Tom Dienhart

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -

There they are: Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe's masses.

OK, "masses" might not be the right word. But several thousand people stare up at Grobe, who is perched high on a balcony above one end zone of Groves Stadium.

It's Wake Forest Fan Fest, a chance for Demon Deacons crazies to mix and mingle with players and coaches. There is face painting, a balloon-blowing clown and inflatable jumpables for the kiddies. And everyone had a pen and poster-something to get autographed by a player or coach.

The longest line? Do you have to ask?

Why am I here, standing next to Grobe? I get to present him with the Sporting News 2006 Coach of the Year Award.

The P.A. announcer introduces us and proceeds with the niceties. Grobe and I wave, I hand over the crystal bauble, and the crowd roars.

OK, "roars" might not be the right word. But there is a loud cheer.

And I will admit: I was as happy as the fans gathered below. Well, honestly ... I was happier.

Late last year, we whittled our choices down to Grobe and Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. Both are great guys and standout coaches. But Grobe claimed the honor when he led little-train-that-could Wake to the ACC championship for the first time since 1970.

Stunning.

The highlight for me was Wake's 30-0 thrashing of Florida State in Tallahassee. It's one of the most shocking scores in recent college football annals.

Although the on-field stuff is great, Grobe is an even better person than he is a coach. And that's what impresses me the most.

I ate dinner with Grobe and one of his sons, Ben, before the festivities. Before Grobe, a sawed-off, barrel-chested 55-year old who still looks game-ready, and I left for Fan Fest, he made sure to hug 20-something Ben and say he loved him.

On my way to the event, Grobe was in constant contact with me, giving me directions. Can you imagine many other coaches being that involved and concerned? I guarantee at many schools, I would have been talking to an administrative assistant or football operations guy and would not have hooked up with the coach until it was time to present the trophy.

And each time before we hung up, Grobe reiterated his appreciation for me coming down here for the event. And he always emphasized safe travel — just like my father would.

As I arrive, Grobe is there to meet me curbside outside his office.

"How ya doing, Tom?" he says. "Glad you are here. Come on in."

That says all you need to know about Grobe. He's a big-time coach with big-time perspective.

"I know I've been blessed," he says, over and over.

Grobe is a modest man with a massive heart who embodies his ham-and-eggs upbringing in Huntington, W.Va., where he was a big Marshall fan. In fact, if everything had gone as planned, Grobe might have played for the Herd (instead he went to Ferrum J.C. and then Virginia). Had he gone to Marshall, Grobe would have been a freshman teammate of the players involved in the tragic plane crash of Nov. 14, 1970, that was chronicled in the 2006 movie "We Are Marshall." As it was, Grobe knew many who perished in the tragic event.

"I still haven't seen the movie," says Grobe, whose wife Holly also is a Huntington native and knows families impacted by the plane crash that took 75 lives, including 36 players and five coaches.

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Grobe stares over my shoulder as he tells me the story in his office. It's one of many things that make him appreciate what he has. Are there bigger, better jobs than being the Wake Forest coach? Sure. But Grobe knows he has something special right here.

Time and again he told me about the end of last year, when his name was tossed around for the Alabama job. It seemed like a perfect fit on many fronts. If Grobe could take Wake to its first ACC title since 1970, what could he do at ’Bama?

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"I'm not going anywhere," he told me on many occasions late last season.

Grobe did get a call along the lines of, "Would you be interested in the Alabama job?" But ’Bama's pursuit never went beyond that. "They wanted Nick Saban after Rich Rodriguez turned them down," he says. And Grobe sure as heck wasn't going to chase the job.

"The people here are great to me," he says. "I have a great A.D. (Ron Wellman), and my staff is very close. Plus, the kids are great. Heck, last year probably was the easiest I had it as a coach, and I end up winning all of these awards."

You deserve it, Coach Grobe.