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WINSTON-SALEM -- Jim Grobe coached the Wake Forest Demon Deacons through another pre-bowl practice Wednesday afternoon. He gathered his team together and expressed the importance of the Meineke Car Care Bowl in four weeks time, sources close to the team said.

And by Wednesday night, he was apparently as good as gone to the University of Arkansas, which, according to various media reports, will introduce him as its next coach Thursday.

The Arkansas Democrat and Gazette, the Arkansas News Bureau and others said the financial support organization of Razorbacks athletics approved a deal for Grobe, who would be leaving Wake one year into a 10-year contract.

Last week, the coach said he anticipated he would guide Wake in its bowl and would return for an eighth season in a tenure of unprecedented achievement for the school. If he ever were to leave, he said, he would convene a meeting of the Demon Deacons team before any formal announcement.

As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, no such meeting had been called.

The coach's whereabouts late Wednesday could not be ascertained. Wake athletics director Ron Wellman did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Grobe kept the program afloat and then took it to heights that had never been seriously contemplated at Wake. At least not with a straight face.

When the Deacs won the 2006 ACC title, many presumed they'd fall back to a typically pedestrian 3-9 or 4-8 in 2007. Instead, they're 8-4 and paired with Connecticut, co-champion of the Big East, in the bowl game in Charlotte. For the first time in their history, the Deacons are going to bowls in consecutive seasons.

Only the legendary "Peahead" Walker has won more games at Wake than Grobe, 45-39 in seven years. The Deacs' only previous ACC title came in 1970, and it didn't even bring a bowl bid with it. Last year's club went to the Orange Bowl and led favored Louisville early in the fourth quarter before falling 24-13.

On Feb. 27 of this year, Grobe signed a 10-year contract through the 2016 season and accepted the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award in a span of a few hours. Wake does not make contracts public and doesn't have to because it's private. It is common, however, for modern deals to include mutually binding buyout clauses. Grobe - or more likely, his new employer - would therefore be required to compensate Wake if the coach leaves.

Grobe earned slightly more than $1 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the most recent time frame for which details are available. That figure comes from the university's general tax return, on which private colleges and other non-profit organizations must list their five highest paid employees.

Contact Rob Daniels at rdaniels@news-record.com or 373-7028