DURHAM, N.C. - David Shumate, the play-by-play voice for Duke football, recently sat down with Blue Devil defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Jonathan Patke for an interview in the latest edition of GoDuke the Magazine.
David Shumate: Before we get to present day stuff and the current team, I want to take you all the way back for Duke fans that want to get familiar with your background. Tell me about your first impressions of football and when you fell in love with the game? Jonathan Patke: You know, I started playing football in junior high. I didn't play pee wee football or anything like that. But junior high, obviously my friends were doing it, so I started playing football. I wasn't very good at it.
I think I was on the 7th grade B team, 8th grade B team, but I really fell in love with it when I got to high school. I started seeing the development from being in the weight room and the training. But I never thought I'd play in college until really coming out of my junior year, when I figured that I was getting good at this sport. Not as good as many others, but good enough hopefully to go play at the next level.
Then I got an opportunity to go play at Stephen F. Austin in the FCS ranks. I had a good career there, but I did have a lot of injuries. So, I feel for those guys that battle through injuries like a Nick Morris Jr. but really the love for the game just continued to grow. When I graduated, I thought I was done with football, but football called me back.
I spent a couple of years in the oil and gas industry, but I couldn't get football off my mind. That's how I ended up hopping back in and becoming a graduate assistant, and then the football bug bit me and I've been coaching ever since.
DS: Let's talk about that Stephen F. Austin period a little bit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you started as a walk-on and eventually became a 3-year starter. Take us through that process of just trying to be on the team and then being a key contributor. I know you mentioned injuries were a part of it, too. JP: Coming out of high school, like I said, I was under-recruited, didn't think I could play. So, I really wasn't chasing that dream. I was chasing to be a good high school football player. Coach took a chance on me, asked me to walk on at Stephen F. late in the process and I did it.
I think within nine months I got put on scholarship, became a starting linebacker, and then some injuries hit. A broken arm, I even had a plate put in the arm. I came back from that, and then in the opening game the following season I got my leg broken on the road up at Tulsa. So I battled through some hard injuries and through a lot of staff. I played for three head coaches, four coordinators and five position coaches.
I saw it all, and that's probably one of the big reasons that kind of led me down this coaching path is what I faced as a college athlete. Duke Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Patke (left) celebrates linebacker Luke Mergott's ACC Championship Game interception that sealed the Blue Devils' victory.
DS: Let's spin it forward to the coaching piece. How much of your experience informs how you look at recruiting, informs how you look at guys? There are former walk-ons on this team who are now key contributors and maybe guys without crazy high recruiting rankings coming in that are now leaders for this team. How do you identify guys that love the game beyond just having the talent? JP: I think first off, as a player, I knew nothing.
I tried, as a coach, to let those guys understand football almost to our perspective and not just narrow-minded in their position group. I coach them to understand the entire defense. But yeah, in recruiting, you're trying to find those guys that are hungry, that are going to fight and scrap and claw, and I think here at a place like Duke, we have success with those guys. They're highly competitive, highly disciplined.
They're going to do whatever it takes to become a great player. They push themselves in every way. These guys are obviously more talented than I ever was, but I was hungry and I was going to fight for a scholarship. So that's the mentality that we're looking for when it comes to recruiting.
DS: Let's talk about your position group specifically, the linebackers, because I feel like what we're talking about kind of typifies maybe everybody in that room. You touched on Morris and with his injuries Luke Mergott basically played every down last year — we could go on down the list. How would you describe this group? JP: It's a close-knit group. The guys are really close. Some have been here a long time, including Nick, they've been here a really long time. But they're guys that have fought through injuries. Kendall Johnson fought through injuries a year ago. Nick's had two season-ending injuries. But to see them come back, and not just come back, but the way they worked in the weight room while they were recovering is impressive. Nick comes back and sets I think two records in the weight room coming off injury.
All these guys know is work and how they play the game is a very violent brand of football, which we want, which I want. Like you said, Luke being a selfless player last year, he very rarely came off the field, played a lot of snaps, and didn't ask to come off the field. He was going to tough it out. Obviously, we know he made some big plays late down the stretch. We talk about competitive excellence and this room embodies that. We knew if we could stay healthy this year, we would have a really good group and we have even more guys that could rotate in there and still make their mark on the game.
DS: What do you think has allowed this defense this year to click so quickly? New pieces on the back end out of the transfer portal, some guys stepping into bigger roles up front along the defensive line and then you open the year not allowing a TD against Tulane…in the last 10 quarters, no touchdowns allowed at all, or one, I guess, in a two-minute drill to Stanford. But you guys have been dominant (going into the open date at 4-0). JP: Yeah, we started this really in spring ball and in fall camp talking about team defense. We're going to roll a lot of guys, and I think that gives a lot of guys hope that they're going to play and that they need to play at a high level. Last year we didn't roll as much because obviously we had a lot of great players that couldn't come off the field, we roll more guys this year and we're going to trust in more guys.
I think the guys have earned our trust in the way they practice and the way they prepare, how they get ready for games. But, it is a connected, no-ego group that we have on the field right now. They're all playing for each other. They're playing for Duke and it's really fun to see them fly around for each other and to celebrate each other's victories, even in the small tackles or takeaways or whatever it may be.
They really are a close-knit group that play for each other.
DS: What is it about this scheme that tends to lean towards that? It's been the case with Coach Diaz. You've been with him for a while now. So many guys get involved when this defense is really rolling. JP: Yeah, I think I think that's defense in general. I always say on offense, you have a great wideout, great quarterback, you'll probably be pretty good on offense. I think on defense, we all got to play as one, right? Eleven guys flying to the ball. Our foundation is our effort and our toughness. If we have effort and toughness and then we play clean, man, we'll be a pretty good defense.
Right now, that's what we're doing, we're playing a pretty clean brand of football. We're playing tough, we're playing physical and I think guys hold each other to that standard. They call each other out when they're not practicing that way. That's where it all starts, in how we practice, how we prepare, that we're going to strain to the ball and it helps that they know they got guys that can come in and uphold the standard so they can let it go when they're on the field.
DS: It does feel like the edge that you've been talking about, you don't think often a championship team would have that kind of an edge. But that's been a big part of you guys' ethos this year. How do you maintain that edge? JP: You have to fight it every day. I mean, you have these guys, and even as a staff, right, we're always chasing perfection. We know we'll never be perfect. But there were so many things to clean up in the bye week.
We tell our guys what we've done well and what we haven't done well and around college sports — Coach Diaz did a great job of telling our team, when you think you got it figured out, you'll go and get your butt whooped in this game, in college athletics. There are plenty of examples of that. Being a fan during our weekend off, you got to see a lot of teams that were feeling really good and then take a whooping. So, we have to keep our nose to the pavement, keep grinding, keep cleaning things up, and keep practicing the way we're practicing.
It's one game at a time, one drive at a time. You know, there's a big mantra around here: Play the next play. If we keep that in mind, we'll continue to play good defense.
