Got this a few weeks ago, who it came from doesn't matter and the name(s) won't be said. Since there are 30 real people on this board I give zero *****.
ENJOY
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More on Duke | Nov 4th
His surgery was today, I'll get a read out from sources later but here's a big chunk on Duke. But I had a long talk with someone close to him today and wanted to let you guys go behind the veil.
He actually wanted to leave Miami at several points and times last year. He's been very frustrated with the coaches during his tenure here and he's had people in his ear trying to keep him level headed and focused on the bigger prize. He's often had to take up for himself and less talented teammates. A text came in recently from Duke saying "I hate these F*(^*ing coaches" to a mentor. There's a lot going on behind the scenes.
To give you an example of the kind of thing he's gone through (all facts, no embellishing) here's a story:
Duke was injured because of blocking on a reverse earlier this year and Golden called him out in front of the whole team saying 'who told you to block like that?' Duke just looked at AG and was thinking to himself that that's the way the coaches at Miami instructed him to block. Golden then went on to say that Duke was always getting hurt and couldn't stay on the field. Right after that, Duke fired off the text above.
Duke's handlers had to continue to monitor his emotions all last season as he phoned numerous times about being very unhappy. The sense I'm continually getting is that Miami coaches have trouble connecting with certain players and treating them a bit harsh. Some may say it's football, but when your star player is saying he wants to transfer to West Virginia, that should be cause for concern. The south Florida athlete is a different kind of guy and I've seen that with my involvement and covering youth football.
Duke stayed on and just fought through stuff. He's being reminded about the bigger picture and he's definitely gone after next season, don't even think about him staying, it's confirmed. He's already tracking his draft status. He's telling people close to him that he's projected late first early second in the 2015 draft right now (pre-injury). He's determined to come back bigger, faster and stronger.
Ereck Flowers is also gone after this year. He really hates Miami. He doesn't want to even do media. He's on the first train smoking after his junior year.
I'll have more later but it's disheartening to hear some of this stuff, but I knew this was going on. Tracy Howard got into a major spat with Coach D'Onofrio last year and it kinda got viral. I learned about it and posted it hear. I now that Tracy does things like wave his hand at D'Onofrio when the coach tells him things. That's why after the two pick game Tracy had, D'Onofrio went out of his way to rip Tracy for other errors in the game, tackling. I knew there were back stories and didn't write about it. It's public knowledge they don't get along behind close doors but none of them will talk about it. It's a 'locker room' thing.
But expect Tracy to bolt also. If Miami doesn't win a championship, either ACC or BCS (or whatever the new title will be called) it will possibly be tough for a few years until the coffers are filled again because last years freshman class (2013) is disgruntled. It starts with the leaders, so it's likely a wide spread concern.
If you're calling out Duke Johnson, imagine what a fourth year walk on is treated like.
