Jim Grobe Made $4.2 million as Wake Forest coach last year

Wake Forest is paying Jim Grobe the going rate to coach football, in part, to keep him from going elsewhere to coach football. That’s how Ron Wellman, Wake Forest’s director of athletics, explained a report published in yesterday’s USA Today that Grobe made $4.2 million during the fiscal year of 2007-08 — more than twice as much as any published report. First off, Wellman said that the figure was grossly misleading because it included a deferred compensation package that vested that year and was thus reported for the first time, as well as a restructuring of the contract that involved a substantial back payment. Wellman said that Grobe, for this season, is actually making $2.1 million. USA Today listed $2.172 million on the chart for salaries of coaches throughout major-college football. The information was collected from the IRS 990 tax forms that even private schools such as Wake Forest are required to report. “It’s the market,” Wellman said. “It’s the world in which we live. And if you’re committed to living in that world, which we are, then you have to meet the market if you’re going to have a good program and retain good people. – Winston-Salem Journal

Al Groh Best with Back to the Wall?

The question concerned Al Groh’s status at Virginia and just how hot his coaching seat might be this year. After a rocky start, and that’s putting it mildly, (Danny) Rocco’s answer intrigued me. “Of all the people I’ve coached with over my career, the one guy who is the most dangerous when his back is against the wall is Al Groh,” Rocco said. “He’ll fight, dig, claw and find a way to win. I wouldn’t bet against him.” Rocco should know. He played for and worked for Groh at Wake Forest, with the New York Jets and at Virginia. Certainly in his nine years at UVa, Groh has used up some of his nine lives. – Daily Progress

Pac-10 Shedding it’s Loser Image?

After two weekends in 2009, the Pac-10 is 13-4 in nonconference games. Not all of those victories were racked up against directional schools like Eastern Washington (which Cal routed on Saturday) and Central Michigan. USC’s 18-15 win at Ohio State was the highlight. UCLA’s 19-15 victory at Tennessee and Oregon’s 38-36 win over Purdue at home showed others can beat major Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Even in the losses, once-hapless Washington gave LSU all it could handle before falling two weeks ago, while Wake Forest topped Stanford on the final play. Last season, the Pac-10 was 10-10 in nonleague games during the first three weekends. And the rap against its defense? Pac-10 teams allowed 15 points or less in nine of their 13 nonconference victories this year. – Sacramento Bee

Grobe Might Consider Penn State Move

The Winston-Salem Journal writer Lenox Rawlings surmises it will be very difficult for any school to pry Jim Grobe from Wake Forest. However, he believes there could be two jobs which he might seriously consider…

This is pure speculation, but two situations might intrigue Grobe. He graduated from Virginia, where Al Groh has kicked off his second straight save-the-job comeback. Penn State offers nearly everything a 56-year-old coach could want: tradition, recruiting base, title aspirations, money and the chance, established through precedent, to coach another 20 or 30 years if things work out. The potential Penn State clincher: proximity to Grobe’s native West Virginia, to Virginia and to all sorts of folks from a common culture. The potential impediment: Grobe might choose golf over football before Joe Paterno officially retires. – Winston-Salem Journal

Scoop: Grobe to Clemson?

The heat is certainly on Head Coach Tommy Bowden. However, Bowden just signed a seven year contract extension with a whopping $4 million buyout. The natives are restless, but we believe it will take a near total collapse (at least three more losses) for Clemson to have a new coach in 2009. If a change is made, Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips is rumored to want Wake Forest Coach Jim Grobe…

Other names: Texas DC Will Muschamp, Southern Miss Head Coach Larry Fedora…

“Scoop” posted on FRM is gathered from around the country from numerous sources within the coaching profession…