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Clawson Appreciation

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DeacAssured

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In the post game presser it is notable and very good of Dave Clawson to praise the large and loud showing of Wake Forest fans at the State game. Hopefully, many of our non alumni AND our alums will want to come out in large numbers for the Duke game with the same or increased volume.

Take note, Clawson also praised OC Waren Rugerrio and all the assistants. This year’s games have shown the fans a lot to enjoy including strong offensive performances. Only one more chance to see more of same including the final home game for Wolford, Ejiofor, Serigne, Dunn and others this Saturday.
 
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We are lucky to have Clawson and so glad he runs a classy program. My wife and I generally stay one night in Winston for home games and have stayed in the team hotel twice this year. Have met a few of the young men in the elevators and lobby, etc. To a man they are polite, respectful, look you in the eye, happy and appreciative of the fans. My wife now has a crush on Wendell Dunn.
 
Saturday night at work I had a UVA alumnus, who has season tickets to football, tell me that he thought that Clawson was the perfect coach for Wake.
After some thought, I could find no reason to disagree with that.
 
bluefish said:
Saturday night at work I had a UVA alumnus, who has season tickets to football, tell me that he thought that Clawson was the perfect coach for Wake.
After some thought, I could find no reason to disagree with that.
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I hope we can keep him. It really depends what he is looking for out of life. If he had solid years with the occasional 8-9 win year, he would be a hero at Wake and could coach here forever. If he wants the bright lights and attention of the football factories then I will wish him all the best. I wonder if his experience at UT may have soured him on the factories?
 
I really, really, really appreciate Coach Clawson
 
Clawson's got mostly a small private school background.

He's said to be very happy at MSD. :thumbsup:
 
BacktoBack said:
I hope we can keep him. It really depends what he is looking for out of life. If he had solid years with the occasional 8-9 win year, he would be a hero at Wake and could coach here forever. If he wants the bright lights and attention of the football factories then I will wish him all the best. I wonder if his experience at UT may have soured him on the factories?
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I think that when he took this job he said it would be his last one. I guess it comes down to whether or not we believe him.

I believe.
 
I don't think Clawson is leaving, yet. He's really gotten better recruits and his "pitch" seems to be working of great academics, great football. He mentioned that in his press conference when he was hired. Something to the effect of Wake's academic standards aren't a weakness in recruiting, they are a strength. We'll have a very veteran team, and while we'll miss John, Serigne, and NFL DE Duke, the QB replacing John has played some good football for us, and I'm sure anxious for his chance. Our WRs are going to be very good, very experienced, and deep. Also a good and veteran oline, next years team could really continue what we've built the last 2 seasons.

Are most/all of the RS seniors Grobe's guys?

I think Wake was lucky to have our last 3 football coaches, Caldwell, Grobe and Clawson. Whether or not the wins were there year after year, Unbelievable high character guys who do it the right way.
 
SDeacz said:
I don't think Clawson is leaving, yet. He's really gotten better recruits and his "pitch" seems to be working of great academics, great football. He mentioned that in his press conference when he was hired. Something to the effect of Wake's academic standards aren't a weakness in recruiting, they are a strength. We'll have a very veteran team, and while we'll miss John, Serigne, and NFL DE Duke, the QB replacing John has played some good football for us, and I'm sure anxious for his chance. Our WRs are going to be very good, very experienced, and deep. Also a good and veteran oline, next years team could really continue what we've built the last 2 seasons.

Are most/all of the RS seniors Grobe's guys?

I think Wake was lucky to have our last 3 football coaches, Caldwell, Grobe and Clawson. Whether or not the wins were there year after year, Unbelievable high character guys who do it the right way.
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We've got a lot of good players. Our run of winning 3 of the last 4 has been with some very key injuries and we've overcome them. We're losing 2 really good starting DE's in Duke and Dunn, but we are very good and deep at DE. Look at all the snaps Calhoun, Black and Basham have played this year. Also, true frosh Allen will be a red-shirt frosh next year and ready to play. We'll miss John, but Kendall is a very dynamic player and who knows Newton may makes great strides next year. Serigne will surely be missed, but that may open the playbook for some double slot formations with Dortch and Hines on the field at the same time. The secondary should be good I think next year with Bates and the experience our corners have gotten this year. Maybe the biggest keys will be linebacker play as Williams and Dawson will both be gone and who replaces Weaver at PK?
 
