Wake Forest Athletics
Jim Grobe Quotes On Wake Forest Football Signing Day
2/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 6, 2002
On the recruiting class:
"Overall I am most impressed with not only the good football players that we got, but the good people that we got. Everybody in their schools had good things to say about these guys. Not just their coaches, but their teachers and other faculty members too. They are not just leaders on the football field, but in the classroom too. I feel that these guys will give us five good years of hard work and leave Wake Forest with a degree in their hands."
On first impression of recruiting at Wake Forest:
"This is our first full recruiting year and I think that this class is a real good starting group for us that will form a good foundation for us."
"I was surprised that we were keeping company with some of the big programs. We were in it right up until the end with some of those programs on some guys. To get Bryan Andrews and Jamiel Smith pushed us over the top. I would have happy with our class with those two guys. To add those two to our class makes this a better class than I had hoped for."
On redshirting newcomers:
"My philosophy is that the best players play, but I don't want to play one of them this year. We will have to see this spring more as to what our needs are, but I don't see any of them playing yet. We have a big hole to fill with the loss of Nate Bolling, but we may be able to move over one of our special position guys."
On kickers:
"We didn't get a kicker or a punter this class and we probably should have, but I didn't want to have back-to-back classes with kickers. Strappel does not need to compete for the job and MacPherson can punt for us."
On the future of Anthony Young's quarterback career:
Our plan is to move Anthony Young to receiver. We've talked with him about it already. We lost two receivers and we've got some guys already that may be able to step up and fill those spots, but Anthony has been to battle. He's tall and athletic. I want to put my best 11 on the field and he's one of them."
On the quarterback situation:
"If we can get Nate and Zac redshirted this year and then let them compete with Cory the next year then that would be a great situation."
On the linemen:
"One thing we know when we play the people we play in the ACC is that you have got to be able to run. We backed off some good football players because we thought that they would labor in this league. We wanted to get some athletic guys with good footspeed. Our linemen may not be the biggest in the country, but they are all going to be quick. We didn't want a bunch of file cabinets on wheels. We wanted footspeed."
On only getting one runningback:
We went down to the wire on some great runningbacks. We backed off of a couple too, because they just weren't fast enough. Barclay had some great stats, but the thing we liked about him the most is his footspeed. That is something that is going to help us. We want to improve that on the backs we have now and that is something that we are going to keep trying to bring here because a really fast back can be used at so many places."
On landing Parade All-American Bryan Andrews:
Getting a Bryan Andrews type player is huge. You really find out how good these guys are in about their third year. He is a raw player with a frame that has unlimited potential. He is the type of athlete that can play a variety of places. We expect good things from him, but he knows that he has to come in here and go to work and that he will have to earn every last thing.
On the best and worst things about recruiting at Wake Forest:
"The number one thing is our staff. They really work hard and they really sell Wake Forest because they believe in what they are doing.
Wake Forest is a great University and it sells itself really. If we can get Mom and Dad on campus then we've got a shot at anybody.
What hurt us the most is that we asked the kids to come here and make a difference. That worked for some, but others went with school who are already at where we're tying to get."
