NCCU head coach measures up to Triangle peers

CARY, North Carolina -- Five college football coaches sat on stage during the 15th Annual Bill Dooley Pigskin Preview.

Among the coaches was legendary quarterback whisperer David Cutcliffe, the head coach at Duke. Sitting to Cutcliffe’s left was his protege, second-year East Carolina head coach Scottie Montgomery. At the end of the table sat coaches from rival schools: North Carolina’s Larry Fedora and N.C. State’s Dave Doeren. Between Fedora and Doeren sat N.C. Central’s Jerry Mack.

If the casual football fan looked at the stage and was asked to pick the most successful of the five, who would it be? Cutcliffe’s had his fair share of success, first as the head coach at Ole Miss and for the last 10 years at Duke, giving life to a Blue Devils program that was constantly at the bottom of the ACC. He tied for a division title as the Rebels head coach, and won the ACC Coastal Division in 2013.

Fedora took over a North Carolina program at a dark time, right when the team was under heavy fire from the NCAA. Despite that, Fedora led the Tar Heels back to the top of the conference, winning the Coastal in 2015. Doeren won two MAC conference titles at Northern Illinois, but has not had that kind of success since taking over in Raleigh.

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