The Wake Forest Demon Deacons college football team represents Wake Forest University in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Demon Deacons compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 32 head coaches since it began play during the 1888 season. Since December 2013, Dave Clawson has served as head coach at Wake Forest.[1]
Six coaches have led Wake Forest in postseason bowl games: Peahead Walker, John Mackovic, Bill Dooley, Jim Caldwell, Jim Grobe, and Clawson. Two of those coaches also won conference championships: Cal Stoll and Grobe each captured one as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Peahead Walker is the leader in games won and seasons coached with 77 wins in his 14 years as head coach each. Hank Garrity has the highest winning percentage at 0.722. Bill Hildebrand has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.175.
Key
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches
| No. | Name[A 6] | Season(s)[A 7] | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W. C. Dowd | 1888 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | W. C. Riddick | 1888–1889 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | E. Walter Sikes | 1891–1893 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0.722 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | A. P. Hall Jr. | 1908 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.200 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | A. T. Myers | 1909 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.333 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Reddy Rowe | 1910 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0.222 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Frank Thompson | 1911–1913 | 24 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 0.208 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Wilbur C. Smith | 1914–1915 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0.375 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | G. M. Billings | 1916 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | E. T. MacDonnell | 1917 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0.188 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | Harry Rabenhorst | 1918–1919 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0.273 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12 | James L. White | 1920–1921 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 0.211 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | George Levene | 1922 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0.400 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 14 | Hank Garrity | 1923–1925 | 27 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 0.722 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | James A. Baldwin | 1926–1927 | 20 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0.425 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Stan Cofall | 1928 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0.300 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Pat Miller | 1929–1932 | 37 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 0.541 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Jim Weaver | 1933–1936 | 33 | 10 | 23 | 1 | 0.309 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.400 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 19 | Peahead Walker | 1937–1950 | 134 | 77 | 51 | 6 | 0.597 | 53 | 33 | 5 | 0.610 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 20 | Tom Rogers | 1951–1955 | 50 | 21 | 25 | 4 | 0.460 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0.531 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 21 | Paul Amen | 1956–1959 | 40 | 11 | 26 | 3 | 0.313 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 0.278 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 22 | Bill Hildebrand | 1960–1963 | 40 | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0.175 | 6 | 21 | 0 | 0.222 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 23 | Bill Tate | 1964–1968 | 50 | 17 | 32 | 1 | 0.350 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 0.422 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 24 | Cal Stoll | 1969–1971 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | 0.469 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 25 | Tom Harper | 1972 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0.182 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.167 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 26 | Chuck Mills | 1973–1977 | 55 | 11 | 43 | 1 | 0.209 | 6 | 23 | 1 | 0.217 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 27 | John Mackovic | 1978–1980 | 34 | 14 | 20 | 0 | 0.412 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0.353 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 28 | Al Groh | 1981–1986 | 66 | 26 | 40 | 0 | 0.394 | 8 | 32 | 0 | 0.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 29 | Bill Dooley | 1987–1992 | 67 | 29 | 36 | 2 | 0.448 | 14 | 29 | 0 | 0.326 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 30 | Jim Caldwell | 1993–2000 | 89 | 26 | 63 | 0 | 0.292 | 12 | 52 | 0 | 0.188 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 31 | Jim Grobe | 2001–2013 | 159 | 77 | 82 | — | 0.484 | 42 | 62 | — | 0.404 | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | — | AP College Football COY (2006) Bobby Dodd COY (2006) Sporting News COY (2006) |
| 32 | Dave Clawson | 2014–present | 124 | 63 | 61 | — | 0.508 | 30 | 49 | — | 0.380 | 5 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
Notes
- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[2]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[3]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[4]
- ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
- ^ Wake Forest did not have a head coach for the 1895 season.
- ^ Wake Forest did not field teams for the 1890, 1894, or 1896–1907 seasons.
References
- ^ "Wake Forest hires Dave Clawson". ESPN.com. December 9, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.