The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have parted ways with Head Coach Danny Manning after six years. He was 78-111 in those six years and only made the NCAA Tournament once during that span. The 2016-17 season was the year they made the NCAA Tournament and was his only year with a winning record with the Demon Deacons. It was assumed that most major programs would not move on from their head coaches because of the Coronavirus Outbreak, but Wake Forest seemingly felt it was time to move on from Manning. His buyout is fairly large, but the program has decided to pay it.
Wake Forest is parting ways with head coach Danny Manning, sources confirmed to ESPN. First reported by @GoodmanHoops.
Manning never finished above .500 in ACC play in six seasons and went 14-42 over the last three seasons. Hefty buyout was always the issue.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 25, 2020
Manning has considerably name recognition so it is possible that he gets a new coaching job next year when there are more openings. There may not be a head coaching job for him, but he could easily find a job as an assistant coach. Wake Forest will have a different type of search on their hands because of the Coronavirus Outbreak. Meetings and interviews will largely have to happen over video calls. The program will want to find a suitable replacement as soon as possible.
The name that continues to pop up is UNC Greensboro head coach Wes Miller. He is not the only option and could decide to stay put. The issue is that Wake Forest is in a tough situation in North Carolina. Being stuck behind North Carolina, Duke, and North Carolina State makes recruiting and competing very difficult. A new head coach may not be able to fix those issues completely.
