Duke head coach David Cutcliffe has not had any contact with Michigan about its vacant head coaching job, a Duke spokesman said Wednesday.
Sports information director and football poll voter Art Chase said neither Michigan nor any third parties representing Michigan have contacted Cutcliffe or Duke athletic director Kevin White. Internet rumors began swirling Tuesday afternoon when 247Sports.coms Michigan website reported that the Wolverines were gauging Cutcliffes interest. Later that night, NFL.com senior analyst Gil Brandt reported that Cutcliffe turned Michigan down.
Not true, says Duke.
"David has long committed himself to Duke, a journey that began, in complete earnest, back in December of 2007, White said in a statement sent to the News & Observer. Of course, David has enormous, perhaps unqualified, programmatic expectations for Duke football. However, at the very core of Coach Cutcliffe, is an elite teacher, who literally thrives on the serious prospect of developing all dimensions of the young men under his tutelage. Within that respective framework, David operates, unequivocally, with the highest degree of integrity and honor!
That said, Duke University is terribly fortunate to have David's seasoned leadership, as the program continues to embark on it's very next set of both remarkable and historical accomplishments!"
According to the schools most recently available Form 990, Cutcliffe was paid $1.84 million by Duke in 2012. That number will likely increase on future 990 forms, thanks to Dukes 2013 Coastal Division title. According to USA Today, Michigan payed former coach Brady Hoke $2.86 million.
If it was all about money, Cutcliffe would have left Duke long ago. The football program continues to progress in terms of recruiting and on-the-field results, and Wallace Wade Stadium is currently in the midst of a renovation that will be complete in August 2016.