Duke football, under new head coach Manny Diaz, decides on its starting quarterback
After using three starting quarterbacks on its way to a winning season and a bowl win last year, Duke will have yet another quarterback under center to start this season.
Maalik Murphy, who transferred to Duke from Texas in January, will start for the Blue Devils when they open their season Aug. 30 at home against Elon.
Manny Diaz, entering his first season as Duke’s coach, announced the decision Monday night. The 6-5 Murphy entered Duke’s preseason camp in competition with sophomores Grayson Loftis and Henry Belin.
“First and foremost, all of our quarterbacks have been impressive and made really good strides since we opened practice last month,” Diaz said in a statement. “Maalik has earned the opportunity to be our starting quarterback with his preparation, work ethic and productivity. I’m really excited for him because of his investment into this team and this program. And we’re really fortunate to have two young men in the room who have won games here at Duke. Both Henry and Grayson will continue to prepare like starters and push Maalik, and we’ve got confidence in their abilities to lead our offense.”
Last season, Belin and Loftis both started for the Blue Devils under coach Mike Elko in place of the injured Riley Leonard, who had led the Blue Devils to a 4-1 start and a national ranking before being sidelined by an ankle injury.
After Elko left for Texas A&M, Leonard entered the transfer portal and moved to Notre Dame last December. That’s when Murphy chose Duke in his transfer portal journey and helped kick-start the Diaz era.
Last season, Murphy started two games for Texas, leading the Longhorns to wins over BYU and Kansas State. In seven career games for the Longhorns, he completed 40 of 71 passes (56.3%) for 477 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Inglewood, California, native is a sophomore with three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Belin started Duke’s 24-3 win over N.C. State last season before an upper body injury limited him the remainder of the season. With Leonard’s season ended for good with an ankle injury, Loftis became Duke’s starting quarterback as a freshman.
He started the last five games, including a 17-10 win over Troy in the Birmingham Bowl. For the season, Loftis completed 91 of 163 passes (55.8%) for 1,006 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.
In Duke’s preseason camp this month, Loftis and Murphy were the main competitors for the top quarterback job while Belin worked to regain his health. On Sunday, after the Blue Devils went through their second preseason scrimmage on Saturday night, Diaz said the quarterbacks were all playing well.
“I think Maalik and Grayson both continue to play at a high level, just getting better and better,” Diaz said. “I think the other really encouraging thing is Henry Belin is is starting to throw the ball really well again, which is exciting, because that adds another element to our offense.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2024 at 8:07 PM.