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Criticism of offense misplaced, Grobe says
Deacons coach says that he, not Lobotzke, should be target of grumbling
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Jim Grobe says Steed Lobotzke is absorbing some unwarranted criticism.
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Published: October 30, 2008
Coach Jim Grobe expects to take fire, friendly and otherwise, for Wake Forest's offensive woes over the first seven games of the season.
"When it doesn't work out as a coach, if you're honest you've got to go back and say, ‘OK what would we do differently?'" Grobe said. "So we're always as critical of ourselves as we are of our players."
His only complaint is that he's convinced that those pulling the trigger are aiming at in the wrong direction. Instead of training the sights on Steed Lobotzke, the offensive coordinator, Grobe suggested a bigger target. That would be the man who recruited Lobotzke to play line at the Air Force Academy, and later hired him to be an assistant coach at Ohio University and Wake Forest.
"I knew I should have never recruited the guy to the Air Force Academy," Grobe began, lightening the mood with his usual levity. "That was the first mistake.
"There's not anything that we do offensively or defensively that I'm not in approval of. So they've got to get me before they get Lobo."
No one denies that Wake Forest has a problem on offense. The Deacons, in conference games, are averaging 8.5 points a game. That ranks 12th with exactly half of the 17 points averaged by the 11th-ranked team, Clemson.
"It would be naive to think he's not getting criticism right now," senior defensive end Matt Robinson said of Lobotzke. "But I think Coach Lobo is a great coach.
"What he has done for this program has been phenomenal."
To understand Grobe's defense of Lobotzke, one has to understand the only thing that matters to the Wake Forest coaching staff.
"I think for me the key is you want coaches who are smart and have good thoughts on offense and defense," Grobe said. "But their No. 1 goal is not to be self-promotion, but winning."
Grobe said he has seen assistant coaches more interested in their own agenda than that of the team. And Lobotzke acknowledges that gaudy statistics can stroke the ego.
"You talk about stats," Lobotzke said. "It was fun for me to see Riley (Skinner) at the top of the passing charts in the ACC."
Lobotzke's next thought revealed why he has been Grobe's offensive coordinator for the past 5½ seasons. None of those seasons have been as trying as this one, as was evident last week when the Deacons shelved their spread formation to run the I-formation throughout most of their 16-10 loss at Miami.
"The problem was (Skinner) had four picks one game and we lost," Lobotzke said. "And we had like 10 drops against Maryland and we lost. And then red-zone production was down because you can't hammer it in when you need to.
"You can get all those (passing) yard stats, but in the end if it's not winning football games for you --and we just felt like it had lost two games for us, being a spread team -- we just had to get back to what our formula was all those years, including the ACC championship season."
Grobe and Lobotzke spend the week consulting on a game plan. On game day, Grobe deals mostly in generalities, Lobotzke in specifics.
There are exceptions.
"Every time (fans) are upset with a call, it's generally something I've told him to do," Grobe said. "That's usually the way that works.
"We get in those third-and-forever situations and I say, ‘Run the ball, Lobo,' so we run it and we don't turn it over. We go play defense, and everybody boos. That's typically Grobe."
Grobe admits by nature he's conservative. The inclination is as strong as ever with this team, which is far more experienced and talented on defense than offense.
And he recognizes his tendencies can at times leave his assistants out to dry.
"We've won so many games by letting the players play and not trying to do goofy things to just try to get stats," Grobe said. "I probably need to do more goofy stuff as a head coach, and that would make it easier on Lobo and probably easier on (defensive coordinator) Brad Lambert if I wasn't as conservative as I am.
"But we've won so many games. Our goal is to not put the players in a position that our calls influence the game more than their play influences the game."
His defense is that he defends those working under him.
"You need a head coach who can hang in there," Grobe said. "I've got total confidence in our guys.
"As long as I've got guys that are totally committed to winning, with no other ulterior motive, then I'm OK with that."
Lobotzke said that the pressure has not been bad. He said he's far too busy to read internet message boards, from where much of the criticism comes, though he does acknowledge that his wife, Kristin, will forward the nice things being said about him.
He said he intends to read the newspapers, but doesn't always get around to it. Instead, he spends his time doing what his boss hired him to do.
"I think pressure gets to guys who don't know who they work for," Lobotzke said. "I know who I work for.
"I know he's secure in his job. And I know we're talking every day about the offense and watching tape together, so I know he's happy with the direction we're headed right now."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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