Wake Forest makes the ceremonial first Power 5 coordinator firing of 2018

The first top-level assistant to get fired in the power conferences this college football season is Wake Forest defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel.

Demon Deacons head coach Dave Clawson announced the news Sunday, about 24 hours after Wake Forest finished giving up 56 points in a loss to Notre Dame. The Deacs are 106th in FBS in scoring defense and 110th in yards allowed per play, a more descriptive stat.

“This was a difficult decision and not a spur of the moment decision,” Clawson said in a dignified press release, which made sure to praise Sawvel as a man.

“I want to thank Coach Sawvel for all his hard work with our football program over the last two years. Coach Sawvel is a very good person and a good football coach.”

Wake will split up the defensive coaching duties for now and promote analyst Tom Gilmore to be the outside linebackers coach. Blogger So Dear writes:

Wake has given up 97 points in their last two games. That is simply unacceptable and it seems Dave Clawson and the administration thought the same. It’ll be interesting to see how or when the search begins for a new coordinator, and even more interesting to see what the defense looks like against Rice. Wake opened as a 24.5 point favorites and I don’t expect this move to change that or the outcome of the game. But to see if there’s any new wrinkles and really what this defense is made of will be interesting to see.

It’s hard to argue with Clawson. He’s done a nice job building up Wake, so much so that he’s nowhere near the hot seat. The standard Week 5 coordinator firing comes at a program that’s sputtering, when an embattled head coach feels he has to do anything to turn the tide. Wake’s 2-2 and, for all we know, could still be the second- or third-best team in the Clemson-dominated ACC Atlantic.

The defense has declined for the last three seasons, the last two of which have come under Sawvel’s leadership. He came to Wake in January 2017 following a long run at Minnesota, replacing the well-regarded Mike Elko, who left for Notre Dame (and then ditched the Irish for Texas A&M after one year). Now Wake’s in the market for a new coordinator again.