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Report: Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson to step down

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko12/16/24nickkosko59
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© Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson will step down as the football head coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

“Sources: Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson is stepping down from his head coaching position, sources told ESPN,” Thamel wrote on Twitter. “Clawson is expected to remain with the university in an advisory role, and the decision to step down was his.”

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As Thamel reported, Clawson will remain involved with the football program, but solely in an advisory role.

Clawson’s been the head coach at Wake Forest since 2014, amassing a record of 67-69 in 11 seasons. He led the Demon Deacons to the 2021 ACC Championship Game and the team finished 11-3 with a Gator Bowl victory over Rutgers.

Clawson, 57, went 5-2 in bowl games with Wake Forest. In stops with Fordham, Richmond, Bowling Green and Wake Forest since 1999, he is 157-149 as a head coach.

Clawson won conference titles with Fordham (2002), Richmond (2005 and ’07) and Bowling Green (2013).

He began his coaching career in 1989 at Albany as a graduate assistant and then had assistant stops at Buffalo, Lehigh and Villanova before his first head coaching gig.

The 2024 campaign was a rough one for the Demon Deacons. After a 4-4 start to the season, Wake Forest ended the year with four straight losses, three of which came by one score.

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The coaching search will now be underway as the ACC will see more changes to one of its programs. North Carolina recently shifted from Mack Brown to Bill Belichick, creating a lot of buzz for the Tar Heels. There were no immediate reported candidates for Wake Forest and it is unclear if Clawson will be heavily involved in finding his replacement.