Givens Grows Up
Deep in the summer, with little else going on, I swung by coach Jim Grobe’s office to ask him what he expected from this season. I came away shaking my head on how down he was on Chris Givens.
On and on Grobe went about how soft Givens was, and how he needed to show more maturity, drive and focus. He talked about getting bad reports from the weight room of how Givens wasn’t really doing what he needed to get himself ready to play football in the ACC.
I confess I didn’t write it. I wanted to see how things shook out once practice began.
And when practice began, lo and behold Grobe again went off and said basically all the things he had told me six weeks earlier. This time I did write it, mentioning how Grobe was at least starting his junior season in the basement of Grobe’s doghouse.
Now seven games into what is shapinig up to be a really special season at Wake Forest, Givens can do no wrong in Grobe’s eyes. And it’s not just Givens’ production, the 48 catches for 886 yards and eight touchdowns and the 66-yard score today to beat Duke 24-23. Gtobe just likes the person Chris Givens has become.
“He’s my biggest pleasure right now, the biggest joy on our football team,’‘’ Grobe gushed. “From a kid that just didn’t get it who totally gets it now.
“We had issues all the time with work ethic and weight room, all those kinds of things. Practice was not great all the time. My biggest fear, like I’ve said earlier in the year, was that Chris was going to be a kid that we looked back on five years from now and said `Boy he was a really fast guy.’
“I mentioned back earlier in the spring I didn’t think Chris was going to be our go-to guy this fall unless he changed his work habits and attitude and all those. I don’t know what has happened to this guy but he is. . . I think it’s that he is a junior. That’s what’s really happened. I think he saw the clock ticking and just felt like he needed to step up.
“He’s doing all the good things. He’s practicing good. He’s showing some toughness. He works through bumps and bruises. I haven’t heard a word from Ethan Reeve our strength coach about him. He’s working good in the weight room. And one thing that he’s doing right now is he’s bringing it to Saturday. He’s not just doing all those other things. He’s coming to the game on Saturday and making plays.’‘
Givens, who has always been one I liked and got along with well, was asked if he ever had a sit-down meeting with Grobe. He said there were more than one.
“It was a few conversations over the spring with Coach, about just maturing and doing the right thing and trying to be the best leader that I could be,’’ Givens said. “It was something where I just focused on my game, every aspect of my game, trying to get faster, stronger, catch more balls and everything that I could do to be a good receiver.
“I just had to get my mind right. Once I got focused one what I needed to be focused on and started doing the right things all the time, that’s when things started going well for me.’‘
I couldn’t help but wonder if there had ever been a time when Givens felt he couldn’t play for Jim Grobe.
“No, there was never that,’’ Givens said. “I knew the goals and I knew what Coach Grobe was trying to achieve and I knew I wanted to be a part of it. That’s why I came here in the first place. I knew that it was more of me just needing to grow up and mature so I could be the best player I could be for the team.’‘
As of midseason, Chris Givens is one of the best receivers I’ve ever seen play at Wake Forest and one of the best in the ACC. I’m looking forward to what he can do this next year and a half, and these days, so is Jim Grobe.