WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — As the coach of Wake Forest Football, Dave Clawson is inherently around hundreds of people every day.
Meanwhile, his wife is in an at-risk category, making it even more dangerous for her to be exposed to Covid-19.
2020 has been a year full of sacrifices, but for many of us, the biggest challenge is balancing that sacrifice with the things we care about.
There's no better example of that than the Clawson family.
The entire world is sacrificing during this pandemic. Covid-19 is a virus that doesn't care who you are, how much money you make, or the family you have.
“The whole time it's been a day by day week by week thing," said Courtney Clawson, who is Dave Clawson's daughter.
In March, when the world shut down, Dave, his wife Catherine, and their 2 kids went to the family beach house in South Carolina, to quarantine.
“We were able to quarantine for those 4 months," said Catherine Clawson, who is Dave Clawson's wife. "We have never had that much family time ever. I have never spent that much time with Dave.”
"There’s a lot of silver linings with this Amanda," said Dave. "I don’t like the reason it’s happening, but I can’t tell you I’m not enjoying all this time with my family.”
“He always told us every day how grateful he was that the 4 of us were together," said Courtney.
In July, that quality time came to an end, when coach had to go back to Winston-Salem for the football season and that's when they were faced with a big decision.
“He was worried about exposing me to the virus," said Catherine.
Catherine beat cancer 4 years ago, but she still has a slightly compromised immune system.
“He said, 'I really think we should live apart'," said Catherine.
“It was never a question of, 'Are we going to take this risk? Are we going to do anything to put mom in Jeopardy? No'," said Courtney.
Catherine and their son, Eric, would stay in South Carolina since he was doing high school work remotely.
"Dad was the one that had to sacrifice," said Courtney. "Mom and my brother had each other. I was at school. We joke that dad is more needy than us. Mom is fine. Mom is independent. Mom is the boss at home. Dad takes his second in command gracefully. Dad is the one who comes home to an empty house.”
"I think it would have been much harder if we didn’t have those 4 months," said Catherine. "I think it would have been much harder."
In November, the virus shut down Wake Forest football, but since coach was testing negative, his family came back home to live under one roof again.
“We wear masks around the house," said Catherine. "We’re definitely still careful.”
Football is a huge part of Coach Clawson's life, but he's made it clear, that nothing is more important than his family and their health.
"Most people call him coach, he’s just dad for us," said Courtney.
"Clearly there’s more to Dave than just football," said Catherine.
Wake Forest will be back in action Saturday after 4 weeks off because of the virus. It's a road game at Louisville, which means when Coach Clawson comes home, he and Catherine plan to stay in separate rooms for a while.