My Take on Wake - Another Side of Jim Grobe

Another Side of Jim Grobe

Coaching a football team can be a mean, cold, hard business.

It’s easy to forget that covering Wake, because coach Jim Grobe is, by nature, anything but mean, cold and hard. But if he didn’t have the capacity to do what he felt needed to be done, he would have never made it to the University of Virginia the hard way, through Ferrum Junior College playing for Hank Norton, and he would have never scaled his way up the ladder of a mean, cold and hard profession rung by slippery rung from Emory and Henry to Marshall to Air Force to Ohio.

And if he didn’t have that capacity, he wouldn’t be worthy of the job he now holds as head coach at Wake.

Coaches are let go all the time in college football. It’s a nomadic life, and those who live it have to be prepared for the day they’re called into the head guy’s office and told their services are no longer required at that particular institution. The stunning side of yesterday’s bombshell at Wake though was that in Grobe’s 11 seasons at Wake, every coach who departed had left on their own. As kindly as Grobe wanted to couch yesterday’s news that Keith Henry and Tim Billings were no longer on staff, he acknowledged that neither had a choice in the matter.

There was a question of whether Grobe was loyal to a fault. No longer.

He clearly didn’t want to do it. That came through time and time again in our 15-minute conversation. He and Henry have been together 17 years, back to the day he got his first head job at Ohio in 1995. He’s family, as are his wife Nicole and children Kirstie, K.J. Maya Ordee and Isaiah. And he’s bragged on the work done by Billings ever since 2006, when Billings bounced back from a bad situation as head coach at Southeast Missouri State to add expertise and a certain edge to the program. He’ll be missed, as will his wife Lisa and children Taylor Kay and Trenton Wade.

Grobe said if he could have avoided it, the news would have never come out. He entreated me to be as kind in my wording as I could be.

“They’ve done some really, really good stuff for us,’’ Grobe said. “And they’re my friends.’‘

But the bottom line for any sport at any school is wins and losses. And over the last three years there have been two few of the former and too many of the latter. Three straight losing seasons led Grobe to wonder of a certain complacency had settled into the program, a staleness or torpor that needed to be alleviated.

“We’re just in a situation now where it could be good for those guys to have new opportunities and it could be good for us to get some new ideas and things like that,’’ Grobe said.

No specific incident led to the move, Grobe said. The special teams, for which Henry was given the responsibility this season, were a liability from the opening loss at Syracuse to the closing setback against Mississippi State in Nashville. And Billings, who was elevated before the season to co-defensive coordinator along with Brian Knorr, could, for all his talents and energy, can be a hard-headed, hard-driving kind of guy. Maybe there were staff conflicts that Grobe felt needed to be resolved. I don’t know, and knowing Grobe, he’s not going to tell me, or at least not for public consumption. The last thing he would want to do is hurt the future prospects of Henry and Billings.

But he did tell me it was his call and his alone.

What role, I asked, did Athletics Director Ron Wellman play?

“None whatsoever,’’ Grobe said.

So the decision, I pressed, was in no way dictated to you.

“You know better than that,’’ he said. “No, no. No, no. Ron let’s you coach. That’s the best thing about Ron Wellman, he lets you coach your team.’‘

I wondered how fast Grobe would move to replace Henry and Billings.

“Not real fast,’’ Grobe said. “This is not one of those deals where we’ve made a move where I had people that I was going to plug right in. It’s not one of those kinds of deals.

“To be honest with you I’m thinking about juggling the staff positions a little bit. So it may not be that we replace a special teams coach. It may not be that we replace an outside backer coach. We may find ways to move things around, depending on who we hire. We may hire people that coach different positions to try to help ourselves. I’ve had that in the back of my head for awhile now.

“Most of our recruiting’s done now. We’ve got two or three more kids to try to bring in, but I don’t need to hustle to get people in here to recruit.’’

Come spring practice I’m going to miss Keith Henry and Tim Billings. And I’m not going to be the only one.

But coaching football can be a mean, cold hard business. And it certainly seemed a little meaner, colder and harder yesterday than it did the day before.

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 01/05/2012 (12:58 pm)

Comments

Yes, Coach Billings was the recruiting pipeline to Texas. I can’t see us getting many more kids out of that state. It’s hard to imagine after one year in the defensive play calling role he is out. The first year here he had a secondary that was tops in the country in takeaways. It’s tough to see him go because of how much he cared about this program and community. Also it is amazing that Grobe can let go someone (Henry) that has been with him for 17 years. This just isn’t a good situation IMO.

