Grobe signs new deal with Wake Forest

It looks like coach Jim Grobe won't be leaving Wake Forest anytime soon. Grobe signed a 10-year contract on Tuesday, keeping him with the school he led to an improbable Atlantic Coast Conference championship last season.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Grobe, who did not immediately return calls for comment late Tuesday, was four years into a 10-year deal signed before the 2003 season. Athletics director Ron Wellman announced the new 10-year deal during a banquet Tuesday night to honor Grobe for winning the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.

The new contract runs through the end of the 2016 season.

Grobe, who turned 55 earlier this month, was named national coach of the year by The Associated Press after leading the Demon Deacons to their second ACC title and first since 1970. Wake Forest was picked to finish last in the league's Atlantic Division, but went 11-2 in the regular season and reached the Orange Bowl, where it lost to Louisville.

Grobe is 37-35 in six seasons at Wake Forest and is the first coach to take the Demon Deacons to bowl games twice since they joined the ACC.

This year's surprising run raised Grobe's national profile, making him a popular candidate linked to job openings around the country. But Grobe maintained that he was committed to saying in Winston-Salem, where he had slowly built up the Demon Deacons by redshirting freshmen and remaining patient.

"I'm perfectly happy at Wake Forest," he said in December. "I think some people like having their names floated all over the place. I've been around long enough that it has no appeal for me. I couldn't be happier. I'm not only happy with this football team and the staff and our families are happy, but I'm happy with where we're headed."