Wake Forest Head Football Coach Dave Clawson Joins Deac2Deac Podcast
5/17/2022 10:51:00 PM | Football, General
The 2021 ACC Coach of the Year is set to enter his ninth year at the helm of the Demon Deacons football program.
Wake Forest Head Football Coach Dave Clawson Joins Deac2Deac Podcast
The 2021 ACC Coach of the Year is set to enter his ninth year at the helm of the Demon Deacons football program.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Soundcloud | YouTube | GoDeacs.com/Watch
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Dave Clawson, who was named Wake Forest University's 32nd head football coach on Dec. 10, 2013, has set a new standard for Wake Forest football as he heads into his ninth season in Winston-Salem in 2022. The leader of the Deacs football program joined the Deac2Deac Podcast this week.
Clawson, who named as a American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustee member on Jan. 10, 2022, signed a multi-year contract extension with Wake Forest on Nov. 26, 2021 ahead of the Demon Deacons winning the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division title and the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Championship.
After leading the Deacs to a program-record tying 11-3 record, including a school-best 7-1 mark in ACC play, Clawson was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year by the ACC and the Associated Press. This marks the ninth time a Wake Forest head coach has been honored as the ACC Football Coach of the Year and the first since 2006. Clawson was the seventh Wake Forest head coach to win the award. Others who won the award were Jim Grobe (2006), Bill Dooley (1992 and 1987), John Mackovic (1979), Cal Stoll (1970), William Tate (1964) and Paul Amen (1959 and 1955).
Individually, the Coach of the Year honor marked his fifth-career accolade. Clawson was the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002 at Fordham and was awarded the 2005 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award and 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year honor at Richmond.
Nationally in 2021, Clawson was a semifinalist for George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant and Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year awards. Prior to this past season, Clawson was the 2002 Schutt Sports/American Football Monthly I-AA Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award. In 2005, Clawson earned National Coach of the Year from I-AA.org and was again a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.
After reaching a program record sixth-straight bowl game in 2021 and defeating Big Ten foe Rutgers in the 77th annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, 38-10, inside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Wake Forest has the second-longest bowl streak in the ACC, trailing just Clemson, and Clawson owns the school record for bowl victories with four (2016 Military Bowl, 2017 Belk Bowl, 2018 Birmingham Bowl, 2021 Gator Bowl).
Additionally during his tenure, Clawson led the Deacs to their eighth Big 4 Championship in 2019 and the aforementioned Atlantic Division crown in 2021. Clawson has the third-most wins in school history and is 51-48 in his eight-year tenure with the Demon Deacons. He is one of just five head coaches in program history to have a winning record in his coaching career at Wake Forest and the first since D.C. "Peahead" Walker (77-51-6; 1937-50).
Wake Forest's six-year record of 45-30 is the most sustained success the Deacons have earned in program history. Overall within the ACC, Clemson and Wake Forest are the only football programs to rank inside of the top four in win totals over a two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year and six-year period, respectively.
The Deacs are 15-2 at home since the start of the 2019 season and the nine-game win streak is tied for the 10th longest in FBS entering the 2022 season. Additionally with a perfect 6-0 mark in 2021, Wake Forest recorded its first undefeated home record for the first time since 1979 and just the third time since Wake Forest's 1970 ACC Championship team. Meanwhile, six home wins last fall ties the program record that was set in 2019.
Nationally after climbing into the top 10 of the Associated Press and Amway Coaches Poll in 2021, Wake Forest achieved its highest ranking in the College Football Playoff Poll in school history when the first ranking was released on Nov. 2, 2021, as the Demon Deacons were tabbed as the No. 9 that week according to the CFP selection committee. Wake Forest ended last fall ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Poll, which marks the highest ranking to end a season in program history.
Clawson and offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero have engineered an offense that has rewritten the record books at Wake Forest. The Deacons have set over 350 school records including marks for points scored, points per game, total offensive yards, first downs and passing yards over the past five seasons. Also, the Deacs are the only football program in the ACC to average at least 30 points per game each year since 2017. Specifically in 2021, Wake Forest scored a program-best 574 points and averaged a school-record 41.0 ppg.
Clawson came to Winston-Salem after five seasons as the head coach at Bowling Green State University where he led the Falcons to the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship with a 47-27 win over No. 16 Northern Illinois.
In his 22 years as a head coach, Clawson has delivered a conference championship at each of his first three stops. Prior to the 2013 MAC title, Clawson helped Richmond to a pair of Colonial Athletic Association titles in 2005 and 2007. His first championship as a head coach came in 2002 when he led Fordham to the Patriot League title.
Clawson is the only active Division I head coach to win four conference championships in four different Division I leagues. Overall, he has compiled an impressive 141 wins in his head coaching career, which ranks 15th amongst active FBS head coaches.
A 1989 graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts, Clawson earned a degree in political economy and played defensive back.
