We’re Sleeping on Duquesne. The Coaches Aren’t.

Maybe the most surpising part of the NEC Coaches Poll was that Duquesne received two votes for first place.

This isn’t to say Duquesne isn’t a good team. They were probably the best overall team in the conference in 2024 and were in the hunt until the last game of the season once again in 2025. There’s been so much buzz around CCSU and Long Island, though- and this has been driven by, among others, myself- that the Dukes being projected first by some coaches came as something of a surprise.

Well, why?

Ness Davis returns, the Dukes have probably the best secondary in the conference, and Carson Camp has targets like Ryan Petras to help ease him into Pittsburgh. By all accounts, the leadership is strong in the program and the coaching staff has been phenomenal for, well, decades at this point. Coach Schmitt is the winningest active coach in the FCS.

I think the Dukes have been so good for so long that we sort of take it for granted, and maybe the “new” surging LIU has been enough to put the Dukes under the radar in the media somewhat.

So, from the outside looking in, we seem to be underrating the Dukes. That’s fine.

The ooaches sure aren’t.