John on 01/06/2012 (11:38 pm)

Dan,
Why is Steed Lobotzke still employed?

Chris on 01/06/2012 (5:18 pm)

I have tried twice to post comments on this entry in last 24 hours. And to be honest I figured I put a lot of thought into them and gave examples. But they didn’t post.———-anyway I’ll make it simple two words——Lincoln Riley———-if Grobe can’t see that Houston we have a problem.

Doug on 01/06/2012 (1:26 pm)

I can understand these firings. Special teams were bad and are defense has regressed since Hood left. However, I am as mystified as everyone in regard to Lobo being the OC. My hope is that Coach Grobe will shuffle the coaches on that side of the ball anyway needed in order that we have someone, anyone calling plays other than Lobo.

Jim on 01/06/2012 (10:09 am)

And what gets me is Lincoln Riley is right here in front of Grobe. Right in our own backyard. If he is not on the staff by next Friday. I honestly cannot answer how I will react…One more point all year long I heard ” we play a tough schedule ” and then the team that beat us the weekend before gets it handed to them by some other medicore, also ran , non Alabama , LSU program..I don’t have my stats in front of me but lets just use Clemzin as example. All week its ” oh we play a tough schedule” then we go down there and get beat. Then the next weekend N C State pancakes Clemzin…Clemzin not so tough after all(?) Man guys I apologize sincerely for being so bitter. Its about how much I love seeing happy Wake fans. If Mr. Collins had enough time and space on this blog I will type a million stories. And in the past as you know I have shared some on this blog. I never ran out on the court after a basketball game and I never ran out on the field after a football game ( I was prepared to in Jacksonville, Fl. one day but Mr. Policeman wanted to have a most pleasant conversation with me I digress) I just really enjoy watching the happy times.

Doug on 01/06/2012 (7:50 am)

Coach Grobe is a great person who is loyal which we all know makes this difficult for him, so I know he has thought these decisions out. The special teams were pretty bad this year, no doubt, however the Offense was worse and has been terrible for quite a few years! It is obvious that changes need to happen with the Offensive Coaches, so I am not sure firing these two coaches is really going to make a difference in the team’s performance. Lobo could be reassigned, and still be retained, and that would at least be a real start in making positive changes. The defense never seemed to blitz on passing situations by rushing 3 and dropping 8 which never works because the QB has all day to find someone open, so hopefully a change in defensive schemes will result from Grobe’s decision.

Bobby on 01/06/2012 (12:32 am)

Better late than never but the jobs not done yet. The offensive play calling is terrible. Opponents must have memorized almost every sequence by now. It has to be very discouraging to the players,fans and the other Wake coaches to be associated with this system. Maybe other cahanges will also be made before next year-let’s hope so.

jack on 01/05/2012 (11:37 pm)

The elephant in the room is Lobo. Everyone knows this. An imaginative OC, working with Price for two years, could yield remarkable results.

So, the question to ask is “What do you plan to do on the offensive side of the ball?”

Chris on 01/05/2012 (11:31 pm)

Dan, how about blogging on Coach Lobo; what is you take? Do you resist comment because of Coach Grobe’s trust in you? Were Wake a perenially winning team with the system we have in place, that would be “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But, we’re not. If we had the recruiting success that VTU or FSU, do you think we’d do a lot better hanging with the same approach and system offensively? One would think the Wake recruits may be a bit stronger academically; surely they could handle a somewhat wider scope and variety. If we cannot win by brute weight and force, perhaps we could at least try to confuse the other teams…at least a little bit, don’t you think?
Lee Anglin

Lee Anglin on 01/05/2012 (11:13 pm)

Texas recruiting pipeline is now over. Key is we love the 3-4 defense with our little nose guard making plays and yet we lose games to end the season as in what 3 out of 4 or 4 out of 5? Change the scheme and make Whitlock adapt, not everyone adapt to Whitlock - it is not working.

Boo e on 01/05/2012 (10:52 pm)

I was hoping Lobo was going to become the head coach at Tulane since he was rumored as a candidate but that didnt happen. I just dont see Grobe ever firing him. Maybe he could let Coach Galloway call some plays too to see if that opens the books more.

