It’s finally a game week for the defending ACC champion Duke Blue Devils, who open their season against the reigning American Conference champions, Tulane. After seven months of offseason tweaks and offensive retooling, here’s how each offensive coordinator arrived at this moment and what to expect from each attack in Week 1.
Jonathan Brewer, Duke
Brewer came over with head coach Manny Diaz in December of 2023 and previously served under him as a senior offensive quality control coach from 2020-2021 at Miami. Last year under Brewer was historic for the Blue Devil offense as the unit set the program record for touchdowns scored (63), points scored (484), and pass efficiency (152.53). The group was the first in school history to have a 3,000-yard
passer, 1,000-yard receiver, and 1,000-yard rusher.
The obvious hurdle Brewer and this offense will have to overcome is the churn at quarterback. Darian Mensah was one of the best QB’s in all of college football a season ago, which was a massive part of Duke’s success offensively.
This season, the Blue Devils will trot out San Jose State transfer Walker Eget, who has some huge shoes to fill but has a great deal of experience as a Division I starter. Brewer has been known to do great work with QB’s throughout his career, so it’s certainly possible that Eget will come out firing on all cylinders versus Tulane.
I would still expect Brewer and Duke to lean heavily on the run game. When you’ve got a running back with the talent of Nate Sheppard, you’ve got to feed him the ball early and often.
The unit will most likely take a step back after losing some key pieces this offseason, but the cupboard is far from dry, and Brewer should have the group poised for revenge after losing to the Green Wave a season ago.
Russ Callaway, Tulane
The Green Wave’s first-year head coach, Will Hall, brought in Callaway as his inaugural OC, a role he assumed at Florida from 2024-2025. While he was the offensive coordinator at Florida, Callaway has not called plays in seven years, dating back to his time at Samford.
Callaway is part of the Nick Saban coaching tree, having served as an analyst from 2011-2012 at Alabama. Other high-profile stops for Callaway include LSU and the NFL’s New York Giants.
He’ll have his work cut out for him with this new opportunity, as there’s been a great deal of roster churn with this offense. I expect that the Green Wave will be far from a finished product offensively when this game kicks off. This means the unit will likely keep things as simple as possible, playing into an experienced Duke defense’s hands.
Both OC’s enter this season with a great opportunity and a lot to prove, and Week 1 will show whether Duke’s continuity under Brewer outweighs Tulane’s reset under Callaway.
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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Comparing Duke, Tulane's OC's ahead of Week 1 matchup
