Placing a bet on Duke winning 10 games at the beginning of the year would have made you a rich man by now, so it's safe to say that the rapid rise of the Duke program has surprised just about everyone outside of the program.
Kurt Roper, who served as David Cutcliffe's offensive coordinator at Duke since 2008, played an instrumental role in the resurgence of the program before leaving to become Florida's offensive coordinator. That much time alongside a quality coach like Cutcliffe, is bound to pay dividends, and Roper recently shared the single best piece of advice that he took with him from his time with coach Cut.
That advice? Structure your practice to simulate a game as much as you possibly can, he told Sports Illustrated.
"Making practice like a game is the most important thing you can do." Roper explained.
"Really what that translates into is you've got to make everybody play at the speed at the game. You can't let them cruise along in practice and then all of the sudden the speed of the game shocks them."
As you and your program approach spring ball, or as you start to formulate your practice plans for summer and fall, keep that in mind. If it's a strategy that helped lead Duke to their first winning season since 1994, it's well worth your time and consideration.