Homecoming
Once a player, Franks takes over as coach at alma mater
Posted: Thursday December 03, 1998 05:04 PM
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Carl Franks, a former Duke player, has been an assistant coach under Steve Spurrier AP |
DURHAM, North Carolina (AP) -- Florida assistant Carl Franks returned to Duke on Thursday as football coach nine years after helping lead the Blue Devils to its last ACC title.
Franks is a former Duke player who was Steve Spurrier's assistant at Duke during the late 1980s before following him to Florida and becoming assistant offensive coordinator in 1995.
He succeeds Fred Goldsmith, who was fired Monday after posting a 17-39 record. This season, the Blue Devils were 4-7.
"Duke is a place that gives a lot of opportunities for young people to grow and to achieve in the classroom and on the athletic fields," Franks said. "And the two certainly can exist. We can achieve and be successful in football."
Franks said Duke has a lot of talent, and there's no reason the Blue Devils cannot succeed.
"We have a challenge to put excitement back on the football field, to give people a product that they'll enjoy," Franks said. "We're going to try to run a wide-open offense that will give our players a chance to be successful. We're going to try to run a defense that has a chance to make some big plays.
"We also have a challenge for those guys to have fun playing football."
He credited Goldsmith with assembling the players he thinks can turn the program around.
Franks was a running back and tight end and an academic All-ACC performer at Duke in 1982.
He graduated from Duke in 1983 and stayed on as an assistant coach. During the Blue Devils' title year in 1989, he was running backs coach.
"I wanted to get a person that has a passion for Duke University and would accentuate the positives," athletic director Joe Alleva said. "I also wanted someone that has a good knowledge of offensive football, someone that could move the ball and score some points."
At Florida, Franks saw six of his players go on to play in the NFL, and was credited with bringing in the nation's top-rated recruiting class in 1992 while he was recruiting coordinator.
"He's been a big part of our success," Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said. "He's very talented, a very good recruiter, and very well-liked."
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