When Duke sponsored a "Football Summit" in January, two main conclusions emerged. One, coach Ted Roof would have his best chance to win in 2008, when many of his top recruits would be seasoned upperclassmen. Two, the university desperately needed a new long-range plan to reshape what had become the worst program in the six leagues that anchor the sport's Bowl Championship Series.

Ten months later, the two themes have collided, and Roof's tenure in Durham will not survive the collision.

Multiple sources at Duke and in the college coaching community have confirmed that Roof's last game as the head coach of the Blue Devils (1-10) will be Saturday in their season finale at North Carolina (3-8).

"Duke football desperately needs a fresh start," one source said. "There is going to be an entirely new approach to Duke football, and it's going to start very soon. Every aspect of the program, including academic standards, has been studied and is being addressed in an intelligent manner. The end result is going to be what you see in Duke's other sports — a desirable place to coach, a desirable place to play, and a world-class education along the way.

"It's unfortunate that (Roof) won't be able to enjoy the advantages of this new approach. But you can't have a fresh start by retaining a coach who has won two (Division I-A) games in the last four seasons."

Roof is 6-44 overall and 3-32 in the ACC in four-plus seasons as the head coach of the Blue Devils. In his four full seasons, he has only four victories — over Clemson and The Citadel (a Division I-AA team) in 2004, VMI (a I-AA team) in 2005, and Northwestern this fall. Duke finished 0-12, the worst record in school history, in 2006.

Roof has one year left on the contract he signed after the 2003 season, in which he took over for the dismissed Carl Franks for the final five games. His record almost mirrors that of Franks, who finished 7-45 overall and 3-33 in the ACC.

"The conversation about (giving Roof one more year in) 2008 kept coming back to progress," another source said. "There has been some, but there wasn't enough. The record speaks for itself."

The Blue Devils have lost eight games in a row. Eight of the team's 10 losses have been by 10 points or more, including games against Connecticut (45-14), Virginia Tech (43-14), Florida State (25-6), Clemson (47-10), Georgia Tech (41-24) and Notre Dame (28-7).

Duke athletic director Joe Alleva declined comment on Roof's status earlier this week, beyond saying that the football program, like all teams, would be evaluated at the end of the season.