Comments

Dan,

Why does Coach Grobe decide to punt on 4th down when we are losing by several touchdowns?  It baffles me.  Even when we have reasonable field position and have no more than 3 or 4 yards to go we continue to punt it away? 

Does coach not realize that a Popham net punt of 20-30 yards is not worth it?  The trade off in field position when losing and trying to get back in the game is not worth a missed opportunity to convert on 4th down and keep a drive alive. 

I have seen this many times (down big, down a score or two and it’s late in the game, etc).  It makes no logical sense and show’s no fight this late in the season when the train is coming off the rails. 

Coach, why not give your team a chance on 4th down?  Worst case scenario is we don’t get it and lose some field position in a game where your down 2 or more TD’s.

Frustrated Observer on 11/02/2010 (1:00 pm)

This is just going to be a bad year, but that doesn’t mean Grobe is a bad coach. WF lost a lof of good players and the replacement recruits have not been good at taking their places. But that doesn’t mean the program is in shambles. As for me, I’m sticking with Coach Grobe.!

Richard Armstrong on 11/02/2010 (12:59 pm)

SO at what point in the upcoming basketball season do we have to ask this same question???? I’m tired of having to ask this question with Deacon football and basketball each year. How long does the memory of the Orange Bowl or the short lived #1 ranking in basketball have to carry us? I am starting to think that Wake doesn’t have the guts to make the next step. I’ve said it before on this site… we’ve got the best AD in country, the best football coach a parent could ask for, the finest campus, the financial support, the facilities, the fans, the community support and all hte other intangibles…. why aren’t we able to sell this product? Is it because we have the mindset of a loser? Let’s pick ourselves up and make a run…. come on Deacons

Lee Jackson on 11/02/2010 (11:37 am)

BC has an “NFL type” OL.  I’m interested in seeing what defensive adjustments will be made.  If our defensive staff thinks that Whitlock, as a 235 lbs. ng, is going to defeat those behemoths, we’re in trouble.  I have confidence in Whitlock, but not so much in the defensive staff.  I hope Grobe will make the tough decisions necessary at the end of the year to get this ship back on course.

Jim on 11/02/2010 (9:39 am)

Dan,

I just read the story about Daniel Green on the WSJ website.  I guess that partially answers my question.  I’m looking forward to your article telling us more about him.  Take care!

DC on 11/01/2010 (10:10 pm)

I was looking though my Wake press guides with the question in mind. Will this Wake team go down in history as our worse team ever?  Thankfully the answer is no. That honor will still fall to Chuck Mills’ 1975 team that was shut out 5 games in a row and won only one game for the year. I also see where Coach Caldwell’s 1995 team, that finished 1-10, gave up 70+ points to # 1 FSU. But came back the next week and played better. Still loosing, but holding Carolina to only 31 points.  From my research of past seasons nothing still compares to this season’s two 60+ and two 50+ plus point totals given up by our defense. Even with each blow out loss, they just do not seem to be getting any better. The only hope left with this team is that they do have four games left to try to reverse this situation.

Danny Crews on 11/01/2010 (8:46 pm)

Anyone who has watched Jim Grobe over these many years has watched him bring excitement and respectability to WFU football. This season has brought many embarrassing losses but I can’t believe that some out there have the pitchforks and torches at hand and want him out. He is a tremendous coach, teacher and great ambassador for WFU. The team is young, folks don’t want to talk about that but they are. The QB situation has been very disjointed due to injury and you can only do one Riley Skinner lightning in the bottle for a few years.These folks will be back and while we are disappointed this year to be sure, some of us are still fans. Go Deacs and Coach Grobe, beat BC.

fpvjr on 11/01/2010 (5:38 pm)

How we do on our first series off and def against BC will set the tone for the rest of the season. If we don’t make a stop or put it in the endzone, there will be no further wins and probably more crushing defeats. The lack of enthusiasm is what is most disturbing to me. I have not seen anyone comment on the kickoff runback when our guy just fell on teh ground, I quess so he would not be hit. The most disturbing part of that was his laughing and joking when he got the sideline. I also am really tired of seeing defensive backs prancing around after plays. The whole team needs a kick in the rear. I also agree that Grobe needs to be more involved during game time. I have never seen another major college coach act so passively.

