Nelligan's focus on academics is well known. For the past four years, gymnastics has won the President's Cup, awarded to the university sport with the highest team grade-point average. Last year's squad had a 3.3 GPA in outperforming the 26 other teams at Maryland.
"Say what you will about the importance of wins and losses in sports, but that [academic] excellence is unparalleled," said Bonnie Bernstein, an ESPN reporter and former Terps gymnast. "Duke used to design practice around our exam schedules."
Once, before a meet at UCLA, Nelligan offered to drive Bernstein 100 miles up the coast so she could take an audition tape to a television station in Santa Barbara, Calif.
"He was instrumental in helping me to get my career rolling," said Bernstein, 38. "I have a very small circle of friends for whom I'd do anything, and Duke is in that circle. Everything he does for his gymnasts comes from the heart."
At Maryland, practice can be a hoot. It's not uncommon for Nelligan to lighten the mood by breaking into his "monkey dance," hopping first on one foot, then the other.
From across the gym, Nelligan's daughter, Kelsey - a member of the team - smiled and shook her head.
"He may be middle-aged," she said, "but he's a 12-year-old at heart."
There is method to his madness, the coach said.
"Athletes know I'm passionate about my sport, but let's keep this in perspective. It's supposed to be fun," said Nelligan, whose Maryland teams have made 18 NCAA regional championship appearances. "These are motor-sensory kids who got into gymnastics because they loved to jump on the bed and spin all around. Then, in their teens, they found themselves in the gym 24/7 and the sport became a job filled with pressure.
"My philosophy is to give them back their sport in college, to let them fall in love with it again. You can be successful and still enjoy it."
Last month, a celebration in Nelligan's honor in College Park drew 160 former gymnasts and their kin. Among those present were lawyers, teachers, med students and physical therapists.
"You can tell how truly interested Duke is in the whole student-athlete at Maryland from those who stay in touch with him," said Margie Cunningham, gymnastics coach at George Washington. "These women don't just disappear."
Nor will Nelligan vanish in retirement. His successor is his son, Brett, 28, who has been his assistant for six years.
"There's no way to keep my father out of the gym," Brett Nelligan said. "He loves it here, and he set such a good template for the program.
"He may be retiring, but he'll always be teaching about life."