Will on 01/05/2012 (8:25 pm)

Dear Mr. Head Football Coach Jim Grobe. While you are in the mood to find new ideas let me suggest Lincoln Riley. Now hear me out I’m not suggesting someone lose their black and gold home. I’m just suggesting bring in an idea guy…...Or let’s phrase the comment in this manner. Mr. Grobe come on this blog and without using “coach speak” and without using the same old song and dance “we are running a system” (cuz three losing seasons in a row your system aint working) type a reply and explain why Lincoln Riley is a bad idea. What ever you say as an answer I will accept and believe but please answer the question.

Doug on 01/05/2012 (8:21 pm)

If those two had to go I cannot for the life of me see how Lobo keeps his job. You talk about “stale,” look at our predicatble and unimaginative playcalling. If I don’t go to Wake games, I watch them. The announcers try to be nice when talking about coaches, but it’s obvious that Lobo’s playcalling mystifies them.

The 2nd and 19 option play to the short side against Notre Dame was one where the announcers were totally befuddled by the playcall. I’m glad we have Grobe, but I don’t like the fact that he can’t see that Lobo is killing the program.

If Grobe is the one giving approval to these nonsense playcalls then I’m disappointed with him as well. Not calling for his head, but c’mon Jim, you have got to have a serious upgrade at the OC position. Lobo has got to go.

Andy on 01/05/2012 (7:52 pm)

Dan, everybody and his uncle, during conversations I’ve had, have wondered about Coach Lobo. I was able to see several Wake games this season; from first to last it looked like the same old offensive plan as seasons past, the same old strategy, plays, conservative thinking and implementation. You CAN fool some of the people some of the time, but not if your execution sounds like a broken record, or tape, or chip - whatever. It really does take a long time to build real trust, and Coach Grobe is to be congratulated for the sense of loyalty and respect he has for the coaches who support him. Do you think Jim Grobe will ever demand that Coach Lobo either pack it in, or spend from now until spring learning a few new ideas? Or is it a simpler and more complicated issue: such as not being able to recruit better offensive linemen, and a larger, defensive line? The present generation of athletes is unquestionably taller, and probably a lot stronger and faster than earlier, but they, also, appear to be weaker in determination, will, stamina and certainly toughness. It does not take a pulled, or even torn hamstring a whole season to heal. Will we ever have a better offense with Coach Lobotzke?

Lee Anglin on 01/05/2012 (6:57 pm)

Dan….one question…Was Billings not our recruiting connection to the kids in Texas…ie Price, Whitlock and Harris?? I just don’t know how Grobe’s going to replace that connection…but I sure don’t want to lose our inroads to the Texas kids!

Ken Green on 01/05/2012 (6:39 pm)

Dad, did Coach Grobe mention or did you bring up Coach Lobo?
Will the realignment include a new OC?

Gary on 01/05/2012 (5:00 pm)

Would have thought the changes would have been on the offensive side of the ball.

Wake Fan on 01/05/2012 (4:46 pm)

Dan—thanks for the very clear picture of the situation. It was obvious that Coach Grobe was not happy with our losses this year. I am sure he was as fair as he could be with two coaches. I hope that one of the outcomes is that we end up with an offensive line coach who has that as his only responsibility. We have several of the pieces for a good year next year—the O-line will be key. I also hope that Givens thinks long and hard about leaving. I can’t help but think that he is making a mistake.

steveh on 01/05/2012 (4:28 pm)

We became Deac Fans the same year Tim Billings was hired and got to know him and his wife fairly well. Great people, tremendous parents and proud to be Demon Deacons. He made a tremendous contribution to the program and we’re sad to see Coach Billings go.

You’re right Dan, he was a task master and held strong opinions. But he was also a motivator, fair minded and a great teacher of the game of football. Quite simply he was the best coach our son ever had and he’ll be greatly missed. We wish him and his family (his daughter’s a senior at Wake and his son’s a promising high school baseball player) all the best in their future endeavors.

GO DEACS!

Deac Fan on 01/05/2012 (4:28 pm)

Tough decision for Coach Grobe. I’m sure he’s not feeling real chipper today. Good luck to Coaches Bilings and Henry and thanks for your hard work trying to improve things for WF football. Hopefully some of the new ideas Grobe is lookig for will include offense too.

DeaconDash on 01/05/2012 (4:01 pm)