• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Coach Clawson conference call with former players

Barry Faircloth opened the line. Based on the beebs about 40 or so people joined the call.

Coach Clawson thanked us for joining and for our involvement in the program so far. He briefly recapped the year with the high points being that he was very proud of the team's effort but not proud of the results. He said that the roster was very "thin" and that at the end of the year they were playing with fewer than 50 scholarship players. He said that "we put ourselves in a position to win" and that they "established a culture" of winning. He said that we played very good on the defensive side of the ball and with better offensive play we could have been a bowl team.

He said that the major challenge now is building the roster. We have 20 commits currently and will "sign a full class of 25." He said that he does not put a lot of stock in rankings but that this is the highest ranked class in school history. We have to get better on the o-line. They signed 6 offensive linemen last year and redshirted 5 of them--mostly to get stronger. (More on this later).

They turned to the football reunion/spring game on the weekend of April 10. Barry talked about the golf event at Tanglewood, etc. and the networking event at Bridger that evening. We'll split into small groups based on expertise and allow the current players to talk to us about what we do, etc. They're hoping to get 300 football alumns for the reunion weekend.

Questions
How is progress coming on getting the team stronger?
Coach Clawson said that we went from a really weak team to just being below average. Said that we had offensive linemen that couldnt bench press 300lbs, which is why we needed to redshirt so many of them. It takes time and those guys have made great strides in the weight room. Said that we will be stronger next year and that if we're going to redshirt so many players that we need to be stronger than our opponents.

He mentioned that going into next year close to half of the 85 scholarships will be freshman and redshirt freshman.

When will you discuss the class?
On the night of national signing day, February 4 at 6pm at Bridger.

Update on the indoor facility?
Most of the dirt has been moved (95%) and weather permitting, will start building the foundation in two weeks. It's possible the facility will be done by early September.

What can we do to help recruiting?
This conversation turned from the general to a discussion of a few specific players that folks on the call wanted to bring up. Coach Clawson seemed aware of each one but obviously couldnt discuss anything in detail. He mentioned that he can't direct us to talk to anyone on behalf of Wake but that we're obviously free to talk to anyone that we have an existing relationship with.

What has led to the recruiting successes?
Right now, players realize that they have a great opportunity to come to Wake and play early. Soon, we'll be able to show the players that they can come and play for a winning program. Coach said that they "stay creative." That there is a dedicated person on staff who creates post cards, mailers, posters, etc. and he mentioned the social media angle. Stated that only a handful of schools have the proposition that Wake has. Said that one challenge is our recruiting map. That there may be a kid in our backyard with no aspirations of playing for Wake but a kid in Chicago that does. Said that we need to find those kids and go after them. Specifically he wants a class of 1/4 from NC, 2/3 from the SE and 1/3 from anywhere. Mentioned specifically a battle won last year for a RB from Arkansas that had offers from Arkansas and Ok State but who had a 3.9 and wanted an academic school.

Said that the involvement of parents is less and less every year but that we do better with those kids with parents that are involved.

Rounding out the class?
We're looking for a quarterback, a running back, a corner, another defensive back, and then the next best player we can find. Regarding running back, we have one commit but are "involved with 6 other kids." Said that "this is as big of a priority as we have right now." If we win 1 or 2 of those battles he'll be "jumping up and down."
 
Thanks so much MagicDeac!

One thought on the numbers in your post. I suspect that Clawson has mentally moved the 2015 early enrollees from 2015 to 2014. That might explain why is saying that we currently have 20 commits (versus 22).
 
Excellent recap. What are the territorial recruiting breakdowns again?
 
Anyone else more than a little bit alarmed that we're not on scholarship reduction and we were playing with fewer than 50 scholarship players at the end of the year? I had no idea that Grobe left teh cupboard THIS empty. Our O Lineman can't even lift 300 pounds? No wonder we can't move anyone off the ball.

I look forward to watching Clawson move this program forward. He's got a plan and as a fan, I'm buying in (for whatever that is worth).
 
Magic -

Mentioned specifically a battle won last year for a RB from Arkansas that had offers from Arkansas and Ok State but who had a 3.9 and wanted an academic school.
Click to expand...

The only kid on the roster from Arkansas is frosh LB Zack Wary. He must be who Coach was referring to.

MUCH thanks for that recap !
 
DeaconForever said:
Anyone else more than a little bit alarmed that we're not on scholarship reduction and we were playing with fewer than 50 scholarship players at the end of the year? I had no idea that Grobe left teh cupboard THIS empty. Our O Lineman can't even lift 300 pounds? No wonder we can't move anyone off the ball.

I look forward to watching Clawson move this program forward. He's got a plan and as a fan, I'm buying in (for whatever that is worth).
Click to expand...

