Wake Forest football parts with two long time coaches
by RAJohnston on Jan 5, 2012 12:41 PM EST
in Wake Forest Football
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via www.wfu.edu
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest head football coach Jim Grobe has announced that two coaches are leaving the staff to pursue other coaching opportunities.
Special teams coordinator Keith Henry and co-defensive coordinator Tim Billings will not return to the staff in 2012.
Henry came to Wake Forest with Grobe in 2001. He joined Grobe’s first coaching staff at Ohio University in 1995. While at Ohio, Henry was the outside linebackers coach for four seasons and spent two years coaching the receivers. During his time at Wake Forest, he has coached cornerbacks and defensive ends. In 2011, Henry was the special teams coordinator.
Billings spent six years at Wake Forest. He coached the wide receivers in 2006 and 2007 before moving to the secondary in 2008. Billings coached the defensive ends in 2010 and the outside linebackers in 2011.
"Keith and Tim have been valuable members of our staff," said Grobe. "We wish them all the best."
There should be plenty of commentary on these "shake-ups", so let's go ahead and talk about this....interesting...move by Coach Grobe and Ron Wellman.
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hmmmm
I’m not really sure what to make of this at the moment
Grobes call
In reading Dan’s blog on the subject it appears very clear that Coach has been thinking about what moves need to be made for a while now. He says that replacing them is not immenent and he may want to move other coachesd around. Wonder if that includes all of our favorite whipping boy, Steed Lobotski. I never really thought Co-cordinators was a great idea on either side of the ball. Anyway the task of a CEO is to make sure you have the best available talent in the best available position. Seems as though that is what he is trying to accomplish. Hard and cruel at times but necessary.
If I had to guess I would propose...
a “promotion demotion” for Coach Lobotzke that sees him go from his current OC/O-line coach to an associate coach. That will allow Coach Galloway to be promoted to offensive coordinator. Not sure what the rules are considering promoting a graduate assistant, but I believe he has been working heavily with the secondary in the past year or so, so if they can promote him then I could see him going to coach the secondary. Coach Knorr will likely stay as the defensive coordinator the time being.
Surely everything that Coach Grobe wants to do has not been done yet. That being said., I have heard that a lot of the players, especially those that were recruited by Coach Billings (see the Texas pipeline) are very upset and distraught over the firing of him. That doesn’t bode well for that pipeline going forward, and it’s hard to see at face value why we fired what many believed to be our best assistant coach.
This is especially after our offense under Coach Lobotzke has continued to demonstrate its stagnancy, even while getting better talent year after year.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
The "he" in the first paragraph...
is supposed to be the current GA, Chris Barclay.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
GAs
Grobe has graduate assistants coach one year on each side of the ball and then they are usually pushed out of the Wake Forest nest.
Good info...
I am almost positive actually that GA’s cannot be promoted to the “real” coaching roster.
Along the same lines, Ryan McManus got a GA at Wake today!
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
Without knowing too much about the actual football effect of this...
These moves – to me – seem to indicate that one of two things is happening:
1) Grobe might not be thinking retirement in the next few years. Why risk ruining long-term relationships if you plan on calling it quits in a season or two? This seems especially likely since one of the big selling points of keeping Grobe at Wake is that he is given inordinate freedom to choose his own staff (this was the sticking point in Grobe’s flirtations with Nebraska and Arkansas – both ADs wanted input on choosing his assistants). However…
2) It is possible that some of the goodwill that Grobe accumulated during the Riley Skinner era has dissipated. Grobe strikes me as an extremely loyal person to his assistant coaches, particularly those that have been with him for a long time (such as both coaches here). He almost always promotes from within; has he ever gone outside the program to bring in a coordinator? Given this, another possible interpretation of this is that a booster (or several) is putting pressure on Wellman to force Grobe to make staff changes.
Personally, I think Grobe should have a lifetime contract here – he’s done so much for this program that he’s earned the right to have a bad season (or eleven). Jim Caldwell was here eight years, went to one bowl, and had a long winning streak of two. Grobe has been here eleven years, been to five bowls, won an ACC Championship, and has a winning record (if ever so slightly). He knows how to coach football, and has proven that his choice of assistants has been strong. I think he should be afforded that luxury, particularly since it’s of such importance to him.
Unfortunately, I have absolutely no say in the matter, and I recognize that my forgiving ways are not those of the entire fanbase.
by quzybuk on Jan 7, 2012 11:04 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
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