'The guys in this locker room': Duke's returners motivated to finish what they started

After the clock hit zero on Duke’s regular-season finale against Pittsburgh Nov. 25, time began to move at a blurring pace.

A few days after then-head coach Mike Elko’s postgame press conference where he reinforced the Blue Devils’ strong future, he boarded a midnight jet to College Station, Texas, to become the new head coach at Texas A&M.

While the team still had to prepare for a Birmingham Bowl matchup against Troy, dominoes started falling every which way. Multiple members of the coaching staff pledged to join Elko and the Aggies, while several players announced their intention to enter the transfer portal, such as star quarterback Riley Leonard and safety Brandon Johnson.

But rather than dissent spreading among fans and players alike, a movement sprouted on the internet proving just how connected the team had become despite a rollercoaster season. The hashtag #KeepDukiesatDuke2024 began to circulate on X — even spread by players including linebacker Tre Freeman and cornerback Chandler Rivers — with a goal to get some of their teammates back for another season.

For some of the major targets of this initiative such as running back Jordan Waters and defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles, these efforts fell short. However, not every player who entered the portal ended up landing at a new home. For three major contributors, every road led right back to Durham, giving new head coach Manny Diaz three cornerstones to work with in addition to the strong returning cast.

On Nov. 30, just five days after the regular-season finale, starting safety Jaylen Stinson announced his intention to enter the transfer portal. His decision came right on the heels of Peebles’ and Leonard’s, signaling that a possible roster overhaul may be on the horizon for the Blue Devils. The Opelika, Ala., native racked up 88 tackles over the course of the season, and also had a fumble recovery in the season opener against Clemson that Duke fans will likely remember for years to come. After 31 career starts, Stinson went to look for greener pastures.

“Just with a culture change, it’s a lot of doubt in the air. So I did test the waters just to see what was out there, where my head was,” Stinson said.

Roughly a week later, another major blow came, this time hitting the running back room. In the span of one day, Duke lost both of its leading rushers from the 2023-24 season, as Jaquez Moore and Waters announced their intention to go portaling. Waters was more understandable, as the veteran had spent ample time at Duke and likely wanted a change of scenery for his final year of eligibility, which he eventually would find just down the road at NC State. Aim Moore’s decision came as a gut punch to fans who were hoping that the Blue Devils would be able to weather the storm of the offseason with just a few losses, as the junior seemed to be passing up a clear role as Duke’s RB1.

“Just a lot of uncertainty with what was going to be next. I feel like having three head coaches at the same school in four years was kind of crazy at the time,” Moore said.

The final major defensive piece to enter the portal was edge Ryan Smith, whose announcement came the night before Duke’s bowl-game matchup with Troy. The senior became the third defensive lineman to get into the portal during the offseason, joining RJ Oben and Peebles, leaving the position group practically decimated after the graduation of stalwart tackles DeWayne Carter and Ja’Mion Franklin.

While players began to make their exits, Duke also began to make additions. Diaz’s hiring came first; he was brought in after leading a top defense at Penn State during two years with the Nittany Lions. After his hiring Dec. 8, time was of the essence for the new leader of the Blue Devils if he wanted to keep any semblance of the same roster from the previous campaign.

While some staffs prefer to bring in their own guys and try to establish a new culture, Diaz did just the opposite, looking to capitalize on what Elko had begun to build in his two years with the program. This message was evident during the first few days of his coaching tenure, as countless stories emerged from Diaz meeting with players and recruits around the clock to try and stop the proverbial bleeding that the transfer portal was causing.

When asked about the top priority once he stepped on campus, Diaz said “First is our locker room, and the guys that have already done it for Duke, that already have believed in Duke. Whatever turbulence that we’ve gone through in the beginning of this month, we can right that, we can stabilize that and understand that if we keep this team together, we’ve got a platform to build on.”

These efforts began to pay off for Diaz and company immediately. Just three days after he was hired, Diaz was able to reel back in his starting running back, as Moore withdrew his name from the portal and cemented himself as the bell cow for this year’s offense.

“Then I really sat and I thought about it, and just the relationships I built here with the guys on this team, and the way we accepted the young guys that came in with all the uncertainty not knowing what was going on, I felt it was right in my heart to stay and seek to finish what I started with the guys I came in with,” Moore said.

While every player’s situation is different, it was clear that this connected nature of the team had some effect on the individuals in the portal.

“(Stinson, Smith and I) kind of talked about it any chance we would meet up with each other. Like, let’s come back, let’s come back, kind of throw it in the air. All the guys already in the portal that came back had a heart to heart, and really, the ultimate decision was: let’s come back and try to finish it out the right way,” Moore said.

Roughly a month later, Smith announced his return, giving the defensive line another versatile weapon. The graduate student was named Duke’s special teams player of the year in 2022, giving new special teams coordinator Gabe Infante an ace. Two weeks later, Stinson followed suit, revitalizing the Blue Devil defense without even having to look outside the program.

“My decision to return, it’s all about the guys in this locker room. It’s hard not to play with these guys for my last year. So that’s ultimately what drives me back, the people, that’s what makes Duke so special,” Smith said.

“Ultimately, just the brotherhood we have here, the coaches we have here. I wanted to run it back, do it one more time,” Stinson said.

With a new coaching staff and the amount of roster turnover that has become synonymous with modern college football, it can be easy for teams to have completely different identities year after year. However, the strength of the locker room in Durham seems to have skirted this phenomenon for the time being, proving just how connected the group became during the events of last offseason.

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