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New LB Coach Hired: Glenn Spencer

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IAppreciateIt

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Tons of DC experience (most recently at USF - was fired in the middle of the season). Greg Jones demoted to defensive analyst.

https://godeacs.com/news/2022/2/7/f...-tabbed-as-demon-deacons-assistant-coach.aspx


Wake Forest head football coach Dave Clawson announced Monday that Glenn Spencer has been added to his coaching staff as the Demon Deacons linebackers coach.

"We are fortunate to get a football coach with Glenn's experience and pedigree to join our staff," Clawson said. "His familiarity with Brad Lambert, coaching at other schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference and recruiting experience around North Carolina and surrounding areas over the course of his career will help our program. He has a long history of coaching great linebackers and will bring another veteran presence to our staff."

"Wake Forest is a great institution and I am proud to join Coach Clawson and the entire staff in Winston-Salem," Spencer said. "I have deep roots in the southeast and look forward to competing and coaching in this premiere conference. What I enjoy about this game transcends more than what happens on the field. I enjoy being able to impact lives and create great relationships with student-athletes and their families."

Spencer comes to Winston-Salem with over three decades of college coaching experience and spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator coach at USF. Additionally, he coached the linebackers in 2020 with the Bulls and safeties in 2021.

Prior to his time in Tampa, Spencer spent the 2019 campaign at FAU as its defensive coordinator where he led the Owls defense to improve more than 40 spots in the national rankings in 10 defensive categories while FAU posted an 11-3 record and won the Conference USA championship.

Following Lane Kiffin's departure to be the head coach at Ole Miss, Spencer served as interim head coach for FAU's 52-28 Boca Raton Bowl victory over SMU, a game in which the defense gained two turnovers and returned a fumble for a touchdown. The Owls held SMU to 14 points through three quarters as FAU built a dominating 45-14 lead after scoring 33 straight points.

Before his one-year stint at FAU, Spencer spent eight seasons as a defensive coordinator at two different schools, leading the defense at Charlotte under the direction of Brad Lambert for one season (2018) and the Oklahoma State defense for seven (2011-17).

Hired as the Cowboys' defensive line coach in 2008, Spencer began coaching the linebackers in 2009. He coached linebackers for the remainder of his time in Stillwater and was named co-defensive coordinator in 2011 before taking on defensive coordinator responsibilities completely in 2013.

Prior to his time at OSU, Spencer served as assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Duke University (2004-06) for three seasons, where he coached the defensive backs and linebackers. He also coached at Georgia Tech (2001-03), and spent three years as head coach of the University of West Georgia Wolves (1998-2000).

Spencer began his coaching career at West Georgia, where he began as linebackers coach (1990-97) before becoming defensive coordinator (1997-98) for two seasons and then taking over as head coach for three seasons from 1998-2000. The Wolves went 28-7 with Spencer at the helm, including winning Gulf South Conference titles in 1998 and 2000. Spencer was named the NCAA Division II Region Coach of the Year in 1998 and led West Georgia to the NCAA Division II Playoffs in both 1998 and 2000. He was inducted into the West Georgia Hall of Fame in 2017.

A native of Douglasville, Ga., Spencer graduated from Georgia Tech in 1987 with a degree in management. He was a four-year letterman as a defensive tackle for the Yellow Jackets from 1982-85.

He has two sons, Luke and Abraham, and is married to recently retired ESPN college football and basketball reporter Jeannine Edwards.

With Spencer's hire, Greg Jones will become a defensive analyst on Wake Forest's football staff and work closely with defensive coordinator Brad Lambert.
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I don't know anything about this guy, but this feels like the type of thing that great leaders / programs pull off.
 
A bit of a dukie stench but otherwise very impressive
 
I'm excited about the impact these new coaches can have on recruiting. We need to take the next step there and Clawson seems to have assembled the staff to do it.
 
This dude has been involved with some terrible defenses but at least he know what doesn’t work.
 
We're pumping some serious money into the program. Keeping Greg Jones on staff as an analyst is a strong move too.
 
Generally, I am a proponent of finding someone young and hungry who is trying to prove themselves over someone who has been there and done that and is on the downslope of their career.

Clawson and Lambert probably feel that an experienced hire is what they need at the moment, but not having many younger coaches who can relate to recruits could come back and hurt us.
 
Resilient Deac said:
We're pumping some serious money into the program. Keeping Greg Jones on staff as an analyst is a strong move too.
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He's probably updating his resume as we speak. I'd be surprised if he's still here for the Fall unless he's got some strong ties to the area. Based on his bio, he doesn't have kids in school.
 
TimmyClutch said:
Generally, I am a proponent of finding someone young and hungry who is trying to prove themselves over someone who has been there and done that and is on the downslope of their career.

Clawson and Lambert probably feel that an experienced hire is what they need at the moment, but not having many younger coaches who can relate to recruits could come back and hurt us.
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I see your point, but at the same time 66 year old Kevin Higgins doesn't seem to be having any problems.
 
TimmyClutch said:
Generally, I am a proponent of finding someone young and hungry who is trying to prove themselves over someone who has been there and done that and is on the downslope of their career.

Clawson and Lambert probably feel that an experienced hire is what they need at the moment, but not having many younger coaches who can relate to recruits could come back and hurt us.
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I hear what you’re saying and I don’t disagree however having a guy with 30 years of relationships with HS coaches throughout the southeast probably isn’t a negative.
 
Watch us start reeling in high 3 stars and 4 star guys. I feel the shift.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I hear what you’re saying and I don’t disagree however having a guy with 30 years of relationships with HS coaches throughout the southeast probably isn’t a negative.
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Especially spending the last three seasons in Boca Raton and Tampa.
 
To be fair, we did attempt the "young and hungry" route with Greg Jones and the LB play was absolutely abysmal under him. Maybe this is an overcorrection in the opposite direction, but it's not like we have been lighting it up recruiting LBs. As long as Spencer is an upgrade as teacher/coach then I'm not going to be too worried about sacrificing "young and hungry" recruiting.
 
PhDeac said:
Especially spending the last three seasons in Boca Raton and Tampa.
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And all over Georgia for much of his career.

What were duke’s defensive recruits like with him as recruiting coordinator?
 
I think that the Peter principle is often at play in college football. If you can get experienced coaches to coach for you a rung below the responsibility level they struggled with you can sometimes get good results. It seems like that’s Saban’s MO with his coach rehab program. Certainly worked well with Higgins and Cohen who also seem to be two of our better recruiters for what that’s worth.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I think that the Peter principle is often at play in college football. If you can get experienced coaches to coach for you a rung below the responsibility level they struggled with you can sometimes get good results. It seems like that’s Saban’s MO with his coach rehab program. Certainly worked well with Higgins and Cohen who also seem to be two of our better recruiters for what that’s worth.
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This is a good post. Same would apply to Lambert at DC instead of head coach.
 
PhDeac said:
This is a good post. Same would apply to Lambert at DC instead of head coach.
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And Clawson has the opposite thing where he seems to be a better HC than coordinator. Just different skills.
 
TimmyClutch said:
Generally, I am a proponent of finding someone young and hungry who is trying to prove themselves over someone who has been there and done that and is on the downslope of their career.

Clawson and Lambert probably feel that an experienced hire is what they need at the moment, but not having many younger coaches who can relate to recruits could come back and hurt us.
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Makes sense in theory, but that's what we did with guys like Hemphill, Jones and Crawford. I do agree it's critical to make sure we aren't pulling in accomplished guys who come in without much drive but that's something you just gotta figure out through interviews / relationships.
 
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