THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220425
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Patience is a frequently spoken word on the Wake Forest campus whenever the subject is coach Jim Caldwell's football program.
Caldwell said when he came here two years ago it would take time to build the kind of program he wanted, molded in the championship image of the one he left at Penn State, where he was an assistant for seven years.
He said there'd be no more quick-fixes at Wake Forest, the smallest school in the ACC, and second-smallest Division I-A football-playing university in the nation.
Caldwell was not interested in having the peak-and-valley type seasons his predecessors had. The three before him - John Mackovic, Al Groh and Bill Dooley - all had winning seasons, but each had dismal years, too.
No coach has won consistently at Wake Forest since D.C. ``Peahead'' Walker in the late '40s and early '50s. Caldwell, a man of immense patience, wants to be the next.
``You don't build a program in two years,'' Caldwell reminded Monday.
``It takes time when you are trying to climb up a ladder past the likes of North Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson, Virginia, and Florida State.''
Caldwell's Deacons have won only five games in two years, and are considered prime candidates to finish last in the league this season.
But Caldwell is not in trouble. Athletic director Ron Wellman says he is willing to give his coach enough time to build a stable program.
Unpressured, Caldwell refuses to rush into any decision, even those that seem obvious, such as giving the starting quarterback job to senior Rusty LaRue.
LaRue started all but one game last season, when he was injured, but he has had to battle sophomores Brian Kuklick and David Cerchio for the starting job in preseason practice.
``It is tough not knowing if you are going to start,'' LaRue said. ``But I guess that is the nature of the beast in football. They want to know what have you done for me lately.''
More importantly, Caldwell wants to know what his players are going to do for him in the future, which clearly is not now.
The Deacons were last in the league in every defensive and offensive category last year, and half the starting defensive positions this year are manned my sophomores and freshmen.
Caldwell, though, says he remains as optimistic and determined to turn the program around as he was when he took the job. ``We are going to get there,'' he insisted.
While there is not much evidence of improvement in the won-lost columns, Caldwell says he can see it in the team's development and recruiting.
``There is a lot more beef upfront, and I like the quality of the recruits we are bringing in,'' he said.
Previous coaches at Wake Forest managed their once-in-awhile winning seasons with underachievers. Caldwell is determined to get his wins with blue-chippers.
``From the first day, I told my coaches to not go out and act like they were second-class citizens,'' Caldwell said.
``I told them if they went to a high school where the coach said he had three outstanding players but we needed to talk to some other players for them (Wake Forest coaches) to walk out. We have to recruit the same players others in our conference are trying to get.''
Caldwell signed 23 players this year, beating out such schools as Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State for some.
One sign the program is developing is that he hopes to red-shirt most of the freshmen instead of having to rely on them right away.
He played 12 true freshmen last year.
The most noticeable lack of progress has been at the turnstiles. Only 20,317 fans showed up for the league's top attraction, Florida State, last year.
Caldwell contends the small fan support is not his concern.
``It's like anything else,'' he said, ``if you put a good product on the field, people will come to see it. I came here to do a job, and I am not concentrating on anything else because it doesn't make any difference in winning or losing.
``It is how well you recruit, how well you coach the kids you have, and how well you keep them in school to graduate. Those are the important things.''
Somewhere down the road, winning games and filling empty seats will be important, too.
They always are, even at the most patient places. ILLUSTRATION: WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY photo
Coach Jim Caldwell's Deacons have won only five games in two years
and are considered prime candidates to finish last again.
by CNB