David on 11/01/2010 (5:13 pm)

Is it me or WHAT ?
I am a new Deacon Fan and I have watched every game this season with great anticipation. I would love to be at the practices to see what is going on.. I attended one home game that took me 1000 miles to attend.
I know each team has its own style and each coach have their own way of doing things, and with that said… What in the world is really going on at Wake? Do our coaches keep up with the sports world and understand that football is a game of chess and that we need to throw away the old play book and start coaching the players who are on the team NOW.
Last year was the start of a new era and I think we missed the mark in many ways, and it is showing up week after week and our coaches are so bull headed that they are not going to change until change is forced on them.
I always wait until Monday or later to comment to make sure my head is clear from watching the game. I also watch other games to see how other teams are playing and coaching depending on who they are playing.
There was a big article on Josh Harris and he ran for 240 prior week so the Maryland coach blitzed Harris the whole game, which was smart of him. I thought we would have use that to our advantage and have a big passing game, well not so.
The drive we did score on: Tanner Price threw Harris the ball in the flat and it opened up the field to allow us to move the ball Down the field and get our first touch down! But did we keep doing what worked… No!?!
I know one of our Many coaches saw that we had something working with that drop off and throwing to the flat, So why in the world would we go back to the Old play book ???
The reason why we have gone through 4 quarterbacks is that Old play book.
I believe we have some good coaches on this staff I hope they will Speak up and Step up and prove it .   
Go Deacs!

Darrell on 11/01/2010 (4:47 pm)

I’m glad they have decided to coach.
But why this late?

David Lawson on 11/01/2010 (4:45 pm)

If you want to avoid platitudes and coachspeak, one might check out former payers’ tweets. Much more candid and interesting.

Mike on 11/01/2010 (3:40 pm)

Dan,

To jump over to our other favorite sport for a second, do you know if Coach Bzdelik is planning on adding another player or two to the recruiting class of 2011?  Or is it going to be just Chase Fischer?  It seems like quite a few of the remaining highly rated players are “coming off the board”. 

I understand that the coaches are not permitted to speak about specific players, but I was hoping to get a feel for whether they intend to add one or more players and, if so, if there is a particular position/skillset they are looking for.  Thanks as always.

DC on 11/01/2010 (2:58 pm)

..well let’s try to put one positive spin on this. Never again after this season and last will Coach Grobe and his staff “be in play” for any coaching vacancy. I really believe that is a good thing for WFU. Grobe is an excellent representive of the University.  Let’s hope these last two years have been an aberration. There has been some pretty decent football coaches who just had the game pass them by later on their career as they got comfortable..Phil Fulmer (Tenn) and Jim Donnan (Ga. I sure hope that is not the case here.

pensive1 on 11/01/2010 (1:53 pm)

Well since the coaches are planning on coaching the rest of the season how about doing a better job of coaching and putting the team in a position to win, especially defensively.  Granted the coaching (strategically speaking) has been inexcusibly atrocious at times this season.  That being said there comes a time in every athlete’s career where pride comes into play.  So, when is a player going to step up and make a play on defense?  When is the defense going to be aggresive and attack the offense rather than sit back and wait for the play to come to them?  When will the young corners understand that on 3rd & 7 you don’t give the receiver a 10 yard cushion? This young defense now has 8 games under its belt.  Its time to throw caution to the wind, come out Saturday with a proverbial chip on their shoulder and, to use one of their Head Coach’s favorite expressions, play like their hair’s on fire.  Let’s also hope the coaching staff coaches finally like their hair’s on fire.

Deac Fan on 11/01/2010 (1:07 pm)

Great general answer by Coach Grobe.  And it really was the only answer he could have given.  Of course these kids are going to keep playing hard.  As frustrating as this season has been, I don’t think it has ever felt that the players’ effort was lacking during the games.

Unfortunately, we will never have a full picture of the effort of the players and coaches during the offseason and during practices, but I am fairly confident assuming that the necessary effort was present then too. 

The remaining games are an opportunity to establish momentum heading into the 2011 season.  But how do we do that specifically?  Are the coaches going to get a look at some of the younger players?  Perhaps try out some different schemes? 

The same (and related) questions need to be asked during the offseason too.  Where does Wake Forest stack up in terms of talent and strategy?  What types of players need to be targeted during recruitment in order to bridge the gap if one exists?  What skills are the current players going to incorporate before spring practice? 

In short, what is the overall plan for the Wake Forest football program?  I recognize that Jim Grobe is not accountable directly to me, so I will settle for confirmation that such a comprehensive plan exists, is adaptable, and is being followed.

DC on 11/01/2010 (12:39 pm)

When my favorite pro team gets to this question… my response is that they can play for the first draft pick or at least a shot at him - OK I admit that seeing them lose the rest of the season isn’t easy but at least we could get a great trade or a heckuva player… in college ball the answer is you have to keep playing… of course now we’ll start the second guessing on Tanner should have been redshirted or other questions that we all had to start the season… Yes I wanted to see Tanner play this year so I’ll just let you know that my hypocrisy knows no bounds… hahaha… come on Dan… get us to Basketball season soon.

Lee Jackson on 11/01/2010 (11:49 am)