Major Question

[robdupont]

Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson has agreed in principle to become the next coach at Wake Forest, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The details could be finalized as early as tomorrow.
Wake Forest officials interviewed Clawson late Sunday night and offered him the job today. Wake Forest chose Clawson over Ball State coach Pete Lembo, whom Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman interviewed on Thursday in the Muncie, Ind., area.
Lembo is in the running for the Connecticut job and scheduled to interview in Atlanta. Clawson was never involved with that position.
Clawson replaces Jim Grobe, who resigned after five consecutive losing seasons. He stepped down after Wake finished 4-8 this year.
The hiring comes after Bowling Green's dominating performance in the MAC title game on Friday night. Bowling Green (10-3) blew out No. 16 Northern Illinois, 47-27, to clinch the school's first MAC title since 1992.
Wellman, who is a Bowling Green graduate, attended the MAC title game on Friday night and interviewed Clawson in northwest Ohio on Sunday afternoon. The race to become Wake Forest's next head coach essentially came down to him and Lembo.
Clawson's background appears to be an ideal fit for the Demon Deacons. His two jobs prior to Bowling Green were at Fordham and Richmond, two academically oriented schools that Clawson dug out of losing ruts. Clawson's recruiting footprint at Wake Forest will be similar to the one he used in Richmond. ron
Clawson's niche is as a program builder and player developer, which is what's needed at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons play in the ACC Atlantic Division with Clemson and Florida State, the league's two clear-cut juggernauts.
Clawson has built Bowling Green up to be a consistent MAC contender, as the Falcons return seven starters on offense next season. That includes two of the best players in the MAC, star sophomore quarterback Matt Johnson and sophomore running back Travis Greene, who rushed for a school-record 1,555 yards this season.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/colleg ... z2n4fRxd1H

[Falconfreak90]

Man this sucks...big time. I hate to see Coach Clawson leave but that's life in the MAC. I believe Kingston will make the perfect choice. He has impressed me greatly in his short time here.

[BGSU33]

It is interesting that we are accepting this more calmly than the Stoltz or Meyer departures.

I think the fact that we won a MAC Championship under Clawson has a lot to do with it. That is something even Meyer didn't do before bolting. I think the common feeling that we had when Meyer and Clawson were here was we were in very good hands with them. It sucked when Meyer left and equally does now with Clawson, but to me personally, I felt like so much was left unfinished when Meyer left and I feel for some reason that more was accomplished under Clawson while he was here. Yes, I know Clawson was here longer. But what's funny is we had bowl wins, wins over BCS teams and were nationally ranked under Meyer but no MAC title. Under Clawson we had no BCS wins, no bowl wins and no national ranking, but we won a MAC title. Maybe because I longed for the day that would happen and now that it has, it's a little easier to see our coach go. But I'm still very much bummed.

[mscarn]

Think of how the program and its needs have changed in each case.

Meyer was hired for a complete rebuild as was Clawson. Brandon was kept as a maintainer, but his personality was the diametric opposite of Meyer and while the mindset had changed, there were gaps in talent (both recruiting and retention) that came back to bite us post 2004-2005.

The next coach will inherit a situation that the past BG coaches have never had: great talent, no character issues, no academic issues and exceptional facilities. Keep it rolling, Coach Elko.

[Lord_Byron]

I'm taking it calmly, because of most of what was said above. He's put us in a good place and it seems that we've got a good foundation for the future. For that, I thank him.

But. . . I really couldn't care less what happens to him now. Part of me wants him to fail miserably at Wake so he can wish that he'd never left a great situation at BG.

[Globetrotter]

I'm taking it calmly, because of most of what was said above. He's put us in a good place and it seems that we've got a good foundation for the future. For that, I thank him.

But. . . I really couldn't care less what happens to him now. Part of me wants him to fail miserably at Wake so he can wish that he'd never left a great situation at BG.

Plus Clawson seems like a generally nice guy. He is leaving like Curt Miller did.

[mscarn]

Clawson did what is the norm for the profession by striking while the iron was hot. Given the limitations of the Wake Forest job, though, you have to wonder if he also just burned his hand.

There's value in stability, loyalty to players, a great place to raise a family and reaping the rewards of over five years of effort. Apparently it's not worth 2 million but it would be sad to think it's not worth anything.

He was hired to do a job, did the job well and deserves the accolades and the right to advance professionally. BG also did right by him in absorbing the 2-10 and 5-7 seasons when that can get you fired elsewhere in the conference (see Miami) and committing to him through 2017 before a division title was won.