It's difficult to invision a better coach for WF. Clawson understands/appreciates the uniqueness of Wake and the academic challenges. He recruits accordingly. He also recruits diamonds in the rough and coaches them up quickly. (I am surprised at how well our young d-backs played Saturday, especially their tackling in the open field...not so very long ago it would require multiple players to get a runner or receiver down, Sat. we had numerous 1 on 1 tackles). Clawson seems to have a well-conceived plan for the development of the team and he is apparently hitting his target with lower rated players. That's what it takes at Wake and he is doing it. Plus, I very much appreciate his side-line demeanor.
 
SDeacz said:
I think Wake was lucky to have our last 3 football coaches, Caldwell, Grobe and Clawson. Whether or not the wins were there year after year, Unbelievable high character guys who do it the right way.
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Definitely.

Not to derail the thread, but it's amazing (or sickening, or both) to compare the 3 football hires above to our last 3 basketball hires considering the gap in tradition and resources between the two programs.
 
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SDeacz said:
I don't think Clawson is leaving, yet. He's really gotten better recruits and his "pitch" seems to be working of great academics, great football. He mentioned that in his press conference when he was hired. Something to the effect of Wake's academic standards aren't a weakness in recruiting, they are a strength. We'll have a very veteran team, and while we'll miss John, Serigne, and NFL DE Duke, the QB replacing John has played some good football for us, and I'm sure anxious for his chance. Our WRs are going to be very good, very experienced, and deep. Also a good and veteran oline, next years team could really continue what we've built the last 2 seasons.

Are most/all of the RS seniors Grobe's guys?

I think Wake was lucky to have our last 3 football coaches, Caldwell, Grobe and Clawson. Whether or not the wins were there year after year, Unbelievable high character guys who do it the right way.
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Sure. But there aren't many of them.

That 2013 class was weird. 4 OL. None are still on the roster. Only one played 4 years at Wake (Harris). Can't find anything about Michael Stevenson and he was one of the higher rated recruits.

Weird that given all the players Grobe played as true frosh presumably to save his job, he didn't play Cam, Duke, and Dunn. Lee plus Cam and Duke should make 3 NFL draftees from this class.
 
PhDeac said:
Sure. But there aren't many of them.

That 2013 class was weird. 4 OL. None are still on the roster. Only one played 4 years at Wake (Harris). Can't find anything about Michael Stevenson and he was one of the higher rated recruits.

Weird that given all the players Grobe played as true frosh presumably to save his job, he didn't play Cam, Duke, and Dunn. Lee plus Cam and Duke should make 3 NFL draftees from this class.
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I don't think it's weird. Riley Skinner was #3 on depth chart until 2 injuries happened. How you look/play as a high school kid or freshman in college is probably quite different than as a junior or senior. And it could have had something to do with perceived depth at the positions.
 
bluefish said:
Saturday night at work I had a UVA alumnus, who has season tickets to football, tell me that he thought that Clawson was the perfect coach for Wake.
After some thought, I could find no reason to disagree with that.
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Totally agree with this. There are very few schools that seem to be a good fit for Clawson and UVA could be one of them. I like Mendenhall and think he'll do very well there, so I think they have their guy.

Nonetheless, I agree that he's the perfect coach for WF. The program that Clawson inherited and rebuilt has been exhibiting everything I want from a HC and staff at WF: viewing a tough academic curriculum as a positive selling point to recruits; recruiting smart, high character players that don't have a lot of off-the-field issues; a redshirt philosophy that builds depth and gives us the best chance to win every week; leadership from the top down that always has the goal of improving each week, continuing to build on success of prior seasons and is never satisfied with where they are. Sure we'll have letdowns and setbacks along the way, but all programs do. He said he borrowed liberally from Grobe's program over the years while creating his own identity and establishing his coaching philosophy and it shows in a positive way imo.

I have no idea if or when he moves on, but you have to think there's a point in his life after bouncing around from school to school that he will want to follow through with a program he has rebuilt to see what kind of success is really achievable. Obviously, I hope he does that at WF. He's coaching in one of the top P5 conferences and one of the toughest P5 divisions and has a good chance to go 5-3 in the ACC and have an 8-4 regular season. Just outstanding considering WF's just a couple of seasons removed from 3-9 in consecutive seasons.
 
The offense has been huge and the defense has really hung tough. He reminds me a lot of Grobe, and I hope he can win us a title as well. We are still the last team from NC to win the ACC in football. :cam:
 
RaleighTriad said:
The offense has been huge and the defense has really hung tough. He reminds me a lot of Grobe, and I hope he can win us a title as well. We are still the last team from NC to win the ACC in football. :cam:
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One thing of the things that I like better about Clawson is how fiery is he during the games.
 
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