Former Duke. A.D. Tom Butters has passed away at the age of 78.
Butters did amazing things at Duke. He coached baseball for at time - he was a major league pitcher until an injury ended hi s career . He also founded the Iron Dukes and began to raise millions of dollars to fund Duke athletics.
All that aside, he became the Duke A.D. in 1977 and, building on his fund raising, transformed Duke athletics.
He had a particular genius for hiring great coaches. He hired Steve Spurrier when the football world considered him an arrogant flake who peaked in the USFL.