Comments

With respect to Deac’94’s comments regarding WFU’s academic standards, I’m quite happy to report that I chose Wake over Duke’s acceptance and have never regretted my decision for one second.  I suppose that Coach K’s daughter was unable to gain acceptance to Duke and had to “settle” for Wake Forest.  Wake’s most recent academic ranking (according to US News and World Report- a respected source) was a tie for number twenty-five (and rising each year) among the schools in the highest level of evaluation (National Universities).  That ranking among the thirty-seven hundred colleges and universities in our country may not qualify as “elite” in your judgment but I submit that it’s pretty damn good and isn’t deserving of your assessment.

Dr. R. Byron Moore (Deac '61) on 10/17/2010 (9:11 pm)

I agree 100% with John S. No 1000%

Cedric on 10/17/2010 (9:10 pm)

Dan you state: If the older players were better, they would have beaten the kids out.

How are you so sure?  That wasn’t the case with Riley Skinner’s magical RS freshman year (injuries got him in). You had a story last week about Alphonso Smith being relegated to nickel duty. Josh Harris should have been starting based on yesterday’s performance, and the clamoring on this site (I think my point was made as well).  Don’t underestimate that politics may be destroying the season not to meantion any team chemistry, which prevents the leaders from pulling the team out of it.  You think the players won’t see and recognize a player not getting the proper playing time they earned? I question this coaching staff’s ability to translate practice players from gamers.

Puzzled on 10/17/2010 (9:01 pm)

I believe in limiting the size on my comments on this blog.  I also try to keep to the topic of Dan’s post.  ‘94 Deac’s comments are too absurd to leave alone though.  I want to say there are a lot of proud Wake Forest graduates who are thankful for the education they received.  Wake is one of the nation’s best universities, and it has produced one Rhodes Scholar after another for the last 20 years.  There are also a lot of Wake alums who are proud of the competitive teams that represent the university.  Sure, the football team isn’t playing as well as we hoped they would.  If you want to take the team’s failure as an opportunity to trash the university as a whole, that’s your right.  However, that doesn’t mean what you are saying it right or that you are behaving the right way.  Have some pride and treat your university the way it deserves to be treated - with respect.

John S on 10/17/2010 (1:24 pm)

There’s a plethera of problems with this team’s x’s & o’s.  But there are more serious problems right now with the program.  Up until this season most freshmen were redshirted. They adapted to demanding academics, learned the playbook and paid their dues on the scout team.  There was seldom a sense of entitlement among the younger players.  That seems to have changed and there appears to be a sense of resentment among some of the upperclassmen because of it.  Also, there are serious questions regarding player evaluations.  After watching yesterday’s game can anyone believe that the two freshmen corners are really better players than Mike Williams and DJ, both of whom left the program after being told they wouldn’t receive much playing time this season.  Finally this team is passionless.  But when you have a head coach who appears to be disengaged during a game how can a team play with passion.  I hope Coach Grobe can turn this around but that won’t happen until he reassesses his own role on this team.

Deac Fan on 10/17/2010 (12:10 pm)

Isn’t it embarrasing???  You wonder why the same result happens week after week with the secondary with no change.  No improvement.  How many games will we get blown out this year?  Regardless of Wake’s football history and some fans saying that we will only be “above average”, we know they can be better.  They do recruit better players than ever before, we have nice facilities, and a fan base that is hungry (at least some of us are).  But on the other hand, there is a whole other set of fans who come to the game late every week, students that don’t come back after halftime, others who leave after the 3rd quarter so that they can get to the car, and even others who sit on their rears the entire time they are in the stadium.  Wake Forest needs a Wake up call on many levels.  I just pray that we fire the entire denfensive staff, sooner rather than later, and pray that we have some fans that will bother showing up to the last couple of home games.  I’ve been on a team that got their butt kicked several times in one year, and it’s time for someone to acknowledge that what we are asking of the kids is not working.  Oh, and by the way, next time it is 2nd and long yardage, and LOBO calls a pitch sweep…someone please ask Grobe to go over and take his playchart away and his headphone off and send him to the bench.  But alas, no go, Grobe knows each play that is going in…he has the ability to change it.

