The Inside Zone

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Till the end, Dave Clawson did it his way
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Till the end, Dave Clawson did it his way

The “greatest coach in Wake Forest football history" calls it a day with the Demon Deacons after 11 seasons. Here's hoping it's not the last this sport sees of him.

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Matt Fortuna
Dec 17, 2024
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Till the end, Dave Clawson did it his way
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Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

All that other stuff is fluff. We’re not loud. We’re not cocky. But we have a quiet confidence.

Of everything that Dave Clawson said and did in 11 years at Wake Forest, no line encapsulated his ethos better than that one. He said it the day before his Demon Deacons got routed by Notre Dame in 2018. He could have said it at any other time through one of the more understated runs in recent college football history.

Clawson announced Monday that he was stepping down as coach, transitioning to a special advisor role to athletic director John Currie. The school was clear in terming this a “resignation” rather than a “retirement.” Here’s guessing the 57-year-old Clawson will be back on another sideline in due time. Quite simply, it’s where he belongs.

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Clawson’s demeanor never quite screamed traditional football coach — see the above quote for reference — but he was always more at home on the gridiron than he would have been in a boardroom, where most of his old classmates from Williams College ended up. His regular questions of media members about our business showed a curiosity rarely seen from those of his ilk. His fine-dining habits — he, like a lot of foodies, was gutted to learn that famed Denmark restaurant Noma was closing this year — hardly fit the coaching prototype, either. And, putting his money where his mouth is, he turned down quite a few overtures over the years because he felt Wake was a better fit for his family. (We’re talking CFP-level jobs here.)

His record at Wake — 67-69 — doesn’t exactly scream legendary, but rest assured Winston-Salem lost just that when Clawson decided to retire.

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