Clausen has been held back at Wake for 2 reasons:
1. Small private Baptist college in the middle of the bible belt that is very fond of telling people about their standards, both academic and uppitiness. This has significantly limited his recruiting pool there, but he nevertheless has recruited & DEVELOPED incredibly for his system.
2. COVID/opt-outs/Transfers – That offense this year was going to be NASTYYYYYYYY (and I hate Wake, trust me). But when you have Jaimie Newman transfer to Georgia before opting out, all-world WR Sage Surratt opt (bc NFL...), and their best RB opt out midway through the season, it is going to be rough.
Honestly speaking, getting a coach like Clawson would be a huge coup for JW & the Illini, you would just need to give him 3-4 yrs of time. His extended meshpoint would dive defenses nuts.
Since you seem to know about ACC or at least Wake, I’m curious as to how you see Doeren as compared to Clawson? On paper at least it appears Doeren would be more desirable. He has better overall and conference records, and NC St routinely has a higher ranked recruiting class.