Grobe Press Conference

Grobe started early, so I missed his opening remarks, other than the fact that he knows that we'll be ranked "13th out of 12" in the ACC again this year, but he's okay with that.

Recruiting in Florida has evolved, 6 of 16 from Jacksonville. ACC Championship experience helped that, but Tom Elrod's experience in Florida helps a lot. Everyone knows him.

Grobe says we really only have room for the 16 we got, so the fact that it's a "small number" doesn't bother him. Could have taken one more, but that's about it. The people who take 30 don't actually get all of those - academically ineligible, etc. The Fact that we have lots of 5th year seniors have a lot to do with this.

Grobe obviously doesn't worry about the "numbers" from the "scouting experts." Wants to find football players who can win in the ACC but can also graduate from Wake Forest.

"I'm sure there's somebody on there" who won't redshirt next fall. Most likely one (or more) of the guys who are here now grey-shirting.

Dixon is here and good, Looney is here and "looks great."

In this class Grobe was looking primarily "just for balance." Made sure each coach got someone he wanted, the only problem late was making sure they got a DE. This is what Kevin Smith is for.

Hoping Dixon can help at TE pretty quickly, Parker could be really good too. Playing early has a lot to do with positions too.

Tries to avoid "stashing" guys at prep schools, really only done it once.

Coaching staff changes "might have" had an impact on recruiting, maybe not. Tries not to keep coaching changes "hush hush" like some schools do, thinks it's better to be up front with guys.

Does not send out more LOIs than he can accept - Wellman gets mad of we do these things.

Gaines was willing to wait a semester to enroll because he really wanted to play for Wake. He's here now and is doing well, both athletically and academically.

Chris Givens can't be talked about, Grobe saying only that he's "recruiting Chris Givens."

Kenny Okoro - great cover guy, like an Alphonso Smith, 4.0 high school student, also ran a 4.49 at camp last summer. Can also play WR and Special teams. Kind of tall, which they like for corners (like Brandon Ghee).

Joe Looney - Wonderful kid, great family, ended up with over 30 offers but he came to campus 3 times and the current players were great with him and he felt really comfortable here.

Lovell Jackson - can really run, in fact he really loves track. Good academics

Class is characterized by athleticism and speed, which Grobe loves.

Team has increased credibility in Florida thanks to Skinner and Alphonso, everyone there knows about them.

Lambert has not yet decided who exactly he wants to coach. He wants to stay with the guys he's got, but may not happen.

Grobe thinks we could possibly sign another one but we'll see. Still working a little bit. Nonetheless, still very happy with the class.

Stachitas - throws the ball great but also very very fast. Dual-Threat player.

Regarding disappointments - can't really talk specifically, but sometimes in these situations you second guess some things if you'd done things differently, but all-in-all expects things to work out and feels pretty good.

There are seven to nine guys who are ready to play physically, but not mentally so they probably won't be playing much right away.

Really like Terrence Davis, but most likely Kenny's roll will be filled by people like Devon Brown.

Most players bring up the fact that they will probably be redshirted at Wake, because other schools have told them Wake will do that, but Grobe tells them that they're not going to waste a year of eligibility for 5 snaps a game, but if they're good enough they will play.

The 06 Championship season actually probably helped with recruiting this season more than it did last year.

Coach doesn't feel like they have to sell players on being able to win football here anymore, the kids already know.

Lots of juniors will be on campus this coming weekend, of course he can't mention any by name.

Team is moving towards being more of a power football team, but we've actually gotten too big and need to get weight back down for some lineman. Rather work from being too big to a little smaller rather than from too small but can't get big enough.

And that's all there is. The video should be up on the school's site later, and I think I might be able to get my own audio up but I'll see about that.