10 Power 5 head coaches most on the hot seat in 2016
By John Buhler
It’s been almost a decade since the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were any bit relevant on the gridiron in the ACC. The peak years of the program came when Jim Grobe was the coach and Riley Skinner was the quarterback from 2006 to 2008. Wake Forest won the ACC in 2006 and played in the Orange Bowl that bowl season.
Grobe failed to reach a bowl in his final five seasons in Winston-Salem and resigned after the 2013 NCAA season. Wake Forest then hired Dave Clawson of Bowling Green State fame to replace Grobe on the sidelines.
In Clawson’s first two years at Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons have gone 3-9 (1-7) in both seasons as a bottom feeder in the brutal ACC Atlantic Division. Wake Forest is one of the least successful Division I football programs in NCAA history, but will need to win at least a game or two more for Clawson to be back in 2017.
Beating Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville seem largely impossible, however if Wake Forest can grab a few wins against Boston College, North Carolina State, Syracuse, and cross-divisional rival Duke, it might be enough for Clawson to get a fourth year with the Demon Deacons.
Like the situation MacIntyre is facing in Colorado, Clawson doesn’t have to make it to a bowl to keep his job, but will need to achieve his highest win total at the school to stay put in 2017. 4-8 seems like a reasonable goal for Wake Forest in 2016.
Next: 2. Charlie Strong, Texas Longhorns