Change hardly bothers Duke women's basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie, who discovered early in life that it is how you deal with transitions that matters.

The daughter of a Navy officer, McCallie was born in Monterey, Calif., but lived in Corpus Christi, Texas; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Garden City, N.Y.; before her family settled in Maine.

As a college basketball player and then coach, she lived in Illinois, Alabama and Michigan, becoming more adept at moving with every zip code change.

"I've had change all my life," said McCallie, who now resides in Durham.

The ability to handle change has served her well during this first season at Duke, where she has been greeted with support, curiosity and scorn.

Those early days on the move, along with 15 years of head coaching experience -- and a trip to the 2005 Final Four -- equipped McCallie for what could be her toughest transition yet.

Since last April, when she was named to replace coach Gail Goestenkors, who took the top job at Texas, there has been a sea of change at Duke and in the 42-year-old coach's life.

There's the move from North to South. The switch from the Big Ten to the ACC. The transfer from a public to a private school.

Duke, which finished the 2007 regular season undefeated, lost All-America seniors Lindsey Harding and Alison Bales. This season, the Blue Devils, adjusting to life without the beloved Goestenkors for the first time in 15 years, finished the regular season with the most losses since 1997-98.

"It's been a transition, without question," McCallie said.

Fan criticism

ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli said many were curious to see how McCallie, with a budding reputation and solid credentials, would handle the transition.

"She's come in and wants to ... implement her style of play, and I think it just takes time," Antonelli said.

But fans can be about as patient as children at a McDonald's.

Sue Unruhe, 54, works at Duke and has been a women's basketball fan for 26 years. She said her patience has run thin.

"I am very upset about the state of Duke women's basketball and very disappointed in the coach," she said. "What I see is a stagnant, non-moving offense ... and really unhappy players.

"The body language of the players is drooping shoulders and less energy. They are not fighting hard and not taking it to that next level that I'm used to seeing."

While McCallie has received enthusiastic support, she's also taken some lumps from those who watched Goestenkors reach four Final Fours and turn the women's program into a nationally recognized powerhouse.

Some fans voiced disappointment after early season losses to Vanderbilt, Penn State and later, No. 2-ranked North Carolina. Not to mention the Internet vitriol, with one anonymous poster questioning, "Whose this bum that replaced Coach G?"

This is what McCallie calls the "stinky part" of the job.

"People hate you," she told the Greensboro Sports Council in January. "People think they know everything better than you do, then they want to kiss you."

She doesn't shy away. As is her nature, the Northwestern graduate gets directly to the point.

"The thing you wonder as a coach is why people would reveal themselves so poorly when we've been here six months?" she said last month. "If I didn't feel good about something, I'd wait it through. I'd give it some time."

McCallie said she is only referring to a small fringe group.

"A lot of people here -- that perimeter group -- say, 'I support the program,' " she said. "You don't support the program unless you support all elements. So you don't support the coaches, you don't support the program. I've had to let people know that pretty clearly."

McCallie said she understands why some have lashed out.

"Some people really had a hard time with the fact Gail chose to leave, and they want to hurt somebody," she said. "There is an old saying, 'Hurt people hurt.' And that's the truth. ... I'm sorry. I wasn't here, I wasn't any part of it."

McCallie said the most enjoyable part of this transition has been getting to know her team. She has heard the rumblings about dissatisfaction among the group but said when it's players and coaches, "it's been fantastic."

"The beauty of it is that the only people in real time with this program is us," she said. "You'd have to come to every practice. You'd have to be with us. You'd have to be on the bus."

New system

Duke is 21-8 overall and 10-4 in conference play as it enters this week's ACC Tournament with a No. 3 seed.

Ranked 12th in the country, the Blue Devils have faced every team ranked in The Associated Press poll's top 5, with a 1-5 record against those teams.

McCallie has installed a new offensive system that calls for players to work the basketball inside out, a switch from more guard-dominated teams of the past. Defensively, the Devils have mostly played man-to-man but have periodically used a match-up zone, a system the head coach is recognized for nationally.

