Tag: Dave Clawson

Wake Forest becomes second ACC football team in North Carolina to undergo coaching change

A second in-state Duke football rival will hire a new coach after Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson made the decision to step down.

Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson will step away from his position at the helm of the Demon Deacons, according to a Monday report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Clawson finished the 2024 season with a second straight 4-8 record, and Wake Forest has won three conference games over the past two seasons. He led the Demon Deacons to seven straight bowl appearances from 2016-22, including an 11-win season in 2021, but the program failed to find its footing since the transfer of longtime quarterback Sam Hartman.

“Clawson is expected to remain with the university in an advisory role,” Thamel wrote, “and the decision to step down was his.”

Clawson will end his 11-year tenure with a 67-69 record, the third-most wins in program history, and no other Wake Forest coach can match his five bowl victories.

The timing of this decision means his final game as head coach will be the Week 14 loss to Duke when [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] on the final play of the game, the final touch on a 14-point comeback.

Wake Forest becomes the second ACC school within the state to need a new head football coach. The North Carolina Tar Heels fired Mack Brown, the winningest coach in school history, after a 6-6 season, but UNC already found legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick to replace him.

‘Back to looking like Clemson’: Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson impressed with Tigers

Dave Clawson was not short on praise for the Clemson Tigers ahead of Saturday’s Week 7 matchup.

Count Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson as being impressed by what he’s seen so far from the Clemson Tigers.

The Demon Deacons’ coach, now in his 11th season in Winston-Salem, offered no shortage of high praise for Dabo Swinney and his team at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Clawson called the Tigers a “complete football team” and “the most dominant program in the ACC over the last decade.”

“What Dabo has built at Clemson, to me the consistency of it, the championship level program that he built and has been able to maintain, is one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the whole country,” Clawson said.

Clawson pointed to quarterback Cade Klubnik and marveled at his improvement from last season. Through five games, Klubnik has thrown for 1,219 yards and 14 touchdowns to two interceptions. He’s also ran for 168 yards on 28 carries, including two long touchdown runs against NC State in Week 4 and a week later against Stanford.

“I don’t know what they did to him in the offseason down there, but he looks bigger, stronger and faster. He’s a good pocket passer, but what really scares you is some of the plays he makes with his feet,” Clawson said, highlighting Klubnik’s touchdown run against NC State on the first possession in the Tigers’ 59-35 rout of the Wolfpack.

Clawson also singled out tailback Phil Mafah, who had a season-high 154 rushing yards in last week’s 29-13 Clemson win at Florida State. “You try to arm-tackle him and it’s not going to turn out too well,” he said.

The Tigers’ wide receiver corps drew particular praise from Clawson.

“To me, they’re back to looking like Clemson,” he said while pointing out Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore. “When I first got here, this was Wide Receiver U., and I think it kind of fell off a bit and now it looks like they’re coming back to where they were.”

On the biggest difference in what he’s seen from the Tigers so far this year, Clawson pointed to the offensive line.

“They’ve got 113 career starts. It’s a veteran group, and coaching matters,” he said. “It’s a veteran offensive line coach they hired in Matt Luke who has done a phenomenal job with them. These guys are playing physically, assertively and with confidence. The way they take the ball and point things out, the physicality that they’re playing with, and what that allows them to do is be balanced.

“This is now a football team that can run and throw the football and they can beat you either way. Those are the teams you hate playing against. So, whatever tweaking they did in the offseason with (Garrett Riley) and (Matt Luke), I think they’ve found their sweet spot.

“I’d enjoy watching it if we didn’t have to play against it,” Clawson said jokingly.

On defense, Clawson said that Clemson was “still Clemson.” He mentioned the play of defensive end T.J. Parker and called linebacker Barrett Carter “one of the best linebackers in the country.”

“It’s always one of the top units in the country,” Clawson said of the Tigers’ defense. “It starts up front for them; it always has. Every defensive lineman that starts for them is over 300 pounds and where they’re most impressive is the depth. They have nine guys that are averaging over 25 plays per game.”

Clemson and Wake Forest will kick off at noon ET Saturday in Winston-Salem. The game can be seen on ESPN. The Tigers are ranked No. 10 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll.

The Tigers have won 15 straight in the series with Wake Forest dating back to 2009. Two years ago, Clemson outlasted the Deacs in a 51-45 double-overtime victory in a game that saw both teams ranked in the Top 25; the Tigers were ranked No. 5, Wake Forest No. 21.

“Always a tough matchup, but always a great challenge,” Clawson said of playing Clemson. “The last two years, it’s been a very competitive football game. We need people to show up and wear black. We had a home field advantage in this stadium two years ago and it helped, and it would be great if we had it again.

How former Tennessee coaches voted Vols in final 2023 US LBM Coaches Poll

A look at how former Tennessee football coaches voted the Vols in their final 2023 Coaches Poll ballot.

The 2023 college football season concluded on Monday.

Michigan defeated Washington, 34-13, in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Tennessee finished its 2023 season with a 9-4 (4-4 SEC) record under third-year head coach Josh Heupel.

