After South Carolina fired head coach Will Muschamp this season, everyone started to speculate about who the next leader of the Gamecocks might be. High-profile names like Hugh Freeze and Bob Stoops have been mentioned, but the program still seems a ways off from naming its new head coach.
So in the meantime, people will continue to guess. That includes ESPN college football analyst David Pollack.
Pollack, on his podcast with Kevin Negandhi and Kirk Herbstreit, mentioned a new name as a possible option for South Carolina: Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson.
The ESPN analyst broke down his rationale on Wednesday’s episode of the show.
“If I’m South Carolina, I would hire Dave Clawson in a heartbeat,” Pollack said, according to 247Sports. “If I can’t get Hugh Freeze, I would hire Dave Clawson. Never been in the top 10 in the ACC in recruiting, their offense since 2017 has been only behind Clemson. Second in the ACC. So a guy that can take less-talented players, a weird style, a different style of offense that is very unique and tough to prepare for that people don’t run. I think it’s a good fit for any team … he won at Bowling Green. He’ll win anywhere.”
David Pollack suggests ACC head coach for South Carolina opening https://t.co/ZZj7lRz4vd pic.twitter.com/ekqrllxD2I
— SEC Football News (@SECfootball) November 27, 2020
Clawson definitely isn’t the glamorous option for the Gamecocks, but there’s plenty to like.
The now 53-year-old began his head coaching career at Fordham in 1999. He’s since moved up the rungs of college football with stops at Richmond, Bowling Green and now Wake Forest. Overall in Winston-Salem, the Demon Deacons have gone 40-43 under Clawson with a 19-35 mark in the ACC.
However, Wake Forest has gone over .500 in each of the last four seasons thanks to creative and strong coaching. If given the chance, Clawson could re-establish South Carolina as a respected SEC program.