There are a few words here and there from a head coach. And a tongue-in-cheek comment from a player. Then just like that, we have a story about why Wake Forest itself is not more of a story. The team is 6-1 heading into Louisville this weekend. The fans aren’t comfortable talking big picture for the program. The long-timers have had too many years of lowering expectations. Much of the national media can’t find its way to Winston-Salem unless the team on the other sideline is Clemson. There is a Wake Forest conundrum that revolves around why the program can’t get more recognition if it should get more acclaim, and what pitfalls could exist if it does, and then falls short.
Building The Program
Wake Forest’s success has not come out of nowhere. But it has been plodding timeframe by today’s college football standards. Head coach Dave Clawson came over from Bowling Green in 2014. What followed were some sixth-place finishes within the ACC Atlantic. And there was some bouncing around like a pinball in an old arcade game. There were years of winning overall records coupled with middling to losing conference records.
Then came last year’s bolt of lightning. The Demon Deacons finished 11-3 in a year that included the ACC Atlantic title and a Gator Bowl win. Clawson got more years to get to that point than do other coaches at other programs, because, well, because it was Wake Forest. As athletic director John Currie told us during the Summer, he didn’t have to worry about filling an 80,000-seat stadium. He only had to fill the 31,000-seat Truist Field. So he was afforded more patience as Clawson went beyond coaching games and built a program.
The Orange Bowl reps are at the Wake Forest game. The ACC commissioner is at the Wake game. The fans? Not so much. The stadium for the 5-1 Demon Deacons is maybe half full.
— Tony Siracusa (@TonyBruin) October 22, 2022
The school’s media department touts the current streak of six consecutive bowl appearances. That is what media teams within athletic departments do. The list includes the 2020 Mayo Bowl when Wake was invited with a 4-4 record. Because of Covid, there was a lack of viable bowl teams that year. Even Clawson discounts the Covid season for its lack of weekly accountability. With the six wins this season, the team is already bowl eligible, acknowledged it, and has moved on to a bigger picture. So, why hasn’t everyone else noticed? The topic has taken on a life of its own in the last five days, whether Clawson wants the distraction or not.
Hartman’s Numbers
Sam Hartman threw five touchdown passes in the win over Boston College Saturday night. It is the fourth time in his career he has hit that level, with the Clemson game being a six-touchdown day. Clawson was asked after the game if Hartman was setting a new standard with these types of performances. He said he was unaware of the stats until he got to the podium to talk to the media. He then took the opportunity to talk about why Hartman did not get more big-picture recognition for his achievements.
“I think he is one of the very elite quarterbacks in the entire country,” Clawson said Saturday night. “How he’s not getting mentioned in the Heisman stuff and things like that is beyond me.” He took particular shots at the polling from ACC Media Days in the Summer that had Hartman as the fifth-best quarterback in a conference that looked position-rich. That was before plenty of injuries and mediocre play wiped out some of the “contenders.” Clawson called that ranking from back in July, “Disrespectful.” He also pointed out that he probably cared about it more than Hartman does.
It’s Wake Forest
Minutes later, in the same post-game press conference, in the appropriate captain/team leader fashion, Hartman said it was more about the team and the record this season. But when asked about not getting enough national attention he gave a tongue-in-cheek answer, “It’s Wake Forest. What do you expect, right?”
And with that glib, off-the-cuff, nothing intended comment, a whole new question was raised. Why? Why can’t Wake Forest and its quarterback get more attention from the large-scale national media? There is plenty of local and regional tv, radio, and print coverage. There are digital sites that are singularly devoted to covering the team, and there is this national digital media outlet that has Wake as part of its global coverage. But where are the name-brand media and the well-recognized commentators? And is there a chicken/egg issue? If Hartman got more love from the national media, would it help Wake? Or would it help Hartman if Wake was more in the weekly national conversation?
It’s Easy Not To Care…Until You Care
At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Clawson was told of Hartman’s comments and was asked if Wake Forest gets the national respect it may deserve. “Overall, probably not,” Clawson said. “But I’m never going to control that narrative. So, the only thing we can do is control the controllable.” That last part comes from the graduate program for coaching school because it is a phrase every coach in the country uses.
He said he didn’t care about the recognition as long as they win games. And sure, that’s true, except he has specifically talked about the lack of recognition for his starting quarterback.
“That feeling in the locker room after a win, that beats any article that comes out Sunday on where we’re ranked,” he said, clearly not having read the poetic prose that comes out of this space. And for someone who does not care as long as they win, he acknowledged there is a need for the head coach to “Support his players.”
That brought us back to the specific topic of Hartman. “Has anybody right now in the country done more to elevate a program than he has?” He added Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker as someone in the same category. “I mean a lot of these guys that are getting those votes, and again, they’re super talented players, but their positions at their schools, they’re always up for the Heisman.”
Hey, We’re Over Here
And there it is. Being super successful at Wake Forest is not the same as being at the same level at a blueblood program that the networks fight over every week. Later this season Hartman is likely to become the all-time leading touchdown passer in ACC history. But who is talking about that?
The national media has spoon-fed the information on those players. The media relations staff at those schools is turning out promotional pieces on a weekly basis. Those who are voters on award panels start getting our inboxes flooded around mid-October with “For your consideration” pieces like it was the Academy Awards.
🏆 ACC QB of the Week 🏆
Let's go, @sam_hartman10 🎩 pic.twitter.com/IYRjSDuCTL
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) October 24, 2022
Wake pushes Hartman’s bona fides primarily on social media posts. But once the season starts, he is rarely made available to the media beyond the five-minute availability in the post-game press conferences. Local radio host Josh Graham, (@joshgrahamaradio), suggested Tuesday, that the lack of putting Hartman out there more is an obstacle to him getting the appreciation Clawson says he deserves. Whether you agree with the premise or not, it is a legitimate question. Most schools hand the reporters QB1 twice a week, including the post-game press conference.
Those who cover the team on a daily or weekly basis know that if the big tv networks call, Hartman would likely be made available at the drop of a hat. The beat reporters try not to get too concerned about the bus tire marks on their backs when the big boys roll into town and are catered to by the school. That is how the program gets recognition. That’s how the system works.
Recruiting
But then why aren’t we seeing more of Wake Forest, or Hartman, in the national spotlight?
Clawson reminded the media Tuesday that Wake got up to #9 in the country last year before taking their first loss of the season from North Carolina. He is trying to be cautious that the program does not get too far over its skis this year. Caution, of course, sometimes flies in the face of promoting the program.
Clawson was asked if it would help his recruiting efforts if the Wake Forest brand got more bluster outside of its own small network. “I don’t think it’s going to change who we recruit or how we recruit,” Clawson said. As has become his method, he said he trusts the eyes of his staff to evaluate talent more than the recruiting sites and services that grant star ratings to players, sometimes based on where their offers are coming from. “In some cases, we have taken two-star guys that we thought were better than four-star guys. Sometimes we were right. Sometimes we were wrong.”
One Week At A Time
Certainly, not every recruit is going to be a good fit at Wake Forest. No matter how much success the football program has over a period of years, it is never going to be the factory other schools are. But the job of recruiting would certainly open to more possibilities if Wake were getting the national recognition that teams that are 17-4 over the last season-and-a-half tend to get.
So Wake now heads to Louisville. Lose and the conundrum goes away on its own. The Demon Deacons become just another good to above-average program on a long list of similar teams. But if they win, the issue grows. They would be 7-1 and deserving of something other than articles about why they don’t get more attention.
