John Currie Interview

Is modern day candidates announced in the last minutes of the great Sam Mills among white, shockingly Smith in his first year of eligibility was not included wide receivers" that were included Devin Hester, but he's more there is a special-teams return or Reggie Wayne is among the 15 as is Torry Holt 15 finalist are announcing their gonna whittle that list down obviously to the five that go in the day before the Super Bowl. It's the day before Wake Forest plays its final game of this historic 21 season, and we go out. The Jacksonville site of the tax slayer.com gator bowl where the AED of Wake Forest. John Curry joins the show and I can't think of anybody better to be the final guest that we have on in 2021 then John Curry because it's felt like the year of Wake Forest here in the state of North Carolina and especially here in the Triad. Let's start here. John, I have to ask this because of what happened with NC State a few days back.

Does that has the team already done both teams done the final test that they need to do leading up to 11:11 AM tomorrow probably order a product or what we are.

Dramatic monopoly by mouth will have any Josh, I'm coming to you live from the county AA bank field holder earlier if you're on social media.

You can see that right now Raven are before Wake Forest fan of that we are about 1500. Wake Forest ran around here stated fans here at the stadium, the school board of WP cattle destroyed beacon on these two massive school boards here is just awful thing here.

What is the team been doing since arriving in Jacksonville now that unlike last year. Teams are able to actually do fun things in a bowl location.

It actually feels like a destination this year.he really does. To be candid. This current experience for the student athletes is what one dreaming about a bowl experience. You know you're on the beach in Florida every 5° and sunny.

This team is arms and over the last eight years of the current cost leadership building our way back in Florida into a bowl environment. Traxler gator bowl is a great organization goes back to 1946 and like Berkeley. The first gator bowl just great were clustered graphics. Trusted athletes and they had a great time on they've also worked hard, but you know when you're out on a natural grass Bermuda grass field and a 75° practice in football is little more fun. You know that if it was 30° or 40° or something else. So it's a great environment for them.

Wake Forest Dir. of Athletics John Curry with this year on W SJS sports ahead of the gator bowl tomorrow at 11 AM against Rutgers go back to that a week ago. The give me a sense now that were removed from what was that 30 hour stretch like from your standpoint, how many different times did you think it was good to be someone else not named Rutgers yet what it was truly dynamic uniform. He just really started on an early Tuesday morning I was driving up to Boone. My daughter got up there and I got a text from packrat about their Wilkesboro at Sikorsky 80 at Boston College and he was texting about their faculty so we had to work on that for an hour or two and then I got a screenshot and take me little bit later days of the rumor that Texas A&M might not be able to play, talk, talk to a be a Texan and pretty quickly after that event. It was a collaborative effort with a lot of people.

Certainly Greg McGarity and his staff. Gator bowl are certainly working want to really commend Michael Strickland and Alyssa Sable native whose senior associate Commissioner and Commissioner what a coach Clawson and athletes. They were resilient in the face of little uncertainty over that day and half they were adamant that they want to play, and regardless of whom are going up or they want to play and it really feels good week later to be sitting here on a beautiful evening with all the payment he can finance all over the country much a player parent all started.com – just minute ago, Urbana cheerleaders have been down on the Jacksonville Beach of the gettable pep rally really feels good off Bartel University community and in the Atlantic Coast conference for us to be sent feels like the year Wake Forest because of the way the basketball team is performed. The basketball teams I should say have performed.

Shout out to Jen Hoover and company and also the wake football team obviously going to Charlotte. How much do you feel the results we've seen in 2021 are based on some of the decisions that were made in 2020. Both replacing a basketball coach that year and then see in the results of it. This year, but also in 2020.

Wake Forest took some lumps in football but a lot of the guys we saw out there and some of the rule changes we've seen have really benefited the digs.

How do you feel about it.

Well, good, very good team culture.

