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After a very disappointing season, Wake Forest head football coach Dave Clawson made a stunning move. Clawson is stepping down from his position as head coach after 11 seasons, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Clawson will remain with Wake Forest in an advisory role, so he will still be involved in football operations and will be around the program, according to Thamel. However, this is a stunning decision from an icon of the Wake Forest program.
Clawson released a statement after the decision was announced, via the team's official website.
“Coaching at Wake Forest has been the honor of my career,” Clawson said. “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.”
Clawson and the Demon Deacons didn't finish the 2024 season in the way they had hoped. Wake Forest lost its final four games of the season to finish off a 4-8 campaign that saw it go just 2-6 in ACC play.
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This was Wake Forest's second straight 4-8 season after reaching a bowl game in each of the previous seven seasons from 2016-22. Clawson finished his 11 year tenure in Winston-Salem with a 67-69 record. His best season came in 2021 when he led the Demon Deacons to an 11-3 record and a berth in the ACC Championship Game. Wake Forest won the Gator Bowl at the end of that season, one of the five bowl games that Clawson won with the program.
Before he was at Wake Forest, Clawson spent five seasons as the head coach at Fordham, four seasons in the same position at Richmond and five years at Bowling Green. Clawson led Bowling Green to a MAC Championship in his final season there in 2013. He has a 157-149 record during his career as a head coach at the college level.
Over the years, Clawson became known for his “walk” schemes on offense, led by star quarterback Sam Hartman during Clawson's best years at Wake Forest. In this somewhat unique system, the quarterback and the running back would hold the mesh point for multiple seconds while Hartman walked towards the line of scrimmage. At that point, he could either give the ball off, keep it or throw it down the field.
Wake Forest can go in a number of different directions with its head coach opening, but it will be one of the most attractive openings in the sport as a Power Four team.
