Now that a few days have passed, and for something to get my mind off the horrible basketball game, I'm ready to do a deeper dive into Cut's tenure, which I think can be divided into four distinct eras.
The Rebuild (2008-2011)
15-33 overall, 6-26 in ACC play, no bowl appearances
The Peak (2012-2015)
33-20 overall, 18-14 in ACC play, Coastal title, 4 bowl appearances
The Decline (2016-2019)
24-26 overall, 10-22 in ACC play, 2 bowl appearances
The Collapse (2020-2021)
5-18 overall, 1-17 in ACC play, no bowl appearances
Cutcliffe in ACC Play
-6-8 vs UVA - this is a series Duke dominated from 2008-14, going 6-1 (Mike London was simply terrible), but then lost 7 straight. Mendenhall absolutely owned Cut, and had his offense completely figured out from game one.
-5-9 vs UNC - Cutcliffe dominated Fedora, winning 5/7 games in the rivalry between 2012-18, but lost all 7 games against non-Fedora coached UNC teams.
-5-9 vs GT - Paul Johnson won six straight against Duke from 2008-13, but the tide then turned, with Cut going 5-1 in the next six meetings, before losing the final two to Collins in ugly fashion.
-5-8 vs Wake - The Deacons won the first four meetings, before Cut took over the series, winning 5/6 from 2012-17. Wake dominated from there, capturing the last three.
-3-11 vs VT - Won in Blacksburg in 2013, 15 and 19. Weirdly never beat the Hokies at home, wasting many golden opportunities.
-3-11 vs Miami - Cut knocked off the Canes in 2013, 18 and 19 (I consider us to have won in 15 too, fuck the ACC forever for that). 2014 was a missed opportunity for a win.
-1-7 vs Pitt - They were the one Coastal team that Cut was snake bitten against from start to finish. So many close, infuriating losses, only edging them in OT in 2014.
-2-1 vs Syracuse, 2-1 vs NC State, 2-2 vs BC, 1-1 vs Maryland, 0-5 vs FSU, 0-3 vs Clemson, 0-2 vs Louisville. Faced FSU in the 2013 ACCCG of course. 2017 and 2020 were terrific chances to beat them for the first time, but sadly Cut could not capitalize. Incredible that we only faced State 3 times in 14 years. We had a chance against Lamar Jackson's Louisville on the road in 16, one of Cut's last A+ coaching efforts.
Non-conference vs the P5: 3-3 vs Northwestern (this has always been an uber competitive series), 2-1 vs Kansas, 2-0 vs Baylor, 1-2 vs Notre Dame (2016 win was amazing), 1-0 vs Vandy (would've been a fun series to continue), 0-2 vs Stanford (wish these matchups had come later), 0-2 vs Alabama (why did we play them in 2019?). Beat Indiana in 2015 Pinstripe, lost to Cincinnati in 12 Belk, A&M in 13 Chick-fil-A and Arizona State in 14 Sun Bowl.
Non-conference vs the G5/FCS: Two embarrassing losses to FCS Richmond in 2009 and 11 were probably the worst of Cut's tenure. He won every game against lower-level teams, including the 17 Quick Lane and 18 Independence Bowls vs Northern Illinois and Temple, respectively, from 2012-2020, before bottoming out with a loss to Charlotte in 2021.
Overall Record: 77-97, 35-79 in the ACC
It'll probably take me a few more months to move past how horribly things ended, but I'll always be thankful for all the good memories Cut gave us. I wish he'd recognized the problems that were glaringly obvious to everybody else by 2019, but I can't complain much about his tenure pre-jump pass.
Hopefully this post was worth reading, lol.