Duke senior Wanisha Smith last week noted the team's gradual adjustment.

"It started coming along probably toward the middle of our season, really just buying into everything," she said.

Sophomore Joy Cheek said there is still a learning curve, but players know "Coach P" better, understanding that she is intense, works off motivation and is "real big on the team concept."

Throughout the season McCallie has said past success means nothing for this team.

"The key is knowing who you are. Who are we? And how can we create something special with this group?" she said.

And who are they?

"We are a very hard-working, blue-collar tough team," she said.

"We have a small margin of error in games. We don't have a dominant player. ... We're not the smartest team yet; we have made some decisions that have hurt us."

Feeling-out process

A college basketball team requires more than an on-court identity. Coaches and players must establish trust and build kinship.

McCallie is aware of this. "People say, 'Well, you've got to get to know them.' You can't fake that," she said. "It just happens. And it happens naturally through time."

McCallie has met with players one on one and in groups. She has met families. She has sent players encouraging text messages.

While there is still a feeling-out process, players and coaches have had light moments together. Sophomore Bridgette Mitchell and junior Carrem Gay shared on-air laughs with McCallie during her radio show earlier this season. And there was McCallie's recent chest bump with freshman Krystal Thomas in practice.

McCallie listened when players wanted to wear black uniforms against UNC last week. And recently, after waiting to see who emerged as leaders, McCallie named Smith and juniors Abby Waner and Chante Black team captains.

Still, McCallie said she doesn't make friends with players until they graduate. She said being fair is most important, and that's why she's alternated her lineup.

"I've never tried to win them over, I don't think I can," McCallie said. "Just be me. I've got to be me."

Plain speaking

Former Michigan State assistant coach Felisha Legette-Jack, now head coach at Indiana, said McCallie takes a no-nonsense approach, where discipline and performance are non-negotiable.

"She's not easy to know right away because she's like a strong wind," Legette-Jack said. "She throws herself right at you, and you've got to be able to handle it or you don't."

Former Michigan State guard Kristin Haynie said McCallie nurtured but demanded players be strong, scrappy and tough. She required them to read a book by Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"Because of her toughness, she made me a lot tougher," said Haynie, a WNBA player in her fourth season.

Adhering to that straight-edged approach helped McCallie make a name for herself as an assistant at Auburn (1988-92), then a first-time head coach at Maine (1992-00) and then at Michigan State (2000-07).

Eleven of her teams have garnered NCAA Tournament bids.

At Michigan State, she guided the Spartans to a Big Ten championship and a Final Four.

Her team played in the 2005 national championship game, falling short against Baylor.

McCallie impressed Michigan State associate athletic director John Lewandowski, who years before had observed McCallie's attention to detail at Auburn under coach Joe Ciampi.

"She took a program that had been extremely competitive and took it to a whole other level," Lewandowski said of the Spartans.

McCallie actively courted the community, recruited the state and improved attendance from an average of about 1,500 per game to nearly 7,000. She became endeared to fans, Lewandowski said.

Before she left Michigan State, McCallie had signed a contract extension. To release her from her contract, Michigan State required a buyout. The buyout, Lewandowski said, was $465,000, twice that of her base salary.

It has been reported that McCallie signed a five-year base contract for $500,000 per season with Duke.

At Duke, attendance was up this season, and though McCallie was not the Devils' first choice -- the job was first offered to California's Joanne Boyle -- it's McCallie's hope she can grow the fan base.

Her enthusiasm for her "dream job" was palpable last week as she spoke to members of the Blue Devil Club.

Sue Harnett, a former Duke player who was on the coaching search committee, said McCallie has done a superb job communicating her vision to alumni and working with players.

"I think everyone is a little apprehensive around change," she said. "But I think we brought the best women's basketball coach into Duke that was really possible."

Kathy Pittman, a longtime Duke supporter from Wilson, said: "You've just got to give her a chance. You've just got to allow her to prove herself. She's got a certain style; hopefully, the players and her will adapt to each other ... and build and grow."