The Coach Behind the Coach
If the assistant coaches at Wake Forest are answerable to head coach Jim Grobe on football matters, as he has made clear, then who does Grobe answer to?
That was revealed again this week when Grobe was asked if he planned any major changes for Miami. Last season, you may remember, Grobe drastically retooled his offense between a 26-0 thumping at Maryland during which the Deacons threw 32 passes and a 16-10 loss to the Hurricanes during which the Deacon threw only eight.
“I’ve got to tell you, my wife Holly reminded me when I was coming in Monday morning to not lose my mind this week,’’ Grobe said yesterday. “She didn’t really like my plan to run the football last year.’‘
To bolster her point, all Holly Grobe has to do is remind her husband who he has at quarterback. With 51 more yards, senior quarterback Riley Skinner will pass for at least 2,000 yards for the fourth straight season. Philip Rivers of N.C. State is the only ACC quarterback to have accomplished that feat, though Thaddeus Lewis of Duke is only 28 yards shy of his fourth-straight 2,000-yard season.
Even after two disappointing games against Clemson and Navy, Skinner ranked fourth in the ACC with 243.6 passing yards a game and fourth with a pass efficiency rating of 148.3. So unless Grobe is bluffing, then Holly has nothing to worry about for Saturday’s game against the Hurricanes.
“We’re a little different this year,’’ Grobe said. “We’ve been trying to balance out the runs and throws a little bit all year long, and I wouldn’t see us changing that.’‘