Dano on 10/17/2010 (12:07 pm)

Not sure where 94 Deac is coming from, but I for one would rather strive to beat good teams than belly up on pathetic programs like Pres and Elon.  We’re having a tough year for a number of reasons - none of which include having low self esteem for playing at WFU.  It is true we struggle more using the “straight up” approach to football, than using misdirection and creative game plans to give our generally undersized teams a fighting chance.  Grobe is the best coach WF has had during my lifetime, and he’ll figure it out over the next few weeks—but Dan is dead right that the team we saw yesterday was not well coached.  That being said, it would surprise me if we were not competative in the remaning games this season.

deaconman92 on 10/17/2010 (11:46 am)

Serial humiliations notwithstanding, we can still win a few games this year.  There is a lot of truth in the comments of ‘94 but I think we can elevate ourselves quite a bit a la TCU,  Kansas State, ECU, South Carolina and other places not even +/- 25 academically and once considered disgusting.  If we had put together bowl teams last year and this year, players might want to come here rather than to say Clemson or UNC.  If we were to go on national TV and win once in a while, if we were to place more players in the early rounds of the NFL draft, who knows?  But if we schedule more “cupcakes” it won’t be long until we are losing to these cupcakes and we will never get another Josh Harris.  Lets be +/- 25 in athletics.  I appeal to everyone to help stop the embarassment.  Find players who might want to come here! Give more to the Deacon Club! GO DEACS!!

DannyB on 10/17/2010 (9:36 am)

To be optomistic WFU does come into games with a nice game plan like occurred against Ga. Tech. It may be that “game-coaching” such as making adjustments on the fly as well as a lack of leadership on the field are still big issues. But to be honest I have the creeping feeling Coach Grobe may be developing the “Bowden Syndrome” an uncompromising unyielding belief he has the right assistants on staff and that time will work things out. Obviously he doesn’t have coaching on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the defensive backfied, that he needs and some players, possibly even the freshmen need to step up and become leaders on the field. That’s my two cents at this stand point.

pensive1 on 10/17/2010 (9:11 am)

‘94 Deac:

Wow. I’ve seen plenty of LOWF mentality before, but, wow. I guess those of us who didn’t get into “UVA, Duke, Princeton, Harvard, Princeton, etc.” should have just given up out of high school and started a life of panhandling. UVA grads should probably do the same since they’re only two spots ahead of WFU in the US News Rankings. They probably couldn’t have gotten into Harvard either. And using your firm logic, I guess anyone who got into Columbia or Duke but got dinged from Harvard had no business entering an institution of higher education either.

Why do we even bother fielding a football team if none of the players want to be there, not to mention there’s no real purpose to Wake Forest University anyway since everyone who attends is a loser who couldn’t do any better? Geez, I thought Wake Forest sent the NFL a player who was taken fourth in the draft last year. How could that happen since he didn’t play for “Alabama, Florida, FSU, USC, Michigan, Virginia Tech, or UM?” Since when did the NFL even let athletes who didn’t attend one of those schools enter the draft? And what foolish NFL team would possibly draft a player who didn’t play at one of the chosen universities? And by golly how on earth did I make it to a top ranked law school with my LOWF degree? I suppose they took pity on me given my otherwise inevitable existence washing car windows at intersections. Thank you for putting everything into perspective for me with your enlightening post. It all makes sense now.

Tom on 10/17/2010 (9:03 am)

The bottom line is that after the last two seasons changes need to be made at coaching on the defensive side of the ball.  This season we are ranked 111th out of 120 teams in scoring defense.  We give up 454 ypg;  211 on the ground and 234 through the air.  Our opponents average 37.7 ppg against us.  In fairness, it bears noting that we have just passed through the most difficult portion of our schedule, but those numbers are simply unacceptable for a D-1 defense.

Last season opponents scored 26.3 ppg on us on about 435 ypg.  That was done with 164 ypg rushing and 271.6 ypg passing. 

A fundamental change needs to be made in both defensive philosophy and recruiting, either with the current coaches on defense or with some changes.  Frankly, I hope that Grobe substantially changes the coaching staff along with schematic changes. 

If Grobe intends to fire one or more of his assistant coaches I certainly would not expect him to comment on it during the season.  And while I do appreciate his loyalty to his coaches, right now they are betraying that trust by putting such an abysmal product on the field.

If Grobe elects to make a change in the coaching staff, I very much hope that he brings in an outside coach to fill the void rather than promote from within.  Promoting from within is what got us in this situation to start with. 

There is an adequate amount of talent on this team.  Wilber has proven to be an exceptional DE.  Price is a freshman and lacks consistency, but I believe as he matures he will grow into a fine QB.  Josh Harris showed what he is capable of yesterday; now he just needs to show that he can do it consistently. 

This season is not over and there is still plenty for this squad to accomplish this year.  But in my opinion it is not too early to start thinking about 2011.

Kevin on 10/17/2010 (9:01 am)

coaching changes neeeded. offense and defense.

beachdeac on 10/17/2010 (8:34 am)

My vote is for Ken Niumatalolo (Navy’s coach) I’m not saying Navy could beat Va Tech but Dan can tell by my email address I look at best return for the money.  Just using simple math Wake would save a million year especially cutting out the way over paid assitants.  And don’t fire back at me about the 2006 Acc title.  It was “magic in a bottle” , “the stars all lined up”..Ga Tech beat Va Tech in regular season that year so Va Tech was not in title game.  Jon Abbatte played every play like it was last. etc. etc.

doug on 10/17/2010 (8:26 am)

4th and inches - that set the tone for the game and sent a message to the team - Why ask the team to play with their hair on fire when you don’t coach with your hair on fire?

