Durham, NC -- (Sports Network) - Duke University has fired head football coach Ted Roof.

Roof, who took over seven games into the 2003 season and had one year remaining on his contract, was a dismal 6-45 in four-plus seasons at the school and lost 25 straight Atlantic Coast Conference games.

"Following several conversations between coach Roof and myself over the past two days, I have decided to move in a different direction with our football program," said Duke athletic director Joe Alleva in a release.

"Coach Roof embodies everything that Duke represents and his commitment to this university and his job was unwavering. He is an outstanding family man, a man of great integrity and among the classiest individuals with whom I have worked. I truly appreciate his service to Duke and how he represented himself, his family and this school. That is why this decision was so difficult.

"However, after our annual evaluation of the program, I believe that we need to make a change based on the results we were seeing on the field each week. Over the past several years, we have made the commitment to upgrading our football program and we will continue to do so. Our ultimate goal for football, as with all of our programs, is to pursue and achieve excellence. We are taking the proper steps to see that will happen. We must win in football at Duke, while maintaining our deepest commitment to the educational values of the institution."

The Blue Devils finished 2007 at 1-11 and 0-8 in ACC play. Roof's teams never won more than two games in a season and had a disastrous 0-12 campaign in 2006.