Kip Dukes: First in the Secondary : Strong Safety Makes Saturday Afternoon Hazardous for Opponents of Northridge

Kip Dukes’ mind was racing. What had he done wrong? Why was the coach, to whom he had just been introduced, standing before the entire Cal State Northridge football team and demanding to know who had worn jersey No. 11 last season?

That was his number all right, but he hadn’t gotten in trouble, had he? Certainly not while wearing his uniform. . . .

Nervously, Dukes clenched his teeth and raised one hand. With the other hand, he tried to steady his shaking knees.

“Son, I don’t know who you are,” the big coach shouted as he looked at Duke. “But I do know this. You can really play football. You play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

With that, Dukes’ knees stopped knocking and a smile snaked across his face. He could get used to accusations like that.

And he has.

Since that encounter with his new coach last January, Dukes has stepped into a starting--and starring--role at strong safety for a Northridge defense that is ranked second in the nation in Division II.

A reserve his first two years at Northridge, Dukes leads the team in pass deflections and primary tackles and is fourth in total tackles.

And now instead of watching games from the bench, he may be looking at a professional football career.

Bob Burt, the coach who was bellowing Dukes’ jersey number eight months ago, is now singing his praises, comparing the 5-11, 200-pound junior to the best defensive backs he’s ever coached--Dana McLemore, Bobby Kemp and Mark Collins.

No slouches in that group.

McLemore, who Burt coached at Hawaii, and Kemp, who he coached at Cal State Fullerton, have both played key roles on Super Bowl teams--McLemore with the San Francisco 49ers and Kemp with the Cincinnati Bengals. Collins, an All-American at Fullerton last season, was a second-round draft choice of the New York Giants, the 44th player selected.

Burt says that Dukes, who, like McLemore and Collins, also returns punts, may join that talented trio in NFL some day.

“The first game film I looked at of Northridge--I don’t even know what game it was--I noticed Kip first,” Burt said.

The play that caught the coach’s fancy was a interception in which Dukes had come from the opposite side of the field and run 40 yards to make a block.

Said Burt: “I looked at that and said, ‘Whoever you are, you’re my kind of player.’ ”

Dukes’ most memorable play this season, Burt said, came on a play against Cal State Hayward in which he returned a punt only seven yards.

A Hayward player had come down the field fast and Dukes had a chance to take only a few steps then lower his shoulder as the defender hit him at full speed.

But guess who was on his back when the play ended?

“Kip was standing over the guy, the ball still tucked under his arm, just looking at him,” Burt said, mimicking the player by groggily putting his hands on his head and trying to straighten an imaginary face mask. “The guy was like, ‘Where am I and why is my helmet on sideways?’ ”

Dukes plays a role on all on Northridge special teams, which, Burt says, is an indication of the kind of player he is.

“The real good ones get upset if you take them off the field,” Burt said. “He’s no prima donna. He knows the special teams are important and he wants to be in on the action.”

Dukes shouldn’t have much trouble finding action today when Northridge (3-0), ranked 12th in Division II, opens its Western Football Conference season at Southern Utah State (4-1) in Cedar City.

Southern Utah, ranked 19th, leads the Western Football Conference in scoring offense 37.8 and total offense 459.2. Quarterback Chad Richard, who runs the Thunderbirds’ high-powered veer, is the WFC’s individual total offense leader with an average of 248.2 yards a game.

A strong safety’s first responsibility in covering the option is the quarterback. And Northridge will be putting its Dukes up.

What position Dukes plays often depends on the offensive tendencies of Northridge’s opponents. The past two games, Dukes has played strong safety. Against Hayward three weeks ago, he played cornerback.

“He’ll go where we need him the most,” said Mark Banker, Northridge’s defensive coordinator. “One of the great things about Kip is that he’s equally tough against the run and pass. That makes him versatile. He’s probably the best cornerback we have on the team, but we need him most of the time at free safety.”

Switching positions is something Dukes became accustomed to at Canoga Park High. He played free safety, strong safety or cornerback on defense and either tailback or quarterback on offense. He even kicked an extra point once.

He says he doesn’t care where he plays as long as it’s defense. “He likes being the hitter, not the hittee,” Burt said. “He has the demeanor of a defensive player.”

Said Dukes: “I was always considered somewhat of a rough guy on the block. I didn’t get in a lot of fights or anything, but when it came to contact sports. . . . Well, let’s just say I’ve always enjoyed the physical side of sports.”

Yet, when Dukes’ high school career ended, his coaches told college recruiters they didn’t think he had a future as a player. The reason: a rather lackadaisacal attitude.

That all changed last winter when Burt made it clear he was counting on Dukes.

“I thought, ‘Oh-oh, time to work,’ ” Dukes said. “I knew coach had great expectations for me, but I also knew I could live up to those expectations. I never lifted weights and trained before like I did last summer.” As a result, he can bench press more than 300 pounds and is one of the Matadors’ fastest players.

Said Banker: “It was like his eyes opened, the lights went on, and he realized what he had to do.”

Dukes’ emergence as a player couldn’t have come at a better time. Northridge had lost all four members of last season’s starting secondary, including Steve Benjamin, who is a starter for the Montreal Alouettes.

“Kip always looked up to Benjamin,” Banker said. “Steve was his role model--the leader of the DBs. Kip is now starting to take that same role. We have a lot of vocal guys on this team, but when the talking is done and we sit down and start breaking down film, then Kip is seen as a leader,” Banker said. “Not by what he says, but by the way he plays. That’s how he’s earning respect.”

And there’s at least one player from Hayward who doesn’t have to see film to attest to that.