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Wake Forest Football Recruiting

I think it is pretty clear that Clawson is a “my way or the highway” guy. His style will definitely turn off some guys while appealing to other ones. I wish he could be a little more flexible when some guys butt up against him and end up transferring, but this is the coach he knows how to be and he is getting results we’ve never seen at Wake before. As long as he is working in good faith (I.e. not misrepresenting himself and what his style is) with the players and as long as we are winning 6-9 games a year (nice) it’s hard for me to get too worked up about the personality conflicts at this point.

It was really fucking petty to leave KWIII off the All ACC list though.
 
CamLemons said:
Elko is more of a financial issue, Santucci and Hourigan(Vandy isn't paying a hell of a lot more than Wake for the same position given their financial issues)

From anecdote to anecdote it isn't just Clawson but specifically, that was regarded as a dick move and players didn't really care for that. Again that's on the "lesser end" of things but it's not the first or last time we'll see clawson be a dick(while publicly saying all the right things)
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I see your last point, definitely think its lower on the list.

Didn't Santucci leave us in 2019 for aTm as the LB coach where he is once again working under Elko (one of the highest paid DCs in college) and can pay assistants top dollar?

Hourigan makes the most sense to complain about, but I doubt he delves information to WF players that "I am getting out of here due to culture issue and Lea is such a better coach to work for." Vandy may not be able to pay much more than Wake, but Lea can allocate more $$ to the strength coach while taking salary away from the WR and DL coach.
 
Complacent Deac said:
You're not a big Clawson fan. I'd argue he has done incredibly well, especially since we had UNREAL Wakeyleaks to start his tenure.

Grobe completely rejuvenated the program after the Caldwell (nearly equal to Buzz or Manning) disaster.

Then after 2011 at Clemson, an actual choke missing the chippy FG, Grobe just sort of "ah shucks" and couldn't get it done.

So, Claw stepped into a mess, plus Wakeyleaks, seems like he has done a great job.

He appears to be a good guy, too. Can't imagine he is ok with some sort of culture issue in the program.
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Clawson on the field has done a pretty good job and I can't take that away from him. The team was a dumpster fire when I started at Wake and now they hit bowl games every year. Great on him and he deserves the kudos for that.

My issues with him lie with a) the what's next for the program as I(and I know he does as well) am not content with 7-8 wins a season and the team either just throwing up on itself when it has a chance to break through or just having an obscene amount of injuries to one or two groups. On year 7 this is the most important off-season and season that he's had and I've written about that as well and don't think it should be an issue to want more after a baseline has been established.

b) I have an issues with how a ton of stuff behind the scenes have been handled. My annoyance with the roster and depth chart last year was pretty much on full display and I get it with Wakeyleaks being careful about what info you put out etc, etc. At a certain point they literally just put out the same depth chart a few weeks in a row that was carbon copies and who actually played was completely different week to week. Competitive advantage is whatever but you can't give a heads up to people who write or go to the games that "hey we're gonna be without x amount of people today" like a vast majority of the teams in the league did? And from a personnel perspective, I know for a fact grudges are held which cause a shortcoming of performance. That to me is not ok, whether you like a guy or not put the best people on the field.

I kind of get the same sort of push back I do when I talk about Sam Hartman. You can recognize the flaws in someone without saying they're horrible. Do I think Hartman is the worst QB ever? no. Does he have maddeningly inconsistent plays both week to week and even during the same game? Absolutely. Do I think Clawson is the devil and a terrible coach? Not in the slightest. Do I think and know that behind the scenes stuff he puts out to the media can be nothing but bullshit at times? 100%. Always fun when he tells you a player is close to coming back and after they miss a game say they were close to playing, but you know they have a torn acl and will be out for months
 
CamLemons said:
Clawson on the field has done a pretty good job and I can't take that away from him. The team was a dumpster fire when I started at Wake and now they hit bowl games every year. Great on him and he deserves the kudos for that.

My issues with him lie with a) the what's next for the program as I(and I know he does as well) am not content with 7-8 wins a season and the team either just throwing up on itself when it has a chance to break through or just having an obscene amount of injuries to one or two groups. On year 7 this is the most important off-season and season that he's had and I've written about that as well and don't think it should be an issue to want more after a baseline has been established.

b) I have an issues with how a ton of stuff behind the scenes have been handled. My annoyance with the roster and depth chart last year was pretty much on full display and I get it with Wakeyleaks being careful about what info you put out etc, etc. At a certain point they literally just put out the same depth chart a few weeks in a row that was carbon copies and who actually played was completely different week to week. Competitive advantage is whatever but you can't give a heads up to people who write or go to the games that "hey we're gonna be without x amount of people today" like a vast majority of the teams in the league did? And from a personnel perspective, I know for a fact grudges are held which cause a shortcoming of performance. That to me is not ok, whether you like a guy or not put the best people on the field.

