Jim Grobe says he regrets not going to Nebraska
Jim Grobe is spending the 2014 season as a television analyst after resigning from Wake Forest following the end of the 2013 season.
His 2006 Wake Forest team went 11-3 and lost in the Orange Bowl. Wake Forest isn't exactly a football powerhouse. Grobe's work with the Demon Deacons got him a lot of attention.
Nebraska was looking for a coach after the 2006 season. Grobe was a candidate, but he signed a 10-year contract at Wake Forest. Nebraska hired Bo Pelini.
"I do now, I didn't at the time," Grobe told CBS Sports when asked if he regretted not going to Nebraska. "I honestly took great pride in Wake Forest. I had some really good friends there. I trusted some people there. I thought Wake was a little different than other schools. I really, at the time, felt we were going to get a bigger commitment in terms of facilities and support for the program that never really materialized. We loved all 13 years we were in Winston-Salem, but I'm not real happy with the way things ended."
Wake Forest had winning seasons in 2007 and 2008, going 9-4 and 8-5. But 2008 was Grobe's final winning season at the school. The next five years he went 23-38.
There's no telling what would have happened had Grobe gone to Nebraska. What would have been the expectations for him there? Bo Pelini is 58-24 and there's a significant contingent of Nebraska fans who aren't satisfied that Pelini has won nine games in every season because he hasn't won a conference title. Would Grobe be coaching there or would he be in a similar television analyst spot currently had he made the decision to move? It's impossible to say.
Grobe said the success changed his offense and his recruiting philsophy. With Riley Skinner, a four-year starter, at QB, the team didn't use as much misdirection and instead threw the ball more. And Grobe said he went after different types of players, eschewing character for talent in some cases.
"We kind of got away from that dynamic and started recruiting a little bit better player who probably doesn't have a good enough love for the game," Grobe said. "Quite frankly, I ended up spending a lot of time last year with five knotheads who were always missing class, missing study hall, missing tutoring, late to meetings, late to practices, and ultimately I just wouldn't play them. They were very talented kids who could have helped us win games. There's no question I could have done a better job."
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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