Coach Clawson has established over the last eight years continues to build on itself when you have student athlete of the caliber academically character while socially, athletically, that he's been able to attracted building our program that that success, begets success to other students who have the same kind of values in the same kind of competitive aspirations. Whether it's in football or academics are both really are more attracted to it so it note that old college flywheel fact that you could Clawson talk about we talk about the good to great this year for our program. So I think that that certainly other good decisions that our coaches made during the pandemic on the behind-the-scenes work from our training room staff and our team doctors and academic staff throughout that period of time, enabled us to spring out of the pandemic and we talked about spurting out of the pandemic also recognize the Board of Trustees Wake Forest University. We had incredible presidential leadership it Wake Forest you know my my lineage with Wake Forest Dr. Haack Dr. Hartman Dr. Hatch and now we we got our board. Let us do a very successful leadership transition going from Dr. Hatch's incredible tenure to now the start of what I believe will be another transformational tender with presences and went to soak.net, behind-the-scenes leadership from a lot of different people has resulted in a lot of great momentum for university at a time when when others candidly have I been staggered to the cake because they didn't have a think the leadership place. Speaking of leadership while reflecting on 20, 21, it wasn't Wake Forest president's chair. The only thing that shifted this year. Jim Phillips stepping in for John Swofford is the Commissioner the ACC now that you've seen him work for. Again, it's still pretty small sample, but still some sample what's impressed you the most if you had to pinpoint one thing rather than going through a list of things that you seem from the Commissioner well start with what it factor Jim as the X factor and Jim gets it gets college athletics gets what's special about how intercollegiate explains her communities together and about the incredible opportunity for student athletes and how this applies and intertwined with higher education really is wonderful for country and so we understand all those things and then lives and breathes it and he has done a magnificent job of building communication with it with the different constituencies within the legal and think about the head coaches of the different sports are the president of the board athletic directors and ministers faculty photographs you back, you name it, I've just been tireless in his communication and with helping all the different constituencies feel and be part of the forward trajectory and philosophy of the late it's week A.D. John Curry with this year. Blessing for you as the calendar flips the 2022 were looking at so much and we talked about before. That's changed in college athletics this year when you talk about in IL. The one time transfer obviously some of the alignment that's come out of Texas and Oklahoma deciding there going to join the SEC in a few years and some of the trickle-down effect of that based on what we see Mr. what do you anticipate is going to be something that is that that we seen this or that's going to impact most how we move forward in college athletics, something we seen over the last 12 months.

Well I believe that one of the last 12 months of how much we bear being together and how much. And then the loss of opportunities for student athletes like some of the incident last week were team lost the opportunity to stated goal games and you see the tears and athletes to work a lot velocity talk I think reminded of how special this whole enterprise is at the same time we have challenges that we have to continue to work collaboratively to adapt as as is, as the enterprise but I know that great leadership like we haven't got 20 and Commissioner Phillipson and great coaches that we have in place. Wake Forest that Jennifer Hoover painted tenant to your English assailant get over to go golfing five to 7 o'clock and watch what one that no how. How comfortable are you that were to be looking at when the calendar flips a more normal college basketball season as the season goes on.

Given the change in protocol this week. You know what is normal for picture of my wife and I on a trip like three years ago where on a subway car somewhere and we are all packed it with all the people of Massillon are just weird. But so we got a call adapting to comedy, but I am really optimistic got you know what our program. Thanks to our partnership.

The Wake Forest health Wake Forest Baptist got virtually all the student athletes are boosted now all vaccinated. We been able to get pretty good protocols in the place. I do believe optimistic about the overall progression of dealing with it all the thoughts of the vigilant and we know that that plans are to be a little apprehensive. In some ways, the ballgames, but will do everything we can to be safe and continuing to provide the competition opportunities keep moving forward get back to the party. John, happy new year. Best of luck to the digs tomorrow and thanks so much for making the time for us is always a Josh with a big game tomorrow really proud of this without team appreciate all the coverage you provide a monitor that on your last gift this year and you know, pretty thought-provoking flight.

We got today. Got a game Sunday to men's games next week.

High level programs and great student-athletes.

It is a great time to get the deacon and what's the sale.

Thank you so much John.

It's good to hear from you have a new adjuster against John Curry joining us. The Wake Forest Dir. of Athletics