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Jim Grobe on Wake Football, Lambert (Awesome Interview on WSJS)

Grobe had a press conference announcing his departure which given the circumstances already makes it a pretty smooth departure, imo. I'm sure Grobe could have maybe done a better job of advocating for facilities but I think the assistant coaching was the biggest issue towards the end of his tenure. I think at a certain point, you just want to work with people you know, like and trust and are willing to overlook deficiencies.

ETA: Abster beat me to it
 
DownEastDeac said:
Sidebar: never liked the "Grobie" nickname; guessing he doesn't either. Not sure I've ever heard it in public or seen it in print other than on this board. Kinda silly way to refer to a grown man of some accomplishment.

Downie
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I believe his family, friends, and associates affectionately call him "Grobie" so I don't think he has an issue with it.

I just wish he had continued to recruit key visitation weekends instead of playing so much golf.
 
DownEastDeac said:
Sidebar: never liked the "Grobie" nickname; guessing he doesn't either. Not sure I've ever heard it in public or seen it in print other than on this board. Kinda silly way to refer to a grown man of some accomplishment.

Downie
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His assistants called him that when the staff arrived here, so I'm gonna disagree with you on that.
 
TheAbster said:
Have a ton of respect for what Jim Grobe brought to Wake Forest football. And having met him a few times, he's an extremely nice person. I don't know the specifics regarding facilities but I do think that his unwillingness (almost defiance) to make coaching changes did not help his longevity. Clawson will obviously pull the trigger and make improvements where needed. Grobe appeared hell-bent-and-determined to ride the Lobo horse into retirement.

Also, this past fall, Clawson was asked about Grobe and he made an interesting comment that "... you have to keep feeding this thing." Obviously, he didn't mention Grobe by name, nor should he, but it was clear the contrast he was making. So, I don't know if he was referring to recruiting, coaches, facilities or all of the above.
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Yep Lobe was awful and the option offense with Tanner Price that they put in was really bad but they kept running it. Made no sense.
 
I remember seeing that Ohio fans called him Grobie.
 
deacondamo said:
We did get Deacon Tower out of it, right? That was a HUGE facilities improvement at the time.

ETA: We also got the video board during Grobe. I guess I understand the campus improvements are more of a day to day deal that help recruiting and retaining players. Bottom line, we were getting some nice facilities upgrades during the Grobe years.
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Right. That’s not nothing. These things take some time. You have to be faithful to the process, and a good salesman will achieve those results ahead of schedule.

Look at Tom Walter for example. His results have been average at best, but his facility improvements are outstanding. It’s what keeps him around along with the goodwill of the Kevin Jordan story.

I love Jim Grobe, and I respect and appreciate what he accomplished here. We’re not where we are today without him.

I just have very little patience for the excuses that came out at the end of his time here. Reminds me of the end of the Odom era. At some point you have to accept your responsibility for failures. Wake doesn’t really owe Grobe anything. My hunch is that the wounds are healing and that relationship will be fine going forward. We’ve pretty well proven to have good relationships with past coaches like Odom and Caldwell. We’ve even gotten Charlie Davis back on board and his grievances were much more pronounced than Grobe. I would expect that he’s going to get his HOF induction whenever he wants it. Seems like he’s probably letting his players get their recognition first, and I respect and admire that.
 
I remember reading somewhere that Skip's death really affected him in terms of how much time he wanted to spend recruiting vs. being with his family. Which makes total sense, though you can't expect to keep your job if you're not putting in the time required.
 
ProfessorDeac said:
I remember reading somewhere that Skip's death really affected him in terms of how much time he wanted to spend recruiting vs. being with his family. Which makes total sense, though you can't expect to keep your job if you're not putting in the time required.
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I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t. They seemed very close and it would certainly change my priorities. I’m not mad him for that, but let’s not pretend that he wasn’t being supported.
 
And the issues with Grobe were that he was spending too much time on the golf course and his family was his OC.
 
saus21 said:
Love Grobe although I think last few years he lost the fire in his belly for whatever reason. I remember Clawson commenting when he got the job how the players needed to spend more time in the weight room.
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I’ve said this before on these boards but John Wolford confirmed this sentiment when I spoke to him at fan appreciation day or whatever. It was clear as a brand new freshman he hadn’t learned to be filtered with his comments. I asked him about his recruitment and he said Grobe or the Grobe staff was “lazy.”

In response I just sort of stood there like
 
I’ve been a WF fan a very long time. Grobe transformed WF football as soon as he got here. He went down and won at ECU when they were good and went from 3 win seasons to 6. Then he took us to 11, 9, and 8. I’ll always be appreciative of what he did. Like Odom, it was time for him to move on but that doesn’t diminish his achievements.
 
I feel like I remember that McCreary told Wellman that he was not giving anymore money to the program ie. Indoor practice center until Grobe and co., were let go. Not sure why I remember it that way....
 
I hadn't really realized Grobe wasn't already in the HOF. I think yesterday would have been appropriate timing. Any timing on that from tomorrow on would be appropriate IMO.
 
Grobe’s boss was Ron Wellman, Mr. Complacent himself.

Why would anyone keep the fire in their belly when their boss doesn’t do the same?
 
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