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#16 NCSU at #12 Wake, 11/13 - 7:30p ACCN

Meeting up with my grown son for our first home WF game since the loss to BC knocked us out of the ACCCG in 2008

How enthusiastically do they enforce the no glass rule in the tailgate lots?
 
By Dane Huffman – Managing Editor, Triangle Business Journal
3 hours ago
WHEN WAKE FOREST SNUBBED LOMBARDI: Wake Forest University has only won two Atlantic Coast Conference football championships, and N.C. State University hasn't won the ACC title since 1979, so interest is high ahead of Saturday's game between the two teams in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest's only titles came in 1970 and 2006 — and it's interesting to wonder how the Deacons' fortunes would have turned out if they'd hired Vince Lombardi when they had the chance.

According to multiple accounts, Lombardi was a successful NFL assistant coach with the New York Giants but was eager to become a head coach. He applied for the position at Wake Forest and "was confident he was the most qualified for the job," according to one biographer.

But at a time when the South was segregated, Lombardi's Italian heritage hurt him. Lombardi heard from a friend who was on the inside at Wake Forest and told him the school "will never hire a coach whose last name ends in a vowel."

Wake Forest hired Paul Amen, who went 11-26-3 over four years, and the Deacons went on to decades of mediocrity in football.

Lombardi eventually landed the only head coaching job he could, with the hapless Green Bay Packers — and turned the Packers into the dominant team of the 1960s.
 
thatguy2016 said:
Meeting up with my grown son for our first home WF game since the loss to BC knocked us out of the ACCCG in 2008

How enthusiastically do they enforce the no glass rule in the tailgate lots?
Click to expand...

If you aren’t in the student lot - don’t think they really care.
 
Saint said:
By Dane Huffman – Managing Editor, Triangle Business Journal
3 hours ago
WHEN WAKE FOREST SNUBBED LOMBARDI: Wake Forest University has only won two Atlantic Coast Conference football championships, and N.C. State University hasn't won the ACC title since 1979, so interest is high ahead of Saturday's game between the two teams in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest's only titles came in 1970 and 2006 — and it's interesting to wonder how the Deacons' fortunes would have turned out if they'd hired Vince Lombardi when they had the chance.

According to multiple accounts, Lombardi was a successful NFL assistant coach with the New York Giants but was eager to become a head coach. He applied for the position at Wake Forest and "was confident he was the most qualified for the job," according to one biographer.

But at a time when the South was segregated, Lombardi's Italian heritage hurt him. Lombardi heard from a friend who was on the inside at Wake Forest and told him the school "will never hire a coach whose last name ends in a vowel."

Wake Forest hired Paul Amen, who went 11-26-3 over four years, and the Deacons went on to decades of mediocrity in football.

Lombardi eventually landed the only head coaching job he could, with the hapless Green Bay Packers — and turned the Packers into the dominant team of the 1960s.
Click to expand...

This sounds just weird enough to be true.
 
Saint said:
By Dane Huffman – Managing Editor, Triangle Business Journal
3 hours ago
WHEN WAKE FOREST SNUBBED LOMBARDI: Wake Forest University has only won two Atlantic Coast Conference football championships, and N.C. State University hasn't won the ACC title since 1979, so interest is high ahead of Saturday's game between the two teams in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest's only titles came in 1970 and 2006 — and it's interesting to wonder how the Deacons' fortunes would have turned out if they'd hired Vince Lombardi when they had the chance.

According to multiple accounts, Lombardi was a successful NFL assistant coach with the New York Giants but was eager to become a head coach. He applied for the position at Wake Forest and "was confident he was the most qualified for the job," according to one biographer.

But at a time when the South was segregated, Lombardi's Italian heritage hurt him. Lombardi heard from a friend who was on the inside at Wake Forest and told him the school "will never hire a coach whose last name ends in a vowel."

Wake Forest hired Paul Amen, who went 11-26-3 over four years, and the Deacons went on to decades of mediocrity in football.

Lombardi eventually landed the only head coaching job he could, with the hapless Green Bay Packers — and turned the Packers into the dominant team of the 1960s.
Click to expand...

