campaigns in 2000 and 2001. The Blue Devils snapped a 23-game losing streak with a 23-16 victory over East Carolina to open the 2002 season. Duke opened this season by beating Rice and Division I-AA Western Carolina. They've since dropped games to Northwestern, Florida State, Maryland and the Demon Deacons.