Video of Duke football coach Manny Diaz’s opening press conference
Manny Diaz was introduced as Duke football coach on December 9, 2023 at Pascal Field House.
Manny Diaz was in his Duke football office as Saturday night turned into Sunday morning.
Less than two weeks before the Blue Devils’ season-opening game on Aug. 30 against Elon at Wallace Wade Stadium, Diaz was watching footage after Duke completed its first training camp under its new coach in Durham.
Now it’s time for Diaz and his team to fill out Duke’s roster. Quarterback is the center of discussion as Texas native Maalik Murphy and sophomore Grayson Loftis battle for the starting position.
A question about Diaz’s assessment of the quarterback competition kicked off a 13-minute Zoom press conference with media representatives on Sunday afternoon.
“We had our second practice game (Saturday) and pretty much wrapped up training camp. I think Maalik and Grayson are both continuing to play at a high level and are getting better and better,” Diaz said.
“I think the other really encouraging thing is that Henry Belin is starting to throw the ball really well again. … I didn’t leave the building until 1 o’clock (Sunday morning) and graded it after (practice).”
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Diaz is not ready to name a starting quarterback yet, but said the staff will begin assembling a roster early this week in preparation for Phoenix.
“I think at some positions we would be ready to potentially start the week with a starter,” Diaz said.
“I think at other positions, we know who’s above the line and we’re really just fighting for the snaps. At quarterback in particular, if we felt like we had the right guy, we’d probably go with him.”
Murphy, who played sporadically for the Longhorns over two seasons, started against BYU and Kansas State in 2023. In those games, Murphy completed 57.7% of his passes for 418 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
In six games as a rookie for the Blue Devils, Loftis was Duke’s starting quarterback while Riley Leonard was sidelined with an ankle injury. During a four-game streak in November, Loftis averaged 198 yards per game with eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
Editor Rodd Baxley can be reached at [email protected] or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
