Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Grobe Returns…to Baylor

Former Wake Forest Demon Deacons coach Jim Grobe has become the interim head coach of the embattled Baylor Bears.

Former Wake Forest Demon Deacons head football coach Jim Grobe was last seen resigning from the Deacons position. After taking the program to the ACC Championship in 2006, Grobe saw two more good bowl seasons in the next two years. After five seasons where the times were not so good, Grobe was gently shoved out the door.

At his height, Grobe turned down an offer from Nebraska to keep running his crazy misdirection offense at Wake. In the end, that offense could not save him. Well now Grobe is getting that Big 12 job that he passed up so long ago.

The world is different now, Nebraska is a Big Ten school and does not need his services. It is Baylor, the little Texas private school that could, that has now brought on Grobe in their hour of need. Baylor’s football team and athletic department are on fire with the revelation of a sexual assault scandal. Even Art Briles, the father of modern Baylor success, could not survive.

Baylor needed a coach. They had barely two months before the season started. There was no time to do a true coaching search. The Baylor folks needed somebody quick. The assistants were not a credible choice since the full fallout of the scandal won’t be known yet.

More from Old North Banter

• Carolina Panthers: Secondary battles to watch in training camp 2020
• Carolina Panthers: 2020 training camp kicks off on Tuesday
• NC Colleges Provide Coronavirus Results from Athletic Departments
• Court alleges Zion’s Stepfather received $400k
• UNC Football gets Commitment from Top Cornerback

They needed somebody clean, somebody with experience at private schools, and somebody who could understand the kind of spread offense that the team ran. In those ways Grobe was the perfect choice and he was also perfectly available.

Now it is up to Grobe to see what happens next. In many ways this may be the most talent that he has ever coached on a roster. It could be the great fusion of the man who never got a real chance and the talent that would never have made it to Winston-Salem.

Next: Will Baylor go after Fedora?

As for the future, Grobe only has the interim tag. He has the first chance to make it permanent. If he fails though, Baylor will resume their coaching search in the winter with a better understanding of their circumstances. That will may mean that could target former Baylor assistant Larry Fedora once again.