Five of the state’s seven FBS programs will have new coaches next season after Dave Clawson stepped down at Wake Forest on Monday.
Clawson, who has coached the Demon Deacons since 2014, is the third winningest coach in school history, behind Jim Grobe and Peahead Walker, who each had 77. Clawson finished 67-69 at Wake, the best win-loss record by a Deacs coach since Walker, who finished his carer at the school in 1950.
Clawson started his coaching career immediately after college. He spent 10 seasons as an assistant, on staffs at Albany, Buffalo, Lehigh and Villanova before becoming head coach at Fordham in 1999. After going 0-11 in his first season, he posted a winning record with the Rams in his third year and reached the FCS playoffs in his fourth. He left for Richmond in 2004 and went to the playoffs twice in four seasons, winning national coach of the year honors in 2005.
Following a year as offensive coordinator at Tennessee, Clawson took over the Bowling Green program in 2009, reaching a bowl game in his fifth season. He then left for Wake, where, following back-to-back 3-9 seasons, he strung together seven straight bowl bids from 2016 to 2022.
Wake also reached the ACC Championship game and cracked the AP Top 10, the highest ranking in the school’s history, in 2021. Clawson also won ACC coach of the year that season.
Clawson recorded a 10-win season at all four coaching stops, the only college coach in D-1 history who can make that claim.
“Coaching at Wake Forest has been the honor of my career,” Clawson said in a statement from the school. “This is a special place with extraordinary people, and I am deeply grateful for the relationships I’ve built over the last 11 years. Together, we achieved things that many thought impossible, and I step down knowing I gave everything I had for this program and University. I want to thank our players, coaches and staff for their unwavering support and dedication since my arrival to help build a sustainable winning program. With that, I am so grateful for our student body, fans and so many special Wake Foresters who invested their time, efforts and money into helping us win. While this chapter is ending, my pride in what we’ve built here will never fade. After completing my 25th season as a head coach and 36th-straight in college football, the timing is right for me and my family to step away into this new role within Wake Forest University.”
According to reports by ESPN, Clawson was also concerned about the changing nature of college sports, as well as Wake Forest’s uncertain place in major college football going forward. Wake is one of the smaller schools in FBS. Clawson reportedly compared his decision to similar moves by Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett and Washington coach Chris Petersen, both of whom decided to resign.
“Dave Clawson has been the epitome of integrity, innovation, and excellence in college football,” said Wake Forest Director of Athletics John Currie. “He elevated Wake Forest football to unprecedented heights, not only through success on the field but also by fostering the development of young men as leaders in life. Quite simply, Dave Clawson ‘s leadership, competitive drive and strategic instincts have made football at Wake Forest important, and a flagship program for our entire community and University at a scale that might have been unimaginable to most when he arrived 11 years ago.”
Clawson will remain with Wake Forest in an advisory role for at least a year. After recharging his coaching batteries, he may consider a return to the sideline.
In the meantime, Wake Forest now needs to find a replacement for one of the most successful coaches in school history, after getting a late start to the coaching carousel. The Deacs currently have the only head coaching vacancy at a power conference school, and most of the candidates have already either been extended or taken jobs. Army’s Jeff Monken, Toledo’s Jason Candle, James Madison’s Bob Chesney and former West Virginia coach Neal Brown have all been mentioned as potential picks.
Whoever gets chosen will be the latest domino to fall in a changing of the guard across the state. Duke’s Manny Diaz, who just finished his first season with the Blue Devils, is now second among North Carolina’s FBS schools in job tenure, behind NC State’s Dave Doeren (12 years).
Next season, the state’s seven head coaches will have a total of 20 years experience in their current jobs, down from 53 years in 2024. It’s the lowest total tenure for the state’s coaches since 1993, when the state’s six coaches (Charlotte didn’t have a program yet) had a combined 19 years.
North Carolina’s four ACC coaches will have a combined 17 years of experience, down from 40 this past season. That will be the lowest since 2015, when David Cutcliffe was in his eighth year at Duke, Larry Fedora his fourth at UNC, Doeren his third and Clawson his second.
