Grobe Staying at Wake

Apparently, the reports of Grobe's departure in Arkansas papers were premature, as Wake AD Ron Wellman says that his head football coach is staying.

Again, this is great news for Duke fans, as we'll have less competition for Paul Johnson and other overlapping candidates that Wake might have looked at to fill a vacancy.

Paul Johnson Update - 10:30 AM Thursday

Bill Wagner from the Annapolis Capital has been the go-to guy for the latest on Navy HC Paul Johnson, and he doesn't disappointed with his latest blog post.

He's reporting that Johnson is back in Annapolis today, and is scheduled to meet with Navy AD Chet Gladchuck some time today. He does note that because assistants are still out on the road recruiting and because there is no imminent word of a teem meeting (Johnson would inform his players of any move before an introductory press conference, Wagner says), he DOES NOT expect an announcement by the end of today, as many Atlanta media outlets have reported.

That said, if Johnson doesn't take the job at Georgia Tech, I'd have to imagine that he's not even coming here. Again, as I've pointed out in some other recent reports about Johnson, this blog post makes no mention of Duke at all or its existence as a school pursuing Johnson, making me skeptical that our offer is even in the running. If I had to guess at this point, I'd only give us a 25% chance of landing Johnson, particularly in light of the new opening at Wake.

Grobe Going to the Hogs

Huge hire out of the ACC today, as Wake Forest HC Jim Grobe is headed to Arkansas. The Razorbacks had targeted Grobe and Clemson HC Tommy Bowden as their top two choices, with the first offer going to Bowden. He turned down the Hogs (extracting a raise from Clemson in the process), leaving Arkansas with Grobe as Plan B.

Of course, as his track record at Wake suggests, Grobe would be about any other school's Plan A. The entire college football world knows about his incredible job last season taking Wake to an ACC title and winning numerous coaching awards in the process, but Grobe has long been respected as an excellent coach that knows how to win.

Of course, this hire means that there is yet another ACC opening available that is more attractive than Duke's. I don't know if Wake would promote someone from within (Duke fans are certainly hoping so), but it's very conceivable that there would be overlap between the type of candidates that both Duke and Wake are looking for. This move certainly will make the coaching rumor mill churn in the coming days and weeks...