Following the conclusion of the 2023 season on Monday, the US LBM Coaches Poll was released after the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Tennessee finished the season ranked No. 17 and received 529 points.

Former Tennessee head coaches and assistants, who are now serving as head coaches at other schools, voted in the US LBM Coaches Poll during the 2023 season.

Below are how Dave Clawson, Stan Drayton, Alex Golesh, Tyson Helton, Brady Hoke and Butch Jones voted Tennessee in their final ballot for the 2023 season.

‘You only dated him’: Wake Forest head coach on Notre Dame honoring Sam Hartman on senior night

“You only dated him,” Demon Deacons head coach Dave Clawson said when he heard what the Fighting Irish said about his former quarterback.

Notre Dame honored quarterback Sam Hartman on senior night with a heartfelt video edited to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, Hartman’s former coach and his opponent on Saturday, was less moved than the Fighting Irish faithful.

Clawson, who coached Hartman for five years with the Demon Deacons before the quarterback transferred this offseason, questioned whether a team Hartman only spent a year with could offer such sentiment.

“Here’s a guy that we recruited and we developed,” Clawson said. “Like, you only dated him for a couple of months. It can’t be love. We’re the ones that love him. We had five years with him. You rented him for a season.”

Clawson added to his comments with how the transfer portal created such a situation.

“When that video played, it’s just like, ‘Holy cow, this is where college football is,’” he said.

Hartman threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-7 victory over his former team.

Wake Forest head coach critical of Notre Dame’s send off for Sam Hartman

Tell us how you really feel Dave

Wake Forest head coach [autotag]Dave Clawson[/autotag] watched quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] orchestrate his offense at an extremely high level before he finished off his career with Notre Dame in front of him.

Like a bitter ex, Clawson wasn’t overtly happy with the way the Irish handled Hartman’s final home game as a collegiate player. The Demon Deacon’s coach claims that Notre Dame “rented him for a season” and “now they love him,” following a video board tribute.

He starts off by saying that won’t complain about it, the transfer portal, then goes on to complain about it. Clawson understands why Hartman left, then goes on to say it was about the money, which was surely part of the reason.

The bigger reason is winning, going from a school that has virtually no history of winning football to one of the most highly regarded programs in the country. It seems like Clawson isn’t a fan of the portal or Name, Image, and Likeness.

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Power ranking 10 candidates for Michigan State football’s head coaching job: Version 2.0

Power ranking 10 candidates for Michigan State football’s head coaching job: Version 2.0

November is here and Michigan State’s coaching search is about to start ramping up in a big way.

In this series, we have ranked the potential candidates that could be in the running to take over Michigan State’s job. The list will be capped at ten names along with a few other honorable mentions, and will fluctuate based on how coaches are performing this season along with any rumored or confirmed interest from the Spartans.

Check out where we see the rankings at heading into the final month of the college football season:

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson on last season’s Clemson loss: ‘When I’m on my deathbed, that game will still bother me’

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson will have last year’s loss to Clemson hanging over his head for years.

Have you ever had something in your life that hangs over your head, no matter how long ago it was or how serious it was? 

I know I have, and we know that Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson has as well. While it has only been a year since the Demon Deacons’ 51-45 double overtime loss to Clemson at home last season, the game is one Clawson will never live down. It was the Tigers’ 14th straight win over Wake Forest. 

Clawson met with the media Tuesday to discuss their upcoming Week 6 matchup against Clemson. When asked about last year’s game, Clawson stated it is a game he will be taking to his deathbed. 

“It’s always part of my preparation for games. I always try to watch two whole copies of this year’s game, and I always go back and watch last year’s game if we played the opponent. I’d say to Dabo, if he’s in pain, then my pain should be worse because they won the game. We hit some big plays on them, but they hit some big plays on us. That was a very good day to be an outside receiver and a very bad day to be a cornerback in press coverage. Their quarterback, DJ (Uiagalelei), played great that day. But we had opportunities to win that game, and we didn’t take advantage of it. We were up eight, and then they tied it up, and then we had the ball with two minutes left. Even in overtime, we went up, and if we get one stop, we win the football game.”

“There are certain games in your career you never, ever get over. That’s one of them. When I’m on my deathbed, that game will still bother me. Hopefully, our players feel the same way.”

A win over Clemson could have been historic for Clawson and the Demon Deacons last season, but that didn’t workout for them. This season, they head to Death Valley with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. 

Last season’s loss was great motivation for Clawson’s team, but the win for Clemson is the same. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney hated what he saw on tape for the Tigers’ in their win last season, and that, too, is motivation in itself. 

Week 6 Clemson vs. Wake Forest is shaping up to be a great matchup.

Marcus Freeman named to Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List

Congrats, Marcus!

Even though he’s only in his second full season as Notre Dame coach, expectations remain high for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]. In fact, the high expectations for the 2023 Irish put him on everyone’s radar. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s one of 21 coaches to be named to the Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List. No coaching award is bigger in college football.

During the season, there will be a midseason watch list differing from the preseason list to some degree. There will be a final list at the end of the regular season before the winner is announced at the Peach Bowl as it always is. Brian Kelly is the lone Irish coach to earn this hardware, doing so in 2018.

