GREENSBORO, N.C. — The ACC Kickoff is normally a time for coaches and players to put a positive spin on their programs. For these two days, every young player is primed for a breakthrough year, controversies don’t exist and winning a championship isn’t just possible — it’s downright probable.
Even in that setting, new Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson couldn’t feign optimism about the Demon Deacons’ quarterback situation.
“Right now, it’s not very good. We did not play well at the quarterback position in the spring,” Clawson said. “It’s wide open. That is never ideal, but that’s where it is.”
Clawson said he has no idea who will be Wake Forest’s starting quarterback this season. He said it will be a four-man race between sophomore Tyler Cameron, junior Kevin Sousa and freshmen Travis Smith and John Wolford.
Cameron and Sousa struggled mightily throughout spring practice. Wolford and Smith just enrolled at Wake Forest within the past month, and Clawson has only worked with them in film rooms, so he won’t get a good look at their skills until fall camp begins in August.
“I don’t know who our starting quarterback will be. I really don’t,” Clawson said. “And that’s not gamesmanship, that’s not behind the scenes trying to motivate someone in the program. We have four guys, and I’m hoping one of them takes control of it and is our quarterback for the year.”
The new coach is hesitant to set a date of when he wants to decide who will take the reins of his offense. He hopes the starter emerges during fall camp, as the offensive coaching staff will whittle competition from four to three to two until ultimately naming a starter.
Clawson said the last time he had a quarterback situation this bleak was his second season at Bowling Green. That year, the Falcons went 2-10, which stands as his worst season as a head coach, save for his 0-11 first season at Fordham.