News > December 6, 2007

By Caitlin Kenney | Editor in chief

Head Coach Jim Grobe will not leave Wake Forest for Arkansas, said Athletic Director Ron Wellman in a phone interview this morning. Wellman said that the rumors coming out of Arkansas were not true and that Grobe told him this morning that he would not leave the university. “He (Grobe) slept on it last night and told me this morning,” said Wellman.

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Jim Grobe. (Old Gold & Black file photo)

Wellman and Grobe were up until the wee hours of the morning, around 12:30 a.m., discussing Grobe's future with or without the university. On leaving the meeting, Wellman said that he still did not have a firm decision from Grobe. It was only the next morning that Wellman was able to confidently report that Grobe would be staying at the university.

Though players and university students furiously traded e-mails and exchanged links as the story developed late Wednesday, as of last night the team had not been notified in any meeting or e-mail about the status of their coach.

Some students expressed doubt that Grobe would leave the university without first making announcement to his staff and his team.

Still, reports appeared on the 10 p.m. news in Arkansas and the 11 p.m. news in Winston-Salem suggesting that Grobe had accepted the position as Head Coach at Arkansas.

The reports that Grobe might leave the university originated from the Arkansas New Bureau, which reported online late Dec. 5 that Grobe would be the next Head Coach of Arkansas.

The Bureau based their report on the approval of a salary supplement for Grobe by the Razorback Foundation, which met Wednesday night. The Bureau claimed that "the foundation would not be asked to approve a specific compensation package unless Grobe had agreed to the deal."

After the initial reporting by the Arkansas Bureau, the story was picked up by local news stations in Arkansas and eventually by the Winston-Salem press and ESPN. No one from the university was available for comment Wednesday night, though some sources reported that university officials were saying it was "not a done deal."

This announcement comes at an important time as the Deacons are headed into their second consecutive bowl game Dec. 29 in Charlotte, N.C.

More information will be posted as it is made available.