After Virginia Tech Imbroglio,Wake Forest Coach Unloads on his Team

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Normally composed and engaging during post-game press conferences, Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson showed a different side of who he is after his team got out-schemed while losing lamely to a pedestrian Virginia Tech team, 30-13. This was his team’s third straight loss.

The coach unleashed 41 negative words to describe his team’s poor play. A partial list: bad, awful, don’t, not, nothing, worse, nobody, killer hurt, lost. The two words he repeated most often were “not” and “don’t (eight times apiece). This comment captured the dark mood: “It was a bad, bad performance.”

This avalanche of blunt negativity felt unusual and amounted to plenty to process for all listeners not the least of whom were his players. But one of his negative comments stands alone and was a striking departure because it was pointed and harsh about a specific player’s performance.

That player was starting quarterback Mitch Griffis, who Clawson benched in the first half after not moving the offense, continuing a season-long trend. Asked why he pulled him from the game, Clawson said:

“He made a few plays that were just mental — it wasn’t the pick (interception). It was the other plays where he just wasn’t executing the offense. I just thought our football team needed a spark. After last week at Clemson, at times the offense wasn’t functioning because of the quarterback. I just thought we’re six games into it and it was time to give Michael Kern a shot.”

The big revelation in this comment was that it wasn’t the interception that prompted his decision because Clawson has been harping on the paramount importance of his team not turning the ball over. It was the “mental” aspect of his quarterback’s performance that triggered the major and emotionally charged decision.

This “mental” criticism landed too directly and harshly for my taste. Imagine you are Mitch Griffis and you hear your coach tell the world you made “mental” mistakes and weren’t running the offense and were the main reason for the team’s troubles. Even if true, it’s not something you want your coach to tell everybody. Clawson should have been less blunt with his words.

Years from now, Griffis may still be bothered that his coach criticized his mental capacities for the whole world to know about. Maybe criticisms of his mental screw-ups will lead Griffis to become more mentally tough later in life and be more successful. But maybe not. It’s risky and often cruel to say mean things to young people.

Not cool, Coach Clawson. We get it. College football is big business. Your job is to win. And we appreciate all the fun and winning you’ve brought to Wake Forest football. You’re a role model we admire.

But after a loss don’t torch one young man like you did especially one who’s obviously struggling already. You’re sophisticated and have social intelligence. What you said about him may scar him for the rest of his life. You made it personal and didn’t have to. You let your frustrations and anger get away from you, and as a grown man, a leader who wants to be respected and is, you can’t do that. You don’t have that right and it’s not likely to help Griffis play better.

You’ve shaken his already shaky confidence, perhaps for the rest of his Wake Forest playing days (if he ever gets another chance). And that’s not good for your football program nor for your relationship with Griffis and every other player on your team.

Think about it: All your other players may fear they’re next on your list to target for public ridicule. Football players aren’t at their best when afraid of what their coach will say about them publicly, and may even start to not trust you. Fine, be tough on them at practice but not to the public. Football is a rough sport, yes, but don’t call out a young man like this.

Your team is losing and doesn’t look good, and this may be a tough year all around. Your squad seems less athletic and slower than most other teams. You need more speed and better athletes. You know this.

But your challenge now is, first, to consider apologizing to Griffis for saying he was having “mental” problems. No one wants to be told that nor have someone else say that about them – not for everyone to know about.

Then contemplate apologizing to the rest of the team for hurling 41 negative words about them at the public press conference.

Your season is teetering into disaster territory. One thing’s for sure: negative verbal outbursts aren’t going to prevent this from turning out unimaginably bad.

Change your tone. Be positive. Build up the confidence of your players. Long-term, long after football, that’s what they’ll need: confidence, feelings of high self-worth, not a belief they’re not good enough, that they make mental mistakes, that they’re not good at what they do.

Take the long view.

Uplift this Wake Forest football team.

Don’t tear them down.

And even if this season can’t be salvaged measured by wins, you can be instrumental in making these players feel good about themselves which, in the context of their entire lives, will be far more important.