Listeners are encouraged to send feedback and ideas to smithka@wfu.edu or @Deac2Deac on Twitter.
The Deac2Deac podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube and GoDeacs.com/Watch.
The 2021 ACC Coach of the Year is set to enter his ninth year at the helm of the Demon Deacons football program.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Soundcloud | YouTube | GoDeacs.com/Watch
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Dave Clawson, who was named Wake Forest University's 32nd head football coach on Dec. 10, 2013, has set a new standard for Wake Forest football as he heads into his ninth season in Winston-Salem in 2022. The leader of the Deacs football program joined the Deac2Deac Podcast this week.
Clawson, who named as a American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustee member on Jan. 10, 2022, signed a multi-year contract extension with Wake Forest on Nov. 26, 2021 ahead of the Demon Deacons winning the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division title and the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Championship.
After leading the Deacs to a program-record tying 11-3 record, including a school-best 7-1 mark in ACC play, Clawson was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year by the ACC and the Associated Press. This marks the ninth time a Wake Forest head coach has been honored as the ACC Football Coach of the Year and the first since 2006. Clawson was the seventh Wake Forest head coach to win the award. Others who won the award were Jim Grobe (2006), Bill Dooley (1992 and 1987), John Mackovic (1979), Cal Stoll (1970), William Tate (1964) and Paul Amen (1959 and 1955).
Individually, the Coach of the Year honor marked his fifth-career accolade. Clawson was the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002 at Fordham and was awarded the 2005 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award and 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year honor at Richmond.
Nationally in 2021, Clawson was a semifinalist for George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant and Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year awards. Prior to this past season, Clawson was the 2002 Schutt Sports/American Football Monthly I-AA Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award. In 2005, Clawson earned National Coach of the Year from I-AA.org and was again a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.
After reaching a program record sixth-straight bowl game in 2021 and defeating Big Ten foe Rutgers in the 77th annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, 38-10, inside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Wake Forest has the second-longest bowl streak in the ACC, trailing just Clemson, and Clawson owns the school record for bowl victories with four (2016 Military Bowl, 2017 Belk Bowl, 2018 Birmingham Bowl, 2021 Gator Bowl).
Additionally during his tenure, Clawson led the Deacs to their eighth Big 4 Championship in 2019 and the aforementioned Atlantic Division crown in 2021. Clawson has the third-most wins in school history and is 51-48 in his eight-year tenure with the Demon Deacons. He is one of just five head coaches in program history to have a winning record in his coaching career at Wake Forest and the first since D.C. "Peahead" Walker (77-51-6; 1937-50).
Wake Forest's six-year record of 45-30 is the most sustained success the Deacons have earned in program history. Overall within the ACC, Clemson and Wake Forest are the only football programs to rank inside of the top four in win totals over a two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year and six-year period, respectively.
The Deacs are 15-2 at home since the start of the 2019 season and the nine-game win streak is tied for the 10th longest in FBS entering the 2022 season. Additionally with a perfect 6-0 mark in 2021, Wake Forest recorded its first undefeated home record for the first time since 1979 and just the third time since Wake Forest's 1970 ACC Championship team. Meanwhile, six home wins last fall ties the program record that was set in 2019.
Nationally after climbing into the top 10 of the Associated Press and Amway Coaches Poll in 2021, Wake Forest achieved its highest ranking in the College Football Playoff Poll in school history when the first ranking was released on Nov. 2, 2021, as the Demon Deacons were tabbed as the No. 9 that week according to the CFP selection committee. Wake Forest ended last fall ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Poll, which marks the highest ranking to end a season in program history.
Clawson and offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero have engineered an offense that has rewritten the record books at Wake Forest. The Deacons have set over 350 school records including marks for points scored, points per game, total offensive yards, first downs and passing yards over the past five seasons. Also, the Deacs are the only football program in the ACC to average at least 30 points per game each year since 2017. Specifically in 2021, Wake Forest scored a program-best 574 points and averaged a school-record 41.0 ppg.
Clawson came to Winston-Salem after five seasons as the head coach at Bowling Green State University where he led the Falcons to the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship with a 47-27 win over No. 16 Northern Illinois.
In his 22 years as a head coach, Clawson has delivered a conference championship at each of his first three stops. Prior to the 2013 MAC title, Clawson helped Richmond to a pair of Colonial Athletic Association titles in 2005 and 2007. His first championship as a head coach came in 2002 when he led Fordham to the Patriot League title.
Clawson is the only active Division I head coach to win four conference championships in four different Division I leagues. Overall, he has compiled an impressive 141 wins in his head coaching career, which ranks 15th amongst active FBS head coaches.
A 1989 graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts, Clawson earned a degree in political economy and played defensive back.
Listeners are encouraged to send feedback and ideas to smithka@wfu.edu or @Deac2Deac on Twitter.
The Deac2Deac podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube and GoDeacs.com/Watch.
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