I kind of get the same sort of push back I do when I talk about Sam Hartman. You can recognize the flaws in someone without saying they're horrible. Do I think Hartman is the worst QB ever? no. Does he have maddeningly inconsistent plays both week to week and even during the same game? Absolutely. Do I think Clawson is the devil and a terrible coach? Not in the slightest. Do I think and know that behind the scenes stuff he puts out to the media can be nothing but bullshit at times? 100%. Always fun when he tells you a player is close to coming back and after they miss a game say they were close to playing, but you know they have a torn acl and will be out for months
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Speaking of Hartman, I can't wait until spring to see if Kern and Griffis can provide a little competitive nudge. Clawson has shown that you have to earn starting spots no matter who you are. *cough* transfers *cough*
 
It’s incredibly hard to be a successful coach in any D1 sport without being somewhat of a “dick”. I’m sure some of the stuff he’s done can be considered petty, but he runs a program that doesn’t overcruit, doesn’t make false promises to players/families, etc. Those are the types of things that “dick” coaches do. We also have quite a few younger brothers of current players committed to Wake. Every situation is different, but I’d say if Clawson was running a toxic program our current players wouldn’t be in younger brothers/former teammates ears on coming to Wake.
 
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Supposedly Alabama’s class is the best ever signed on paper. Will be hard to duplicate what their 2017 class did on the field though.
 
They also landed the number 1 DB in the country whose nickname is fuckin “Kool-Aid” which is just fantastic.
 
WRS said:
They also landed the number 1 DB in the country whose nickname is fuckin “Kool-Aid” which is just fantastic.
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Without looking it up, I think his birth name is something like Jaquincey McCinstrey
 
CamLemons said:
NC State/Wisconsin/UNC in 2020, Louisville/Cuse/Michigan state in 2019. All just complete throws. You can make a case that NC State was them just covering for having 3 healthy safeties but all in all I view those 6 as games they just shouldn't have lost and were kind of just meltdowns across the board
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Wake wins half of these six "throws" (at a minimum) with competent defensive showings.

Not even good defense, mind you. Just competent.

And I appreciate Cam sharing what he hears from his friends on the team but everyone should keep in mind that's only one side of the story.

But now it makes more sense why he bristles at any criticism of the defensive performance and/or staff.
 
Florida HS will start football soon. Some counties are not testing players nor maintaining separation, against advice off their medical advisors.
 
socaldeac said:
The college football landscape has changed. I would assume schools like Wake will potentially lose their top performing players (3 star recruits) to elite programs, and Wake will gain underperforming 4 and 5 star players from top programs. This is all a result of how easy it is to transfer. Also, now football players will put into the equation not only making it to the NFL, but how much money they can make at a particular school because of endorsements. It seems many students now get masters degrees. Depending on your interests there is an opportunity actually to graduate with a bachelors, gain a different experience or expertise in a particular major by leveraging football. Imagine if a Wake football degree could get you a fifth year at Stanford where you could begin an MBA or masters program in the area of technology, then land a job in Silicon Valley as opposed to Wilksboro. Lots of options for these kids and they can still get a degree from mother so dear. Ultimately, Clawson is an innovator, open to change, and I think he will navigate these opportunities/ challenges better than most coaches; hence, expect Wake to be better not worse on the football field.
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I’d rather be in Wilkes but that’s me
 
Colonel Angus said:
Wake wins half of these six "throws" (at a minimum) with competent defensive showings.

Not even good defense, mind you. Just competent.

And I appreciate Cam sharing what he hears from his friends on the team but everyone should keep in mind that's only one side of the story.

But now it makes more sense why he bristles at any criticism of the defensive performance and/or staff.
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i'll say this nicely:

how the fuck does me having friends both offensive and defensive make sense when I say the defense isn't the only thing to blame?


My entire argument has and always will be this: for as much crap we give the defense, when the offense goes completely inept like it has an affinity to do(Wake was 96th in Success rate which is one of the best measure of sustaining an offense) we just kinda blink an eye and go "well maybe if you ran more trick plays and WR passes we wouldn't have that issue" vs when the defense has an issue it's a fundamental thing and everyone needs to be fired and replaced.

If they defend outside zone better do they win against state? Probably. But Wake also scored points on 2 of the 8 possessions they had in the 2nd half. The other TD was a pick six. Dont punt 3 times, fumble, and turn it over on downs twice. That's not asking for elite offense that's asking you to be elite that's asking you to not be incomeptent. Defense actually as a whole played very well against wisconsin just an outright aberration game from Hartman. UNC, the only defense to stop them was ND and there was a lot of Nick Andersen getting absolutely torched. If Wake just runs the ball when they're bleeding players both at receiver and safety(Greene/Perry/Rucker/Greer/Masterson/Keith all hurt) or don't go from 6:56 in the 3rd to 57 second in the fourth without scoring a single point they also probably win that game. Louisville both sides of the team just stunk but if the defense doesn't hard bite on a 4th and short then things are different. Cuse was an absolute abomination and the team lost on a pick six on the goal line and even had Sciba miss a kick. For every defensive lapse there, you can point to either QB throwing a disgusting pick. Michigan State the defense literally kept them in it and let up 7 points the entire 2nd half and the offense couldn't do anything.

Is it one side from the players? Absolutely. But I also ask myself what certain players have to gain by saying some of the things they do. For guys earlier in the tenure like a Cortez or Tabari, if they told me something(not saying they did) a bit more of an incentive for guys feeling like their spot is taken/were definitely a bit less... focused on football. Guys once you're 5,6, 7 years into the tenure? Whole different ball game
 
Resilient Deac said:
We should be getting half of those every single year. Not a single reason I can think of for why our team isn't stacked full of 5 starsss
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Ummmmmm. How many of those Alabama 5 stars could qualify to get into Wake?
How many could stay at Wake more than a semester?
 
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