How Jeremy Cash personifies Duke football's rise

Paul Myerberg | USA TODAY Sports

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PINEHURST, N.C. — In December 2011, Jeremy Cash set off on a trip that began in Columbus, Ohio, and ended in Durham, N.C., a good 18 hours away by Greyhound bus.

Before stepping on board, however, Cash needed a ticket. So as he packed up his dorm room at Ohio State, Cash split his belongings into two piles: one pile for necessities — including, admittedly, a nice television — and the other for possessions he could live without. The first group went into cardboard boxes, clearly marked with his name. The second group was sold, which raised enough money for the ticket east.

Cross-country buses don't provide door-to-door service, let alone cozy accommodations. Cash's trip bobbed and weaved, north and south but always fairly east. At each stop, and there were many, he'd either peer out the windows at the cargo to keep tabs on his property or exit the bus entirely to stand watch; his name was on the boxes, but you never know.

Some attention seemed necessary: One of his fellow passengers was fresh out of prison, like Cash looking for a fresh start. He asked to use Cash's phone, and Cash quickly agreed.

When he arrived in Durham, on Duke's doorstep, the travel portion of Cash's leap of faith had concluded. He'd never been to the university. He'd never considered the Blue Devils as a four-star safety prospect out of Plantation High School in Miami, a ballyhooed recruit with dozens of offers — each from schools with more football pedigree.

He didn't know the coaches. Had no idea about the roster. What he did know was what we all knew: Duke was, well … Duke was Duke, annually one of the weakest football programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"It really taught me a lesson about adversity," Cash said of his travels. "There's a silver lining to everything."

Less than four years later, Duke is no longer Duke, in the sense of the phrase; the Blue Devils are in the midst of the greatest three-season run in modern program history, a stretch that, in no coincidence, matches with Cash's first days on campus.

Prior to 2012, Duke hadn't reached a bowl game nor posted a winning season since 1994; this period saw as many winless seasons, four, as seasons with four or more wins. During the past three years, however, the Blue Devils have reached three bowl games, notched the program's first season with double-digit wins and captured an Atlantic Coast Conference divisional title.

"When I transferred, it was basically on a leap of faith," he said. "And I honestly believe it was all part of my plan, to end up at Duke University, to have the success I've had."

How he arrived is unique, but there's much more. That Cash is at Duke, that he joined the program on the advice of a disgraced former coach, that he's poised to become the first three-time All-America pick in program history, that he's three classes shy of his master's degree, that he's a Blue Devil set to marry a North Carolina graduate — each fact helps to paint Cash as perhaps the most unique player in college football.

"Honestly, when people ask me, 'Hey, are you a football player,' I always tell them, no," he said. "I'm a student that plays football. I think there's a difference. Because I don't let football define the type of person that I am."

Yet as a football player, nothing stands out more than this: Cash is competing for conference championships at Duke — itself an amazing achievement, given the Blue Devils' history — and not winning national championships at Ohio State.

***

Cash signed with the Buckeyes coming out of high school for one reason: Jim Tressel.

Within a week of his enrollment in January of 2011, however, Ohio State's Office of Legal Affairs discovered past email exchanges between Tressel and Chris Cicero, a local lawyer who shared information about impermissible benefits being given to a number of current and former players.

Tressel admitted to being aware of the NCAA violations and was suspended for the first two games of the 2011 season, and later the year's first five games. He tendered his resignation at the end of May, replaced by Luke Fickell, Cash's primary contact during the recruiting process.

Tressel's resignation was a catalyst for Cash's eventual departure, but his transfer was sped up by what he perceived as a wholesale shift in Ohio State's overall approach to its football program — a process heightened by the eventual arrival of Urban Meyer that November.

"I went there because I believed in everything Coach Tressel stood for, and once he was gone, they didn't share those principles outside of football, about life after football," Cash said. "(Meyer) and I just definitely didn't see eye to eye. Essentially, that turned into what is metaphorically just a factory. Churning players in and out, in and out, in and out, and once you're done playing football, that's all they want to do with you.

"What have you done for me lately? As long as you're doing something for them, they're going to do something for you. The moment you can't do anything else for them, at least from my experience, they're kind of done with you."

Tressel's parting gift for Cash was a suggestion: Go to Duke, he said, praising David Cutcliffe, even if the former Tennessee assistant had yet to win more than five games in each of his first four seasons with the Blue Devils.

"I wanted someone I could actually trust, who would have my back," said Cash. "And Coach Tressel saw that in Coach Cutcliffe. I knew, hey, education is where it's at. If you can play, they'll find you. Coming to Duke, that was essentially a no-brainer."

Cash graduated in May with his bachelor's degree in psychology; he has since turned to his master's in liberal studies, and will complete those requirements with three classes during the fall semester — earning a degree of higher learning he termed "an investment in yourself."

An NFL future seems very likely: Cash is rated by most services as one of the top players at his position in the 2016 draft class, meaning he could go as early as the second or third rounds. His long-range vision extends elsewhere, to a career in the FBI, where he feels the pace, attention to detail and adrenaline rush would fit into his football-field skill set.

"I do enjoy playing football. It's a major part of my life every day. It pays for school. But in my opinion, I try to get as much if not more out of football then it's getting from me.

"Your life is this long," said Cash, stretching his wing span to the fullest before shrinking his palms together. "Football is this much of it. What are you doing to do after?"

***

In terms of his recruiting pedigree, overall athletic ability and on-field impact, Cash may be the rarest talent in the recent history of Duke football.

After sitting out the 2012 season as a transfer, Cash earned All-America honors as a first-year starter in 2013, finishing second on the team with 121 tackles, and repeated those honors a year ago. Fittingly, he occupies a distinct role in the Blue Devils' defense: part safety, part linebacker, part wrecking ball.

In earning these accolades, Cash has managed to match the expectations he held as a top-ranked recruit — and done so as an FBS transfer, a path that rarely yields such beneficial result for both player and program.

"A lot of people didn't believe in me when I was at Ohio State," said Cash. "A lot of people questioned if I'd live up to the hype coming to Duke. 'Oh, he probably wasn't that good. That's why he transferred.' These All-America (lists), that means everybody in the country. I've had the honor of being selected."

His influence extends far beyond Saturdays, however. Cash sets the tone from the locker room to the equipment room, Cutcliffe said; when he talks, people listen.

"He's doing everything you want a leader to do," said Cutcliffe. "Jeremy sets the standard for how your team manages themselves. It sounds like an unimportant thing, but that's huge. Those are all learned behaviors. That's what really good leaders do."

On the field and off, he's become the linchpin of new Duke — a team that doesn't merely expect a bowl berth but more. The Blue Devils don't merely anticipate more of the same in the coming seasons but rather another substantial step forward in the very near future.

"Coach Cutcliffe always talks about leaving a place better than when you found it," Cash said. "I believe that I'm going to do just that."

Here's the catch, and irony isn't lost on Cash himself: By helping lift the Blue Devils to national relevancy, he's essentially ensured that Duke players of his caliber — four-star players with NFL potential — will no longer be unique but commonplace.

The Blue Devils don't recruit with the nation's elite, but a recent uptick speaks to the program's overall growth. The current class, with 16 known verbal commitments, is ranked 17th in the nation by Rivals.com. At some point, perhaps, the Blue Devils' roster won't contain one Jeremy Cash but dozens.

"We're pretty close to that right now," said Cutcliffe. "That's what I've said all along. We've tried hard from the very beginning to build a program and not just have a good football team."

Those changes are coming, true, but that doesn't detract from a simple truth: There will only be one Jeremy Cash.

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