On the basketball side, was it Lew Alcindor, Artis Gilmore or both who supposedly came close to being Deacs?
If true, makes the Tom Hamilton and Harry Giles non-signings look like not landing the best player from the local Y.
 
DownEastDeac said:
On the basketball side, was it Lew Alcindor, Artis Gilmore or both who supposedly came close to being Deacs?
If true, makes the Tom Hamilton and Harry Giles non-signings look like not landing the best player from the local Y.
Click to expand...

Gilmore.
 
Relishing in our past failures is this board’s favorite hobby Present company included.

Call it a collective coping mechanism. Misery loves company. Hopefully tomorrow we have some collective joy.
 
WHEN WAKE FOREST SNUBBED LOMBARDI

I first learned about this when I read a biography of Vince Lombardi twenty years ago and it is consistent with Duane Huffman's article.
 
Back in those days, a coach named Amen would have beat every candidate except Christ.
 
Last edited:
bluefish said:
Gilmore.
Click to expand...

Gilmore played two years at Gardner-Webb and played against our Freshmen teams in 67-68 and 68-69. He would have come to Wake, but the ACC (meaning UNC) changed the transfer rules for junior college transfers which blocked him. Of course, the ACC (meaning UNC) eased the JC transfer rules just in time for Bob McAdoo to enroll in UNC in 1971.

I heard via word of mouth that Alcindor was interested but wanted $250,000 to come to Wake.
 
$250K? In today’s money? That was several times the average NBA salary in the 70s.
 
WFU71 said:
Gilmore played two years at Gardner-Webb and played against our Freshmen teams in 67-68 and 68-69. He would have come to Wake, but the ACC (meaning UNC) changed the transfer rules for junior college transfers which blocked him. Of course, the ACC (meaning UNC) eased the JC transfer rules just in time for Bob McAdoo to enroll in UNC in 1971.

I heard via word of mouth that Alcindor was interested but wanted $250,000 to come to Wake.
Click to expand...

Two years paid for by Wake.
 
DownEastDeac said:
On the basketball side, was it Lew Alcindor, Artis Gilmore or both who supposedly came close to being Deacs?
If true, makes the Tom Hamilton and Harry Giles non-signings look like not landing the best player from the local Y.
Click to expand...

The story was that Wake thought Lew Alcindor was coming and he was supposed to land in Winston but was not on the plane and in LA instead.

Dominique Wilkens was the high school teammate of Alvis Rogers. There was some talk about his recruitment and how we missed but not to the level of Kareem.

About Lombardi, I'll say this seriously, rjkarl knows a lot of Wake history and I don't recall him ever mentioning this Lombardi thing and it's the first I've heard of this in my 42 year association with Wake Forest. NFL assistant wants to be a head coach so badly he would take a HC job at Wake, ummm right.

Army (1949–1953) (assistant)
New York Giants (1954–1958) (Offensive coordinator)
Green Bay Packers (1959–1968) (Head coach)

1956 1956 Paul Amen 2 5 3 1 5 1 7th — — —
1957 1957 0 10 0 0 7 0 8th — — —
1958 1958 3 7 0 2 4 0 6th — — —
1959 1959

1954 1954 NFL Eastern — 3rd 7 5 0 — — Jim Lee Howell
1955 1955 NFL Eastern — 3rd 6 5 1 — —
1956 1956 NFL NFL champions Eastern * — 1st * 8 3 1 Won NFL Championship (4) (Bears) 47–7 NFL champions Frank Gifford (NFL MVP)[9]

Plausible maybe. Giants were not great in the two years prior to Wake's coaching change. Not sure if 3rd makes you successful. Giants win the championship in 56 and Lombardi goes to the Packer two years later.

Could it be possible, sure based on timelines, is it likely no. Given the millions of posts on Wake boards over nearly 40 years, this just shows up now, this would be a story that would seem to be told over and over again. Kareem, heard about that for decades.
 
I’ve seen the Lombardi story mentioned here several times over the years. Like somebody said above it’s told in Lombardi’s biography.
 
I've heard the Lombardi story many times over the years. That doesn't mean its true but it certainly isn't something new.
 
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