If Duke's Todd DeLamielleure plays like a student of the game, that's because he's been around it his whole life. The junior inside linebacker from Durham, N.C., is the son of Duke tight end coach and former NFL All-Pro lineman Joe DeLamielleure, so he's got football in his blood.
"My dad took me to practice when I was young," Todd said. "I knew a lot about football by the time I was 4 or 5. I could name all the players."
Joe DeLamielleure played in the NFL from 1973-1985 and was one of the best offensive linemen of his era. As a Buffalo Bill from 1973-1979, he blocked for Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson and was an integral part in Simpson's record-breaking 1973 season, when he rushed for 2,001 yards. He was named an All-Pro six times and is on the list of the Top 300 NFL players of all-time.
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"Me and him are pretty good friends," Todd said. "So it worked out. I was looking at Duke, and he got the job during my junior year [in high school]. Then they offered me when he got the job, so it impacted my decision to go here."
Joe DeLamielleure's coaching promotions caused a lot of movement for his family, especially when Todd was in high school. As a freshman, he attended school in South Carolina but when his father went to Liberty, Todd jumped to Jefferson Forest and then E.C. Glass - both in Lynchburg - before moving to Riverside in Durham to finish out high school. While at E.C. Glass, he was recruited by Virginia and Virginia Tech.
"My dad wanted me to look at good academic schools," Todd said. "I was looking at both U.Va. and Virginia Tech because I lived there. But when we moved to Durham, I was pretty close to my family. He wasn't the reason, but it helped."
After spurning Virginia, DeLamielleure has played well against the Cavaliers. In last season's 24-17 Blue Devil victory, he racked up 10 tackles, two for a loss.
"Every year we've played, it's been a pretty good game," Todd said. "We look at them as one of our big rivals. Whether we won or lost the year before, we know we're in for a battle."
A co-captain this season, DeLamielleure leads the Blue Devils in tackles with 18 in two games and will be aiming to stop Virginia's offense Saturday. Cav coach George Welsh said he expects DeLamielleure and the Blue Devil defense to be especially tough against his team, even though it has given up 76 points in two losses.
"They've done well against other teams," Welsh said. "I think they have a good defensive scheme, which makes it harder to run a consistent offense against them. It works better against a team like us than it does against a team like Florida State."
On the other hand, DeLamielleure said he expects a stiff challenge this week from the Cavaliers.
"They look pretty good to me," Todd said. "I thought they were one of the better lines we played against last year, and they're still pretty good, even though they lost John St. Clair and Noel LaMontagne. Dan Ellis looks really good, and the offense is consistent."
In addition to being recruited by and playing well against the Cavaliers, DeLamielleure has other connections to Virginia athletics. As a freshman at Jefferson Forest, he played baseball with former Cavalier All-American safety and current Baltimore Raven Anthony Poindexter and former Virginia baseball player Ryan Gilleland.
"They were seniors when I was a freshman," Todd said. "I looked up to them. I was like a little kid following them around"
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