Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson won big at the private university with one of the smallest enrollments in the Bowl Subdivision ranks. Now it’s up to someone else to try to do the same.

Clawson resigned Monday, ending an 11-year run with an unexpected announcement that he had given “everything I had” for the program and school.

His tenure included guiding Wake Forest to 11 wins and a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in 2021, as well as cracking the top 10 of the AP poll in 2021 and 2022 amid a run of six straight bowl appearances. But the Demon Deacons had gone just 4-8 in the past two seasons as the formula that had helped them sustain success became trickier to manage in today’s era of free player movement through the transfer portal and players being able to cash in on their athletic fame through name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities.

In a statement released by the school, the 57-year-old coach said “the timing is right” after working 36 straight seasons in college football to step into a new advisory role to athletic director John Currie with an undergraduate enrollment of 5,471 students as of the 2023-24 academic year.

“Coaching at Wake Forest has been the honor of my career,” Clawson said. “This is a special place with extraordinary people, and I am deeply grateful for the relationships I’ve built over the last 11 years. Together, we achieved things that many thought impossible, and I step down knowing I gave everything I had for this program and university.”

In an open letter on the school’s athletics site that has been a regular fixture, Currie said Clawson’s decision was “not the news we had wanted to share.” Currie said Clawson had confided that he was contemplating his future in recent weeks.

“And I held out hope, until our meeting earlier today, that he would change his mind,” Currie wrote, noting that Clawson and Currie met with the team via Zoom to inform them shortly before the school’s announcement.

Clawson took over in 2014 after Jim Grobe’s successful run that included winning the 2006 ACC title. And much like Grobe, Clawson found success at the elite but small private university with a formula that leaned on player retention and long-term development to compete against programs drawing four- and five-star recruits.

FSU restructures NorvelL’s contract>> Florida State and Mike Norvell have agreed to a restructured contract that includes the football coach contributing $4.5 million of his 2025 salary to help launch a fundraising campaign amid the sport’s changing financial landscape.

Norvell signed a new deal last spring that nearly doubled his annual salary to $9.9 million. The Seminoles, though, went 2-10 this season. It was the program’s worst record in 50 years.

Norvell, though, will have a chance to earn the money back. His revised contract includes an annual performance bonus that would pay him $750,000 beginning in 2026 if the Seminoles win at least nine games. So if FSU wins nine games every year between 2026 and 2031, Norvell would earn back the $4.5 million.

Vick talks to 2 schools about coaching jobs>> Michael Vick has talked to at least two schools about becoming a college head coach. Sacramento State president Dr. Luke Wood said Monday he has spoken with Vick about the opening at his school, and the Virginian-Pilot reported that Norfolk State has also interviewed the former NFL sensation to be its next coach.

Wood says Vick expressed interest in the open job at Sacramento State, which is trying to make the move from the FCS level to the FBS if the school can get an invitation to join either the Pac-12 or Mountain West Conference.

Penn State loses Pribula amid playoff run>> Penn State coach James Franklin hopes college football players soon won’t have to make the same decision as backup quarterback Beau Pribula.

The sophomore, who played a key role in No. 5 Penn State’s first run to the College Football Playoff, won’t be a part of the team’s quest for a national championship that begins Saturday. He has decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

“We’ve got problems in college football,” Franklin said Monday. “He did not want to leave our program until the end of the season, but the way the portal is, and the timing of it, when you play the position of quarterback and there’s only one spot and those spots are filling up, he felt like he was put in a no-win situation. And I agree with him.”

By rule, players looking to transfer must enter the portal by Dec. 28. They cannot do so again until April 16, 2025. That time frame — approved in October in a move that reduced the window by 15 days after earlier complaints from coaches — is not ideal, Franklin said. Last week, Marshall pulled out of a bowl game after too many of its players hit the portal.

Auburn adds second QB from portal>> Auburn has picked up a second transfer quarterback, with the addition of two-year Stanford starter Ashton Daniels.

Daniels, who announced his destination Monday on Instagram, joins ex-Oklahoma starter Jackson Arnold in heading to the quarterback-starved Tigers.

Auburn must replace starter Payton Thorne, and two backups have entered the transfer portal.