Duke football losing defensive coordinator; Coach Mike Elko closing in on replacement
Duke football is looking for a new defensive coordinator after Robb Smith left the program.
Smith left Duke for what a source with knowledge of the situation said were “personal reasons” following one season with the Blue Devils.
“Robb and I talked about him wanting to get back closer to his family in Minnesota,” Duke coach Mike Elko said in a statement. “In the end, this was just the right time for him. We appreciate Robb’s commitment to our program over the past season and wish him the best moving forward.”
Texas A&M linebackers coach Tyler Santucci, the Aggies co-defensive coordinator, is Elko’s top candidate to replace Smith, according to a source.
Elko hired Smith in December 2021 shortly after being named the Blue Devils head coach. Together, they helped the Blue Devils post a 9-4 record, including a 30-13 Military Bowl win over UCF in the program’s first bowl appearance since 2018.
Duke allowed 22.1 points per game last season, which was No. 31 nationally and fifth-best in the ACC. That’s after the Blue Devils allowed an ACC-worst 39.8 points per game (No. 127 nationally) in 2021 prior to Elko and Smith’s arrival.
Previously, Smith coached defense at the University of Minnesota from 2017-18 before being fired nine games into the 2018 season. He’s worked at Texas A&M, Rutgers and Duke since leaving Minnesota but still owns a home in the Minneapolis area.
The 34-year-old Santucci previously worked with Elko at Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. He was a graduate assistant for the Demon Deacons in 2014-15 when Elko was Wake’s defensive coordinator.
When Elko became Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2017, Santucci accompanied him as a defensive analyst. Santucci returned to Wake Forest as linebackers coach in 2019 before joining Elko at Texas A&M as linebackers coach in 2020 and 2021.
After Elko left to become Duke’s head coach, Santucci was promoted to co-defensive coordinator last January.
While going 5-7 last season, the Aggies allowed 21.2 points per game, No. 25 nationally. The season prior, with Elko as defensive coordinator, Texas A&M finished No. 3 nationally by allowing 15.9 points per game.
This story was originally published January 21, 2023 at 8:05 AM.