Frye Returns to Practice
Coach Jim Grobe threw Alex Frye a rope today, and allowed him to return to practice at Wake Forest. He let him know it was the end of the rope he was throwing.
“We’ll see,’’ Grobe said, explaining his decision. “Kids need second chances and sometimes they need more than a second chance. But this is the last chance.
“We need to have good stuff going on all the time. I expect that to happen. We’ll see.’‘
Frye’s sudden return was the latest plot twist in one of the most intriguing story lines of the Deacons’ season. Frye is a talented junior from Fayetteville who had seemingly overcome past disciplinary problems to start the first four games. But after Wake Forest’s overtime loss to Boston College on Sept. 26, Grobe decided that Frye would no longer practice or play with the team until he decided otherwise.
He never really fully explained what prompted the decision, but he did reiterate again before today’s practice that it was not a disciplinary action. I asked him if what I had written previously was on track, that the coaches saw a player they didn’t think was as focused and committed to playing football as he needed to be.
“Over time,’’ Grobe said. “If you’ve got a track record, my patience is thinner. And especially if I don’t feel you’re taking advantage of a second opportunity then I’m not very happy about that. So I think it’s important to appreciate what you have. If you don’t appreciate it, sometimes a little time away makes you appreciate it.
“So we’ll see. I don’t know. Kids are kids. All of them are different and they all either grow and mature at different times. So hopefully we’ll get what we want. At the same as a coach you’ve got a team to think about. I’d like to be able to separate all the individuals and just think about them but it’s a team sport and you can’t do that.
“So we’ll see.’‘
I asked if Frye will play Saturday against Maryland.
“I wouldn’t think so,’’ Grobe said. “And I told Alex I don’t know what we’ll do with him. I just want to see him do good things. It might be scout team, it might be second team, third team, fourth team. I don’t know. I kind of let Coach (Tim) Billings decide that. Once they get out here it’s up to their position coach to pretty much decide what to do with him. I just expect to see good stuff all the time out of our guys.
“Obviously if I didn’t think there was a chance things would work out the right way I wouldn’t make that decision.’’