The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will enter a new era for the 2025 college football season, one without head coach Dave Clawson on the sidelines. Clawson made the decision to step away from coaching after 11 seasons with the Deacs, lifting the program to unheralded success during his journey.
But his time with the program is far from over.
Dave Clawson to Stay With Wake Forest as Advisor
It’s been a long time since Clawson wasn’t on the sidelines for a college football game. In fact, every season since 1989 has seen the native New Yorker coaching in some capacity.
Despite his decision to step down from his head coaching gig with the Demon Deacons, he has staid he’ll stay on to help guide the team in the future, serving the university in an advisory role. It should be stated, though, that it is unknown whether Clawson will help directly with the football team or not at this time.
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Clawson got his first start with Albany back in 1989, serving as their grad assistant for two seasons before journeying to Buffalo. After two seasons with Buffalo in various roles, he put himself on the map with some innovative offenses at Lehigh from 1993 to 1995 and then with Villanova from 1996-1988.
After multiple successful stints as an offensive coordinator, Clawson got his first head coaching gig with Fordham, a role he held for four seasons, gradually building the Rams into a contender during his four-year tenure.
After starting his Fordham tenure with an 0-11 season, Clawson finished with a respectable 29-29 mark, going 29-18 in his final three seasons with the program. He then became the head coach of Richmond, where he pulled off a 29-20 record in four seasons with the Spiders.
It was after his tenure at Richmond that legendary Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer gave Clawson his start at the FBS level. Fulmer hired Clawson as the offensive coordinator with the Volunteers, replacing David Cutcliffe, who left to coach Duke.
Clawson spent a single season with Fulmer before vaulting to his own head coaching gig — this time with the Bowling Green Falcons in the MAC.
Much like his previous stints, Clawson slowly built the Falcons up into a dominant program and finished his five-year tenure in Bowling Green with a MAC East division title.
Clawson to be Remembered for Innovation, Progress At Wake Forest
Following three different head coaching stops, Clawson finally found what was home for him with the Deacs. Taking over the Wake program in 2014, Clawson took a bottom-feeding ACC program to new heights, the same way he’d done at all of his previous stops.
After consecutive 3-9 seasons, Clawson finally got his roster under control and won three consecutive bowl games from 2016-2018. It was then 2021 that saw the pinnacle of Clawson’s tenure at Wake Forest, finishing 1st in the ACC Atlantic and generating national acclaim for himself and a cast of his players, including QB Sam Hartman.
Despite a tumultuous end that was clearly coming with growing unrest from both sides, Clawson’s time at Wake Forest will surely be a memorable one. His innovative slow-mesh offense threw every opposing defense for a loop and he made multiple highlight-reel wins possible because of it.
Though Clawson has officially stepped down, his mark of 67 wins over 11 seasons will forever be etched in the program’s record books. Clawson finishes his Wake Forest career with the third-most wins in program history, behind only Jim Grobe and Peahead Walker, and left many offensive records in his wake.
The slow-mesh offense found its way to other offenses around the country and Clawson produced numerous NFL Draft picks during his time with the Deacs.
Time will tell what his advisory role will withhold, but the Deacons are better off having had Clawson on their sidelines for the past decade-plus, and will be perfectly fine with him in their advisory role.
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