Duke’s Norman thrives at linebacker

When Dwayne Norman moved from safety to linebacker for his final year of eligibility at Duke, he knew one thing had to happen right away.

He had to pack on some pounds.

“Just anytime during the day when I felt like I was bored, I would just try to eat something,” Norman said of his offseason. “I would just try to eat all day. Anything I could get my hands on.”

His go-to: “A steak and green beans,” he said. “I used to go to the Whole Foods every Sunday, and I would buy those and eat that every Sunday. That helped me out a lot.”

It only took a few times of going against offensive linemen Matt Skura (305 pounds) and Lucas Patrick (305 pounds) in spring practice for the 6-1 Norman to get serious about getting bigger. His efforts paid off: he gained 15 pounds, weighing in at 215 pounds, and didn’t lose his safety-like speed. He has been one of the most productive players on Duke’s top-10 defense, recording 40 tackles, 5.5 of those for a loss. He ranks behind just future NFL draftee Jeremy Cash in both categories.

When defensive coordinator Jim Knowles projected a best-case scenario for Norman’s development up to this point, his dreams match pretty closely to reality.

“We were hoping for production as a blitzer, as a tackler and also to be able to bring safety cover skills, and he has done all of that,” Knowles said. “It is as good as we had hoped.”

Dwayne Norman had played linebacker, once, before he moved to the position at the end of last year – back in middle school

“In Pop Warner when I was really little, 12 and 13,” Norman said with a smile.

Despite his lack of experience, Norman has taken to the weakside linebacker position like a natural. It doesn’t hurt that he had a natural knack for hitting people hard, earning the nickname the hammer from his teammates.

“Once he got put there, I knew it would be a natural adjustment for him because he already hit like a linebacker” redshirt freshman Tinashe Bere said.

Norman had a trial run at linebacker last year, when Knowles unveiled a 3-4 option defense for the Georgia Tech game. The two recorded tackles he recorded belied the production he gave the Blue Devils in their 31-25 win, snapping a 10-year losing streak to the Yellow Jackets.

Norman started five games at safety as a true freshman and then six more as a sophomore but none as a junior, as younger players took over that role. Still, Norman was hesitant to make the switch to linebacker when approached by the coaching staff at the end of last year. He was sold on the idea of making the move not just for himself, but for the benefit of the team.

While Norman was concerned about getting bigger, it was something else that concerned Knowles.

“The closer you get to the line of scrimmage, the harder it is to see,” Knowles said. I had some concerns if he would be able to naturally see things like he had as a safety. I wasn’t concerned about the physicality or anything like that, just his ability to react to plays. He has done very well so far.”

Against the Yellow Jackets this year, Norman recorded nine tackles, eight of which led Georgia Tech to two yards or less. That was sandwiched between tallying a career-high 12 tackles against Northwestern, and 11 against Boston College, which Knowles considered his strongest performance of the year.

“Until you see it in a game against a good opponent, you really don’t know,” Knowles said of how the move would work out. “And now that we have, we know. We always believed, but now we know.”

Norman’s unplanned emergence at will (or weakside) linebacker has helped Duke take a step forward at the position despite replacing Kelby Brown and David Helton, who led the ACC in tackles last year. As a defense, the Blue Devils are averaging 6.6 three-and-outs per game – fourth nationally behind Marshall, Clemson and Alabama – and the five trips to the red zone for opponents is the fewest in the nation.

And Norman certainly has played a significant part in that.

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This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Duke’s Norman thrives at linebacker."