Duke attempting to poach strength coach from ACC foe

Duke appears locked in on its next strength and conditioning coach.

The Blue Devils are targeting Miami director of strength and conditioning David Feeley for the role, sources told On3’s Matt Zenitz on Saturday. He has been with the Hurricanes for the last three seasons.

Duke is targeting Miami’s David Feeley as head strength and conditioning coach, sources tell @on3sports.

Was Miami’s director of strength and conditioning the last three seasons.https://t.co/k5bN5NhJoE

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 18, 2021

Feeley got his coaching start as an intern at Rutgers and South Florida before becoming a strength and conditioning graduate assistant at UNLV from 2006-07. He then went to Florida International from 2008-10 as strength and conditioning coach, and took over the same role at Ball State from 2011-15.

After a year at South Carolina, Feeley went to Temple for two years before landing at Miami. He’s been around and is no stranger to working with big programs.

Duke recently hired Mike Elko as its next head coach, replacing David Cutliffe. Elko is getting his coaching staff together quickly, most recently hiring a defensive coordinator earlier this week. Lyle Hemphill is expected to join the staff after five years as the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest.

The Blue Devils went 3-9 this year and mutually agreed to part ways with Cutliffe last month. Elko previously served as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21. It’s his first head coaching job at any level, and he’ll try to take Duke back to a bowl game for the first time since 2018.

Report: Duke expected to hire ACC assistant as defensive coordinator

It appears Duke has its next defensive coordinator.

Lyle Hemphill, who served in the same role at Wake Forest since 2017, is expected to take a position under Mike Elko, according to The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna and Chris Vannini. Hemphill and Elko previously worked together at Hofstra and Wake Forest.

Hemphill got his coaching start at Delaware Valley University in 2002 as a defensive backs and special teams coach. After heading to Delaware from 2004-05, he went to Hofstra from 2006-09, where he worked with the secondary and special teams. That’s where he met Elko, who worked as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Hofstra during that time.

Hemphill headed back to Delaware in 2010 before taking the defensive coordinator position at Stony Brook from 2011-16. In 2015, he earned FCS Defensive Coordinator of the Year honors as Stony Brook held teams to just 250 yards — the best mark in Division I.

From there, he headed to Wake Forest, where he’s been ever since. Now, he’s reuniting with Elko, who took over as Blue Devils head coach last week.