Gary on 10/17/2010 (8:06 am)

I couldn’t wait to read this. I was there and after having spent several hundred on tix,parking,shuttle buses, a couple cokes and a bag of peanuts, I couldn’t leave fast enough.I got outta there at the half.I guess after these last three total collapses I have a penchant for self inflicted doom.Coach G. is a good coach, my only wish is that he would jerk that headset off and get in those huddles on the sidelines and do what he’s paid to do;  COACH!. On any routes the oposition run the defenders never turn to make a play on the ball,NEVER but they’ll always receive that little yellow flag for fronting the guy. That has to go on coaching and particularly the DB coach. Today after 7 TD’s on 8 tries coach B called the dogs off in the 2nd half. Thanks Mr. Beamer that was a class act on behalf of your your team, the university and yourself.And coach Grobe, the least your staff could have done was to supply a fair team for a mid afternoon scrimmage. You didn’t and that reflects badly on us as wake fans. How do you fix it? Easy, on this off week have all equipment managers remove all decals and any Wake logos on the Uni’s,schedule the start time around 2a.m. that way the team,all assistants and you can slip in and out under cover of darkness without any further embarresment to the” program” or yourselves. After your defensive coaches figure out a way to stop just a couple of passes,(not all) and as an added bonus,just a wee bit of pressure on the opposing QB, feel free to call us fans back. Heck, we love football,just not the kind you’re coaching right now.

Glennard on 10/17/2010 (12:11 am)

According to ESPN Va-Tech gained 605 total yards and 35 first downs. There is something seriously wrong that isn’t being talked about. There is absolutely no sign of improvement on the defensive side and which is a troubling sign and reflects directly on the coaching staff.

radio_smuggles on 10/16/2010 (11:32 pm)

It’s obvious the staff needs a major shake-up, but it isn’t likely, and if it does happen then the smart money is on him promoting from within and then hiring entry level guys even though that’s obviously why we’re in this mess right now. This coaching staff is plainly not worth their salaries. And that includes Coach Grobe if he is not willing to realistically evaluate his employees and make some tough decisions.

Wakefan on 10/16/2010 (10:39 pm)

Dan, thanks for your comments.  However, don’t get too depressed!  I think it’s long past time for all Deacon fans to get comfortable with reality.  WFU is never going to be better than slightly above average on a consistent basis.  We have +/- 4,500 students, lowest or second lowest in the BCS.  Most of our students would have preferred to go to UVa, Duke, Penn, Harvard, Princeton, etc. but they couldn’t get in.  So, they settled for the best they could get, which was WFU - a school ranked +/- 25 in the country for academics.  Same holds true for the student athletes.  I would venture to guess 99.5% of the guys on the football team hoped to be at Alabama, Florida, FSU, USC, Michigan, Virginia Tech, UM, etc. when in HS.  Guess what…they weren’t good enough to get an offer from those schools.  So, just like the regular students, they settled for the best they could get, which was WFU.  Every 20 years or so we are going to have a magical year like ‘06 - so treasure those years.  In the interim, we are going to continue to fail against upper 50% D1 teams because our talent level is not good enough.  Hopefully, the administration will get over their “striving” and stop scheduling Notre Dame and Stanford and even Vandy and instead schedule more Presby, Middle TN etc.  We need 4 automatic wins a year.  When combined with maybe 2 ACC wins a year, we could actually be bowl eligible every year.  Don’t get me wrong - WFU is a great institution.  Great kids, great professors, etc.  It’s just not elite, and never will be in athletics or academics.  Accept reality, schedule accordingly and everyone will be in a better place.  Go Deacs!

'94 Deac on 10/16/2010 (10:08 pm)

I saw the game on television today from beginning to the end. I guess I could have given up after the first quarter or so but as a diehard Wake fan, I think it is my obligation to stay with the team until the final whistle.

I was under no illusion that this was a game that Wake had an equal chance of winning but considering that JMU managed to beat VT, I thought anything was possible.

But on the opening drive, I could see problems right away. The dropped passes, the punt on 4th and inches. The lack of imagination on part of the offense coaching team.

Then there is the defense which always let the WRs of VT open to receive the ball and then take it for additional yardage. Perhaps, it is time for the safeties and cornerbacks get more aggressive on the players they are covering. Yes, it will result in more pass interference calls but it seems that VT WRs were giving Wake no respect and certainly did not fear them.

The team is still salvagable as the only real top team they are facing is NC State. But I wonder if the coaches look at how other teams manage to beat the teams they are facing and try to incorporate it into their gameplan. It certainly does not look like it.

NCBrian on 10/16/2010 (9:29 pm)