The Dave Clawson era comes to an end.
Wake Forest Football Head Coach Dave Clawson announced his resignation this Monday after 11 seasons at the program’s helm. Finishing a decade-long stretch stacked with accomplishments, Clawson steps down as one of the most decorated coaches in Wake Forest history, now heading to an advisory role with the Demon Deacons.
“Coaching at Wake Forest has been the honor of my career,” Clawson said in a release from Wake Forest Athletics. “This is a special place with extraordinary people, and I am deeply grateful for the relationships I’ve built over the last 11 years.”
During his tenure, Clawson cemented his status as one of Wake Forest’s most acclaimed football coaches in modern history. Between 2016 and 2022, the Demon Deacons made seven straight bowl games and several top-10 placements in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll under Clawson. That included the team’s 11-3 campaign in 2021, when Clawson led Wake Forest to their first ACC Championship game since 2006 before himself being named ACC Coach of the Year.
“Dave Clawson has been the epitome of integrity, innovation, and excellence in college football,” said Wake Forest Vice President and Director of Athletics John Currie in a statement. “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.”
However, the end of Clawson’s tenure tells a tale of two programs – one before and one after new changes in college football came to pass.
In Clawson’s final two seasons, new developments like the transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) took a considerable toll on Wake Forest. The team lost innumerable key players and regressed to back-to-back 4-8 finishes full of struggle. Clawson remained vocal about these larger issues throughout his final season, testifying their burden on his program before finally deciding to step down.
“The reality of college football [is] you don’t have time anymore,” said Clawson after his final loss to rival Duke this past November. “This has become just nonstop, 24/7.”
Now, Clawson’s resignation leaves a major role to fill in the Wake Forest program. His departure gives players 30 days to enter the transfer portal and leave an already renovating roster. Several players – both veterans and recently recruited – have already departed or decommitted following Clawson’s announcement, spelling uncertainty for Wake Forest Football moving forward.
With many veteran players central to the program also exhausting their eligibility at the conclusion of this season, Wake Forest will now search for a new head coach who can help lead the program into a new age of college athletics.
Clawson is expected to have a press conference and celebration event at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Remarks will be made by Clawson, Currie and Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente, PhD.
“To fix problems, you need a lot of money,” Clawson explained earlier this season, “and we recruited what we could afford.”
