Duke's emergence under Mike Elko brings 'huge stage' with Notre Dame, ESPN GameDay in town

Duke began Friday with team meetings, then special teams meetings and positional meetings, and then a one-hour walkthrough before quickly running through the position-by-position script for Saturday night.

Later, the No. 16 Blue Devils went to a theater to catch a private screening of 300, the swords-and-sandals favorite of — you guessed it — the program’s strength and conditioning coach.

It all feels like business as usual for the unbeaten Blue Devils, until you get to Saturday night’s opponent: No. 13 Notre Dame. For the second time this month, joining the season-opening win against Clemson, Duke has the chance to make a national statement against one of the premier brands in the Bowl Subdivision.

There will be close to 300 recruits in attendance for the prime-time matchup (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), which Elko called “the most talented group of recruits that showed up to a Duke football game.”

It may be safe to say this is the brightest spotlight cast on Duke football since … ever?

“I think there are two hats that I wear,” Duke coach Mike Elko told USA TODAY Sports. “There’s the Duke football coach who gives you all the bland answers, which is, ‘It’s one game at a time.’ Then, as the CEO of Duke football, obviously, this opportunity brings exposure, a chance to put this many eyes on Duke football, this campus and what this stadium will look like.

“As we try to build something here, I tell people all the time: We’re like a startup business. Duke football, we’re trying to build our brand. This is an opportunity for us to showcase that on a huge stage. That’s something we’d love to take advantage of.”

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The Blue Devils are 13-4 since hiring Elko, formerly the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest, Texas A&M and with the Fighting Irish. The Aggies' defense in 2021 finished sixth nationally in yards allowed per play.

This impressive start since taking over heading into last season represents one of Duke’s best year-plus runs, and in terms of from-the-jump success is mirrored by only one figure in program history: Steve Spurrier, who went 20-13-1 from 1987-89 before being hired at Florida. Spurrier, who would famously give Duke one Top 25 vote in the preseason US LBM AFCA Coaches Poll even during the Blue Devils’ long run at the bottom of the ACC, was in attendance for the Clemson win.

Slowly but noticeably, the perception around Duke football has changed. The process of inching toward national respect began under Elko’s predecessor, David Cutcliffe, who may be the most successful coach in program history but never had a team finish in the Top 25. Overall, the Blue Devils have been nationally ranked in the final poll just once since 1960.

“There are still a lot of things we’ve got to accomplish,” said Elko, adding, “There’s a quiet confidence in this locker room about who we are. So from that perspective, we’ve tried to stay as much business as usual, as much as we possibly can. Because that’s the mindset we want this team to be.”

Duke’s winning ways have made Elko a prime target for the one current Power Five opening at Michigan State, which officially fired Mel Tucker earlier this week.

The appeal would seem obvious. He was a very successful assistant at multiple Power Five schools under Dave Clawson, Brian Kelly and Jimbo Fisher, some of the most respected names in coaching. His defense-first mindset would mesh with Michigan State’s established mindset, and with the established identity of the Big Ten. Elko has Duke in the Top 25 less than a month into his second year, which speaks for itself.

“I think it’s just blinders,” he said about tuning out the attention. “I think over the last five years, being at major programs like Notre Dame and Texas A&M, I think has equipped me and prepared me for this. I tell people this all the time: If you’re coaching college football, you’re either leaving or you’re being fired after every week.”

The position at Duke does come with a higher level of job security than most, especially when you’re churning out back-to-back bowl bids. There’s also room to build on that foundation with continued investment in the program, Elko said.

If so, “we can become one of the top teams in the ACC, a team that can consistently be on these types of stages, can consistently be a Top 25 team competing for championships.”

But to take that next step demands that Duke take advantage of these opportunities.

“That was the Clemson game. That was an opportunity to be on a national stage on Labor Day Monday night,” Elko said. “But if we go out and lose 41-7, it becomes ‘the same old Duke,’ just like that. So there’s definitely a little bit of internal pressure to deliver on these stages.”