This is why I am having a hard time for this season. I feel like Clawson sold the team and fans out for some reason last year and insisted on playing Griffis until the pressure and losses mounted forcing him to make a change.
I have not heard any reasonable explanation of why he chose to stick with Griffis for so long. Clawson is very intelligent and knows far more about football than I do but it was apparent to even the most casual fan that at best Griffis was QB3.
I am afraid we will pay for that decision for years to come. I hope Clawson gets things turned around and the season is a success but that is not my expectation
I'm not as pessimistic. Yes the evaluation of the QB situation in 2023 was not good. However, at least part if that was massive differences between the performance of Mitch in live games in 2023 and his performance in his start in 2022 and his work in practices and spring games. Apparently Mitch looked like QB1 while wearing the green jersey, but became a very different guy when the guys in other color shirts were coming after him for serious.
Best guess is that coaches thought he was having "stage fright" because he hadn't played in live football games in several years. So, a few games to get over the stage fright seemed pretty reasonable. He never did get over it, I amsure to the puzzlement of the staff (and quite possibly Mitch himself).
Kern wasn't healthy for much of the season. An injured Kern wasn't playable.
Marucci benefitted from a series of massive brain farts by Pitt. His game winning TD pass was a shoe topper that the receiver made an incredible effort to catch. The receiver was open. That pass should have been to the numbers, not the shins.
The staff recognized that what they did last year didn't work. So they are doing things differently this spring.
1. QB from the portal. First one in the Clawson era. Likely starter, as Kern is injured.
2. Revised practice format. Two fields running in parallel. More reps for guys not first string should lead to faster development.
3. Planning on playing more and redshirting fewer freshmen.
4. Changes in the playbook. There were plays in the spring game that I had not seen run by Wake in the Clawson era.
5. Two healthy starting offensive tackles. There was a comment that one of the two starting tackles in 2023 had an injury that restricted him to playing one side. That is not an issue this year. Also, grad transfer OT brought in to improve the position. Another first in the Clawson era.
Clawson recognized that what happened last year was not good. So he changed a bunch of stuff in preparation for 2024. On 2023 his system broke. He made changes for 2024. Now we will see if they are the correct ones to fix what broke.
