Major League Baseball’s small-market teams looking to combat the opulence of spendthrift contenders this summer ought to consider consulting with David Cutcliffe.
Before front office types in Milwaukee and Tampa guffaw at the suggestion a football coach from Duke of all places could ignite a divisional run, study the program development going on in Durham, North Carolina.
Cutcliffe has established what resembles a farm system at Duke, turning lightly recruited prospects into productive upperclassmen. Fifty-two players listed on Duke’s roster have redshirted. (It should be noted the Blue Devils recruiting has markedly improved recently.) But it begins with how Cutcliffe develops young assistants, grooming graduate assistants and quality control personnel into full-time coaches.