Head Coach: Jake Dickert is entering his first season as the head coach of the Demon Deacons. Previously Dickert was at Washington State where he led the Cougars to some solid seasons despite the noise around him. He’s a bit of a strange fit here before taking this job the only other job he had East of the Mississippi River was a GA position as his alma matter Wisconsin-Steven’s Point.
Program Outlook: Wake Forest is a unique program in the ACC. They have only an average of around 5k undergrad students which gives them by far the smallest base in the conference. Until there is a cap, it’s a situation that makes it really difficult for them to compete. Otherwise they’re in a solid position, Wake Forest quietly has very good facilities and is clearly invested in the program. The last couple years are tough but Wake Forest has generally been very good lately, including a run to the ACC championship game in 2021. From 2009 until it’s end Wake Forest was the only Atlantic division team that could say they did that.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: As you could expect with a coaching change Wake Forest doesn’t rank high in returning production, in general this is mostly an overhaul. Wake Forest ranks 80th in the country returning 51.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. Key players for Wake Forest starts with star RB Demond Claiborne who stayed loyal to the program despite the coaching change, he’s the centerpiece to this offense. Robby Ashford and Deshawn Purdie will compete for the starting job after both transferring over. Ashford played some in a messy situation for Auburn in 2023 and performed well in a spot start against Akron for South Carolina last year, Purdie played a lot last year for a Charlotte team that struggled. The defense will be led by safety Nick Anderson who was their leading tackler last year and likely will be again this year. The defensive line will have quite a few veterans on it but I’m most intrigued by Colorado State transfer Gabe Kirschke who had 10 TFLs and 6.5 sacks last year. LB Dylan Hazen will be the rock in the middle of the defense. The question marks will be how quickly this defense comes together under this new attack. On offense they need to find who their top receivers will be, Carlos Hernandez comes over from Washington State and knows the system but who else will step up? The offensive line also needs to come together, it will mostly be portal players.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: This schedule isn’t bad. Wake Forest has an easier non-conference schedule with Delaware and Kennesaw State who are two of the newest FBS teams, along with in-state foe Western Carolina who could be set to have a good FCS season. Their biggest challenge will be a road game at Oregon State, that’s a long trip especially after a road game the week before. Wake Forest has some challenges in ACC play but they also avoid Clemson, Miami FL and Louisville so they’ll take this draw any day. It doesn’t take a lot of improvement to pave a path to bowl eligibility for Wake Forest.
Final Thoughts: Wake Forest enters a new era, and there’s no greater representation of that than the beloved slow mesh offense being gone. They will transition to more of a traditional spread but unlike past Jake Dickert teams they will focus more on the ground game and the defense will be more aggressive.
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