It’s the end of an era for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons’ football program. Dave Clawson, who has been the head coach at Wake Forest since 2014, has decided to step down from his role.
It’s notable that Clawson isn’t stepping away from Wake Forest as a whole, so this does seem to be an amicable breakup. He’s going to stick around as a special advisor to the university’s Vice President and Athletics Director, John Currie.
“Coaching at Wake Forest has been the honor of my career,” Clawson said in a statement. “This is a special place with extraordinary people, and I am deeply grateful for the relationships I’ve built over the last 11 years.”
He also explained why he decided to step away.
“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 said.
Without a doubt, Clawson has done a ton for Wake Forest. He took them to seven consecutive bowl games from 2016-22 and was the ACC Coach of the Year in 2021. With that said, it’s hard to deny that Clawson’s teams haven’t been that great as of late.
He had that really nice year in 2021 when the Deacs went 11-3 with a win in the Gator Bowl over Rutgers, but they went 8-5 in 2022 with a bowl win and then 4-8 the last two seasons.
It will be interesting to see where Wake Forest goes from here because Clawson does have some big shoes to fill Winston-Salem.