The following coaches who also are on the watch list will face the Irish in 2023: Dabo Swinney of Clemson, Ryan Day of Ohio State, Dave Clawson of Wake Forest and Dave Doeren of NC State.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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‘The one we haven’t got yet’: Clemson futility fresh on Wake Forest’s mind

Dave Clawson has spent the last nine years pulling Wake Forest out of the depths of the ACC. That task culminated for the Demon Deacons’ head coach last season when Wake Forest achieved the first top-10 ranking in program history and won the first …

Dave Clawson has spent the last nine years pulling Wake Forest out of the depths of the ACC.

That task culminated for the Demon Deacons’ head coach last season when Wake Forest achieved the first top-10 ranking in program history and won the first Atlantic Division championship of Clawson’s tenure, just the second-ever in school history.

But there were a couple of bumps in the road along Wake’s ride to the top, none more jarring than a 48-27 loss at Clemson in late November that continued the Demon Deacons’ futility against the Tigers. Clemson is the only Atlantic Division team during Clawson’s tenure that Wake Forest has failed to beat.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2008 to find the last time the Demon Deacons knocked off Clemson. At the time, Clawson was the offensive at Tennessee while Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was still a receivers coach on Tommy Bowden’s staff.

The matchup has not only been one-sided but often lopsided since. All but one of Clemson’s wins in the series over the last 13 years has been decided by at least two possessions. The closest margin of defeat for Wake since Clawson took over the program was a 28-14 loss at Clemson in 2017, something the Demon Deacons would like to change on their home field this weekend in a matchup of ranked unbeatens.

“This is the one we haven’t got yet,” Clawson said this week ahead of his team’s rematch with Clemson on Saturday at Truist Stadium. “But there are a lot of teams that have’t gotten them because they haven’t lost a lot of games.”

While Wake Forest has spent the better part of the last decade fighting for respectability in the ACC, Clemson has been the benchmark for the Demon Deacons and everyone else. The Tigers have won two national championships during that time, made four other College Football Playoff appearances and had won seven ACC titles in 10 years before Wake kept the Tigers from getting back to the championship game last season.

With all-conference quarterback Sam Hartman back at the controls of what’s been one of the nation’s more prolific offenses over the last two seasons, Clawson said he believes this year’s Wake team is one of the best he’s had in his nine seasons at the helm. Clawson’s team will try to show that against what he believes is still the standard bearer in the league.

“Clemson, in our conference for the greater part of the last six, seven, eight years, has represented excellence and been the gold standard,” Clawson said. “It’s a game that we haven’t played well, and there’s different reasons for it. But the bottom line is we haven’t played well against them.

“I just want to go out Saturday, and I want our team to play at the level we’re capable of. That’s what I want us to do.”

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce limited edition signed cards from the freshmen football players are now in our online store.  There are only 100 of each signed.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Wake Forest welcomes ‘different perception’ of Demon Deacons entering 2022

CHARLOTTE – Wake Forest had high expectations for the 2021 season and while it figured to be the first time it had the chance to knock off Clemson in 12 years, the Tigers rolled past Dave Clawson’s team in late-November 2021. Even with the loss at …

CHARLOTTE — Wake Forest had high expectations for the 2021 season and while it figured to be the first time it had the chance to knock off Clemson in 12 years, the Tigers rolled past Dave Clawson’s team in late-November 2021.

Even with the loss at Clemson, the Demon Deacons clinched an ACC Title berth. Wake Forest was no match for Pitt and then-Heisman hopeful Kenny Pickett.

The Demon Deacons will get a chance for a re-match against Clemson — this time in Winston-Salem — come Week 4. 

While it remains to be seen if Wake Forest will still be nationally ranked headed into that matchup, Clawson and his team feel they are ready but are challenged with making sure the team mindset is set straight with elevated expectations.

Instead of being the hunters, they’re now amongst the hunted in the ACC.

“Our theme for this year is mindset… We had confidence that we could be a good football team maybe despite what people on the outside thought,” Clawson said Wednesday. “Now that people have a different perception of us, we welcome that, but it can’t change the way that we operate. It can’t change our mindset and the way that we go about our daily tasks and our preparation.”

Sam Hartman, returning as a leader at the quarterback position, is credited with being the “face of his team.” Hartman is a key influencer in translating team mindset. 

He says, “I think it starts with having a coach like Coach Clawson. I think his consistency day in and day out, like you guys probably see. He is the same person in every interview, every day of practice, every game. I think that mindset for us is consistency. I think from myself pushing the offense this year, especially in the summer, will be how we can be in our performance.” 

On the other side of the ball, Purdue’s Brad Lambert, also the former head coach of Charlotte, was brought back in as defensive coordinator. With Wake Forest being one of the fastest-tempo offenses in the nation, the hope is for Lambert to add some more aggression to the defense. 

A game most will be looking forward to, the Tigers will meet up with the Deacons on Sept. 24 at Truist Field in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Dear Old Clemson’s first event is July 24. Now there is a new way to support Clemson student-athletes. Come out and meet the freshmen football players at this meet and greet autograph session. If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events. Purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.