The Fanatic Magazine - A student-run sports magazine for the UVA fanatic - UVA Alum and Wake Forest Coach Jim Grobe named AP Coach of the Year

UVA Alum and Wake Forest Coach Jim Grobe named AP Coach of the Year

Written by Ryan Kelly

Thursday, 21 December 2006

Jim Grobe: 2006 AP Coach of the Year

There was not much to say about Jim Grobe prior to this coming football season. Much less the fact that people could name the football coach of Wake Forest. As Grobe stated himself, “when people used to see Wake Forest on the schedule, they used to mark down a W.” His all time record for coaching hovers around .500, and he has never been in the national spotlight quite like this. Now, he is the AP Coach of the Year.

Jim Grobe graduated from the University of Virginia in 1975 with a degree in education and a year later got his masters in guidance counseling. He played two years for the Cavaliers as middle guard and linebacker, and in addition, earned a spot on the All ACC Academic team.

This year he led Wake Forest to an impressive 11-2 record losing to only Clemson and Virginia Tech. Wake sustained two early setbacks after their starting quarterback Ben Mauk, and running back Micah Andrews were both injured within the first three games of the season. Instead Grobe took to the positive and the immense amount of talent his team had to offer. As Tim Brant of ABC Sports stated, “he (Grobe) gets more out of his talent with his schemes than any coach in America.” Backed by freshman quarterback Riley Skinner and Kenneth Moore, Wake beat a resilient Georgia Tech team in the ACC Championship and thus earned a BCS bid to the Orange Bowl against Louisville for the first time in the school’s history.