Not alarmed, and not surprised. It is comforting to know how bare the cupboard was when Grobe left, because that helps explain why we have struggled to do anything on offense for the past 3-4 years. Recruiting is like breathing. If you stop doing it you die. Grobe stopped recruiting. I fully expect Clawson to have us back at a competitive level in 2-3 years, and the early returns are encouraging.
 
My perspective on the "less than 50" comment is this: 85 total scholarships. 25 freshman, almost all redshirting. Thus 60 or so scholarship players really available. We know at least a few players left before seasons end. 11 injured and the number of available scholarship guys is below 50. Injury doesn't have to be season ending, just game and/or practice missing in severity.

James Franklin has maintained that it takes 3 years to develop an offensive lineman. At least two starters on Wake's O line were below this level of time at Wake.

The weakness comment sounds like it's about the current freshmen more than the guys playing.
 
HONDO2 said:
Magic -



The only kid on the roster from Arkansas is frosh LB Zack Wary. He must be who Coach was referring to.

MUCH thanks for that recap !
Click to expand...

Yeah that's Wary. Stud LB and Stud student
 
Deaconblue said:
My perspective on the "less than 50" comment is this: 85 total scholarships. 25 freshman, almost all redshirting. Thus 60 or so scholarship players really available. We know at least a few players left before seasons end. 11 injured and the number of available scholarship guys is below 50. Injury doesn't have to be season ending, just game and/or practice missing in severity.

James Franklin has maintained that it takes 3 years to develop an offensive lineman. At least two starters on Wake's O line were below this level of time at Wake.

The weakness comment sounds like it's about the current freshmen more than the guys playing.
Click to expand...

Completely agree. Unless you are recruiting on Alabama's level, you are not bringing in true frosh OL that have the strength to compete on the D-1 level. There is a massive strength and technique difference between an 18 and 21 year old. Over his last 5 years, Grobe failed in recruiting D-1 level OL. There are some excuses (injuries to Ford, Summers and Heartsill; near misses on Cooper, Havenstein, Wilkes and Yankey among others), but the fact remains that the program tailed off because he and his staff failed to recruit and develop a competent OL (you could make a valid argument that WF had the least talented OL in all of D1 over the last couple of years). The failure in that one area kept the team from being competitive, and made it impossible for the offense to be productive despite some decent D-1 talent elsewhere.
 
Pilchard said:
Completely agree. Unless you are recruiting on Alabama's level, you are not bringing in true frosh OL that have the strength to compete on the D-1 level. There is a massive strength and technique difference between an 18 and 21 year old. Over his last 5 years, Grobe failed in recruiting D-1 level OL. There are some excuses (injuries to Ford, Summers and Heartsill; near misses on Cooper, Havenstein, Wilkes and Yankey among others), but the fact remains that the program tailed off because he and his staff failed to recruit and develop a competent OL (you could make a valid argument that WF had the least talented OL in all of D1 over the last couple of years). The failure in that one area kept the team from being competitive, and made it impossible for the offense to be productive despite some decent D-1 talent elsewhere.
Click to expand...

This is a strange post coming from Pilchard given how much he defended Grobe and our OL coaches from criticism.
 
PhDeac said:
This is a strange post coming from Pilchard given how much he defended Grobe and our OL coaches from criticism.
Click to expand...

Not true over the last few years. Grobe's misses on OL recruits that ended up being All-Americans and NFL high round draft picks has been well documented as was the injuries on the o-line (I have periodically detailed those issues). No one could reasonably debate the OL's failings. I have always questioned the Monday morning quarterbacking here claiming that play-calls were the root of WF's problems. As this year proved with a different staff, Bill Walsh could be calling the plays and WF was not going to score much on offense with this o-line. I have never claimed that Grobe did anything other than a poor job recruiting on the OL after he peaked in 2006-2008. That poor job has led the program to the hole that Clawson is now trying to get out of.

Grobe always recruited better on the defensive side than the offensive side, and that caught up with him.
 
Pilchard said:
Not true over the last few years. Grobe's misses on OL recruits that ended up being All-Americans and NFL high round draft picks has been well documented as was the injuries on the o-line (I have periodically detailed those issues). No one could reasonably debate the OL's failings. I have always questioned the Monday morning quarterbacking here claiming that play-calls were the root of WF's problems. As this year proved with a different staff, Bill Walsh could be calling the plays and WF was not going to score much on offense with this o-line. I have never claimed that Grobe did anything other than a poor job recruiting on the OL after he peaked in 2006-2008. That poor job has led the program to the hole that Clawson is now trying to get out of.

Grobe always recruited better on the defensive side than the offensive side, and that caught up with him.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Barry Faircloth...Guy is such a douche.
Total yahoo, IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top