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Q+A With Duke Football: Cam Dillon
10/19/2023 1:00:00 PM | Football
DURHAM – The Voice of the Blue Devils, David Shumate, sat down with graduate linebacker Cam Dillon for a brief question and answer session.
DS: You guys have been so dominant defensively, only giving up about 9.8 points per game, how have you guys been able to do it here early in the year?
CD: I think it all goes back to last year and the team we had last year. The chemistry that was formed has carried over through the offseason, through all the training we've done, and now into this year. Everyone is a year older, a year closer and everyone's working well together and playing their butts off.
DS: When I talked with Coach [Mike] Elko during preseason, one of the points of emphasis this year was getting better on third down defense. How has this year's team been able to improve on getting off the field on third down?
CD: You know it all starts with communication. In the first couple games, I don't want to say we weren't prepared for it, but you know definitely some aspects of how we practiced and how we prepared weren't sufficient enough for us to go out there and perform to the level we wanted to. So, we put a real emphasis the last couple weeks on making sure we're as prepared as we possibly could be to go out there and dominate on those money downs.
DS: I talked to Coach [Tyler] Santucci and he's really soft spoken when you see him off the field. What's he like in the meeting room? I see on the practice field he's kind of a different guy out there.
CD: Yeah you really get the best of both worlds with him. Everybody loves him, not a single person on this team has anything negative to say about him. When he's in the meeting room, he's friendly when he needs to be, he's your coach when he needs to be, but most importantly he's a person you can rely on. You know you really respect what he's doing and what he's building and we're just so grateful to have him around the program now.
DS: I know for you it wasn't a cut and dry decision to come back, you thought about it over the winter and decided you wanted to come back for another year. Now you guys are in the midst of trying to get to Charlotte to win an ACC title. Has the expectation lived up to the reality?
CD: Yeah, I mean obviously when I decided to come back this was exactly how I hoped things would go. You know, that being said we're only a few games into the season right now so there's still a lot of work to do but I'm definitely extremely happy with the decision to come back and be a part of this team again. I couldn't be more grateful for how everyone's playing and the attention that we're bringing to this university.
DS: I'll let you go on this, obviously playing Florida State this week, you guys have had a lot of these marquee games already. Clemson, Notre Dame, on down the line, what does it mean to be on this stage and have a chance to play some of these big brands in college football?
CD: You know it's something that I never really imagined myself being a part of. Doing four years at Columbia, this was kind of a very far-fetched dream and now that I'm able to take part in games like this with such a nationally recognized name of school, it's a dream come true being out there and being able to compete and perform. It's something that you can't take for granted and I'm forever grateful for it.
#GoDuke
DS: You guys have been so dominant defensively, only giving up about 9.8 points per game, how have you guys been able to do it here early in the year?
CD: I think it all goes back to last year and the team we had last year. The chemistry that was formed has carried over through the offseason, through all the training we've done, and now into this year. Everyone is a year older, a year closer and everyone's working well together and playing their butts off.
DS: When I talked with Coach [Mike] Elko during preseason, one of the points of emphasis this year was getting better on third down defense. How has this year's team been able to improve on getting off the field on third down?
CD: You know it all starts with communication. In the first couple games, I don't want to say we weren't prepared for it, but you know definitely some aspects of how we practiced and how we prepared weren't sufficient enough for us to go out there and perform to the level we wanted to. So, we put a real emphasis the last couple weeks on making sure we're as prepared as we possibly could be to go out there and dominate on those money downs.
DS: I talked to Coach [Tyler] Santucci and he's really soft spoken when you see him off the field. What's he like in the meeting room? I see on the practice field he's kind of a different guy out there.
CD: Yeah you really get the best of both worlds with him. Everybody loves him, not a single person on this team has anything negative to say about him. When he's in the meeting room, he's friendly when he needs to be, he's your coach when he needs to be, but most importantly he's a person you can rely on. You know you really respect what he's doing and what he's building and we're just so grateful to have him around the program now.
DS: I know for you it wasn't a cut and dry decision to come back, you thought about it over the winter and decided you wanted to come back for another year. Now you guys are in the midst of trying to get to Charlotte to win an ACC title. Has the expectation lived up to the reality?
CD: Yeah, I mean obviously when I decided to come back this was exactly how I hoped things would go. You know, that being said we're only a few games into the season right now so there's still a lot of work to do but I'm definitely extremely happy with the decision to come back and be a part of this team again. I couldn't be more grateful for how everyone's playing and the attention that we're bringing to this university.
DS: I'll let you go on this, obviously playing Florida State this week, you guys have had a lot of these marquee games already. Clemson, Notre Dame, on down the line, what does it mean to be on this stage and have a chance to play some of these big brands in college football?
CD: You know it's something that I never really imagined myself being a part of. Doing four years at Columbia, this was kind of a very far-fetched dream and now that I'm able to take part in games like this with such a nationally recognized name of school, it's a dream come true being out there and being able to compete and perform. It's something that you can't take for granted and I'm forever grateful for it.
#GoDuke
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LB
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