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Coach Clawson conference call with former players

Nah, it's just a bunch of "pre-parsed coach speak"

Clawson: I stole a lot from Coach Grobe when I was at Richmond. Sort of a blueprint for how a smaller school can compete.

I'm fine with that quote.

I've been a major critic of Grobe for years and I think he definitely has made the job more attractive. Even if he personally can't win a championship at Wake anymore, he's shown it's possible. He has established a good blueprint for success. Somebody has to just improve on it and bring in the right staff and improve recruiting.

Good posts, Turd. Grobe established a good blueprint for winning at Wake. He was unable to improve on it by adding offense to it. He was unable to duplicate it after the FRESH DEACS left. 2008 was telling compared to 2006. In 2006, we had very good seniors on the field and backed up by NFL quality sophomores. In 2008, those sophomores were seniors and had poor depth behind them.

We still haven't replaced Swank.

"I just don't see how firing Grobe and hiring someone to chase big recruits is going to make Wake better. I think it's far more likely the program collapses."

Who said that? The recruiting landscape is different than it was 10 years ago, but there are still good 2* and 3* players. We need a coach to bring them in and develop them. Grobe has provided a nice blueprint for winning at Wake. James Franklin looks to be putting together a nice blueprint at Vandy that Josh Gattis is learning from. It's not about chasing big recruits.

Hopefully, Coach Claw does his research and discovers what he can do to follow that blueprint and improve upon it without making the same mistakes Grobe made.
 
He's certainly been putting in some legwork since he got here.
 
I think the Duke success and finally beating us the last two years seems to be a big deal. It may have been a turning point.

If nothing else, it sure seems like it put the five straight losing seasons in perspective. No one could point and say, "Well, Wake's struggles are just reflective of the environment: it's a tough time to be a small, private school in the ACC."
 
First, Magic did a great job with the recap. The majority of guys who spoke on the call were graduates between 88 and 95.

Glad you could join. I take credit for twisting your arm this morning.
 
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I'm fine with that quote.







Hopefully, Coach Claw does his research and discovers what he can do to follow that blueprint and improve upon it without making the same mistakes Grobe made.

Yeah, why wouldn't anybody be fine with that quote about studying what Grobe was doing then. People forget that we kind of started the trend of non-traditional "academic" schools having success in football. When we won the ACC title, went to the Orange Bowl and won 17 games the next 2 years, Duke and Stanford weren't good and Northwestern was doing okay, but not the level of success we were having. Richmond being in a similar situation to us at the FCS level, I'm sure Clawson thought we were a good model to follow at the time. The good thing is, I'm sure he's learned what's needed not only to be successful in that situation, but what's needed to sustain it. Hopefully he gets us back to that level and will use his experience to do what's needed to sustain it.
 
Yeah, why wouldn't anybody be fine with that quote about studying what Grobe was doing then. People forget that we kind of started the trend of non-traditional "academic" schools having success in football. When we won the ACC title, went to the Orange Bowl and won 17 games the next 2 years, Duke and Stanford weren't good and Northwestern was doing okay, but not the level of success we were having. Richmond being in a similar situation to us at the FCS level, I'm sure Clawson thought we were a good model to follow at the time. The good thing is, I'm sure he's learned what's needed not only to be successful in that situation, but what's needed to sustain it. Hopefully he gets us back to that level and will use his experience to do what's needed to sustain it.

didn't northwestern go to the rose bowl in 1995?
 
At least one other WFU coaching staff held a similar 'webinar' earlier this semester. Pretty cool and important, I think. Alumni involvement is crucial for long-term success in college athletics.
 
Bz doesn't really need to hold a conference call with former players. He just needs to show up to practice.
 
Interesting tweet from AC:

Aaron Curry ‏@AaronCurry51 1m

#GoDeacs @FreshDeacs RT @CoachClawson: Very productive two weeks. Proud to be a Deac! Process of putting together a great staff. #GoDeacs
 
Is that Curry retweeting Claw saying "very productive two weeks?"

Who is @FreshDeacs?
 
Is that Curry retweeting Claw saying "very productive two weeks?"

Who is @FreshDeacs?

Yes.

There's a Fresh Deacs twitter account that is the account of the charitable work done by members of that era, I believe.
 
I think this is great from Coach Clawson, however l do not think it is that unheard of in college football. One of my friends was a former player at Illinois and they definitely make an effort to keep him involved.
 
Bz doesn't really need to hold a conference call with former players. He just needs to show up to practice.

Actually, I would prefer that Buzz stick to the scouting reports and let Battle, Chill and Rusty try actually to coach the players. Experience shows that this is probably the best use of the skill set our current staff has.
 
So does Clawson/Wake get any benefits/ penalties from changing head coaches in regards to recruits/practices? I now any player can transfer AWAY from Wake and play immediately at the new school. Does the opposite hold true as well? Do we get to start practice or get additional days to practice prior to the season?
 
So does Clawson/Wake get any benefits/ penalties from changing head coaches in regards to recruits/practices? I now any player can transfer AWAY from Wake and play immediately at the new school. Does the opposite hold true as well? Do we get to start practice or get additional days to practice prior to the season?

It's not true that any player can transfer away from Wake and play immediately. There are no special rules for a coach change at all.
 
I think this is great from Coach Clawson, however l do not think it is that unheard of in college football. One of my friends was a former player at Illinois and they definitely make an effort to keep him involved.

I'm not sure anyone is saying that it's unique--just that it's a step up from the way Wake has operated in the past. To Grobe's (and the alums') credit though, I understand that we had the highest turn out for a Spring reunion ever this past year. That said, there was strong sentiment that the former players have been underutilized. Clawson seems to understand that and is looking for ways to keep us involved--not the least of which is to have us as his eyes and ears for talent in our local communities.

As Ph mentioned, we have about as many former players as any other school so this could be a real asset for us in an area where we're on a level playing field with all other major college programs. And we can bring it full circle in Clawson's proposed Career Night which will bring home Clawson's value proposition point.
 
Great report. Many thanks Magic.
Think it's great for him to utilize the eyes and ears of former players to identify potential recruits.....legally.
In past years, I've sent messages about HS players I think would fit at Wake and never got a response. Very good move by Clawson to energize alums.

Do non players have any way to tip the staff onto someone? I am still sour about Wake totally missing on Andre Williams. He went to my high school. When he was being recruited he expressed a keen interest in going to a school with a strong med school and strong undergrad. How does Wake not target a guy like that? Literally the perfect recruit. Yet, no one from Wake approached him. I would have loved to tip the staff, but had no idea if it was possible.
 
Do non players have any way to tip the staff onto someone? I am still sour about Wake totally missing on Andre Williams. He went to my high school. When he was being recruited he expressed a keen interest in going to a school with a strong med school and strong undergrad. How does Wake not target a guy like that? Literally the perfect recruit. Yet, no one from Wake approached him. I would have loved to tip the staff, but had no idea if it was possible.

That makes me sad.
 
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