I compare Wellman to Icarus. He climbed high and then his complacency (football program) and hubris (basketball) destroyed his legacy. He crashed and his legacy has burned.
In 2007 when Wake reached the Orange Bowl, Wellman's reputation and legacy was at an all-time high. People were ready to build a statue of the guy. What's happened since has been appalling. Prosser's passing was certainly no one's fault and hiring Dino was arguably the only thing to do at that time. However, Wellman's actions following Gaudio's hire have been inexplicable, inexcusable and have been drenched with aloofness, arrogance, and denial. His hiring of [name redacted] remains one of the worst hires in the modern era of college basketball and his refusal to correct it in a short amount of time has destroyed the Wake program.
On the football side, he got incredibly complacent and relaxed with Grobe and waited way to long to address the problems taking place within the program.
His hubris and pride have been evident in the way he's avoided scrutiny from fans, donors, and alumni. It was especially evident with his hire of [Redacted] - not conducting a real search, not vetting the candidate, and not having any type of oversight with the hire.
It's incredible that the President and BOT continue to allow the athletic program to slide from mediocrity to all out futility, but again there is no accountability at Wake Forest. He is praised for the buildings he's built and renovated, yet the programs who compete in those buildings have been obliterated by his actions.
8 years ago he had built a deserving reputation as a man who done some great things for Wake Forest. Whenever he steps away from WF, he will be remembered as the man who single-handedly killed Wake's signature athletic program and for a pride and arrogance that brought down the Wake Forest athletic department and his own reputation.