Stephen Colbert’s Late Show doesn’t start until September 8, but he’s already lost at least one viewer. Giving the commencement address at Wake Forest last month, Colbert happened to point out the biggest problem with the Demon Deacons’ 2014 football season.
“This is a school that respects tradition,” Colbert said. “Traditions like rolling the quad with toilet paper after big wins. And this is actually an eco-friendly tradition because, looking at this season’s win-loss record, you guys saved a lot of paper.”
Wake Forest head football coach Dave Clawson took offense to the burn and made his feelings on it clear on a radio show Thursday.
“I won’t be watching his show for at least a year,” Clawson said. “You invite someone like that, and I’m sure they paid him a fairly healthy sum to be our speaker, and it was not needed and not appreciated.”
It also happened to be true. Wake Forest finished 3-9 last season and won just one game in the ACC, an embarrassing 6-3 “victory” over Virginia Tech on Nov. 22. One of the three victories came against an Division I FCS opponent (Gardner Webb) and the third was a three-point win over Army. Trust me, coach. Colbert took it easy on you.
Only one Wake Forest player was drafted, cornerback Kevin Johnson. Though to be fair, he was a first rounder, taken by the Houston Texans at No. 16.
Clawson, at least, realized there was truth to the jab.
“He (Colbert) got some laughs out of it, which was his goal, but, it is what it is,” Clawson said. “He spoke the truth. We did not have a good record last year. Our students didn’t get to roll the quad as much as we want. The bottom line is that it’s our job to change that, and we’ll get that changed, and I”m fully confident that will happen,” he said. “Did I like that he said it? No, but he spoke the truth. We need to win more football games here, and I’m very confident that we’ll do it.”
Clawson and the Demon Deacons will get the chance to prove it. They open the season against FCS sacrificial lamb Elon on Sept. 3, but open their ACC schedule immediately against Syracuse on Sept. 12. Last year the Orange beat Wake Forest 30-7.
