Dave Clawson put together a big recruiting class in a short time at Wake Forest.
The new Demon Deacons coach announced a 26-player class Wednesday during signing day.
Clawson left Bowling Green in December to take over for Jim Grobe after the veteran coach stepped down following his fifth straight losing season.
Clawson says “we made up a lot of ground in a short amount of time” and says the coaches “woke up in hotel rooms and had no idea what city we were in.”
Wake Forest’s class was ranked 13th in the 14-team ACC by both Scout.com and Rivals.com. The Demon Deacons were ranked 66th nationally by Scout and tied for 55th by Rivals.
Clawson says it’s best to measure his class “where are we in two to three years.”
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WAKE FOREST
National rankings (Rivals T-55; Scout 66).
Best in class: Clawson’s class had no players rated higher than three stars by either recruiting service. The best of the bunch might be three-star TE Devin Pike (Cincinnati), whom Scout.com rated as the nation’s 32nd-best player at his position. Two of Pike’s brothers played for the University of Cincinnati.
Best of the rest: The Demon Deacons signed two quarterbacks with impressive pedigrees. Travis Smith went 41-0 at Ithaca (Mich.) High School with three consecutive state titles. John Wolford threw for 126 career touchdowns at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Fla. - breaking the state record set by Tim Tebow.
Late addition: Fourteen players committed from Jan. 16 to signing day, assistant Zach Stone said. DE Willie Yarbary (Augusta, Ga.) defected from Indiana’s class after the Hoosiers changed defensive coordinators.
One that got away: Wake Forest got most of the players it wanted. The Demon Deacons offered Demarquis Gates last week but the linebacker signed with Mississippi.
NOTE: Wake Forest appeared to cast a wider net than perhaps in previous years. Clawson signed players from 12 states, including Michigan, Arkansas and Mississippi. “I am really proud of our staff. We hit the ground running,” Clawson said. “There wasn’t one day that a coach could be on the road that we weren’t all on the road.”
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