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2021 Wake Forest Football Season

Pilchard said:
Agree that the 2008 team was the most talented team. Skinner was solid as a freshman, but he was a freshman. By 2008, he essentially had figured it all out.

This 2021 team was Clawson's most talented team, until the loss of Greene and the LT Nash. Greene is an NFL caliber weapon on the outside, and LT is a key position particularly since WF typically doesn't help its tackles. In 2019, the offense sputtered when Surratt was out, and then in 2020, the offense, sputtered again when Greene went out against UNC. This team is deep, but not sure if they are deep enough to lose two key offensive players and not skip a beat. Still bullish on the season, but not as bullish, after losing Green and Nash. With no other injuries think 8-4/7-5 is the most likely result. As always, WF has a ton of winnable/losable games. With a veteran team and savvy coaches, think we will win more of those than we lose.
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Yes, to this. Greene is kind of important.

What True FR wide receiver will step up and get open and make plays?
 
May have been posted elsewhere, but Paul Myerberg with USA Today has his top 9 ACC power rankings as follows:
1- Clemson
2- UNC-
3-Miami-
4-Pitt-
5-WFU
6-BC
7-NCSU
8-VT
9-UVA

"Don't be surprised to see the Deacs with 6-7 wins heading into November as they take advantage of a very smooth schedule, but November is a bear".
 
Deaconblue said:
The two big losses from Clawson's staff are Clark Lea and Mike Elko. Defense hasn't been the same since they left. I wonder if Clawson offered the DC job to Clark Lea after Elko left or if they were a package deal to ND.
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Pretty sure Coach Lea had an offer to stay but understood Elko would be moving on from ND after a few years (tops) and he would be the favorite to take over as DC.

Definitely sucked for Wake but tough to argue with his decision as he's now a head coach in the SEC.
 
Pilchard said:
Update on the current location of former Deacs/coaches:

Chris Barclay: RB Coach Purdue
Josh Gattis: OC Michigan (big year for him; if Big Blue offense struggles again, he will be gone)
Brad White: DC Kentucky
Warren Belin: LB Coach Howard

Brad Lambert: DC Purdue (1st year)
Dean Hood: HC (Murray State)
Clark Lea: HC Vandy
Mike Elko: DC (Texas A&M)
Steve Russ: LB Coach Washington Football Team
Adam Scheier: Rutgers Special Teams Coach (Rutgers had the one of the top special teams in the nation last year)
Tim Duffie DB Coach OK State
Ray McCartney: DL Davidson
Derrick Jackson: DC Northern Illinois


Elrod's conspirators:

Lonnie Galloway Assistant HC and WR Coach UNC
Jay Bateman DC UNC

Grobe assistants still on Calhoun's staff at AF:

Lobo: OL Coach
Brian Knorr: LB Coach
Jonathan Himebach TE Coach

Clawson's retention rate for his coaching staff is off the charts as the following coaches were hired with Clawson back in 2013-4:

OC Warren Ruggiero
WF/Assistant HC Kevin Higgins
DL Dave Cohen
RB John Hunter
OL Nick Tabacca

DC Lyle Hemphill: 5th season on the staff
Special Teams Coordinator: 5th season on the staff
LB Coach Greg Jones 6th season staff; 2nd as LB coach
CB Paul Williams: 2nd season on staff
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If I am not mistaken, I'm pretty sure Ryan McManus is on ECU's staff as well
 
Had a super weird dream last night that Sam Hartman came out publicly as a huge anti-vaxxer. I’m ready for the season to start.
 
Scrimmage #2 yesterday. Check out Conor's write up on Substack. Sounds like the "super seniors" will help give the team more quality depth than ever seen before at Wake. Also Beef Boys "third edition" guys starting to make their presence known.
 
Just saw a clip of Clawson on Twitter saying you can get 4 tickets and a parking pass for on $69. Dare I say that's a niceeee price.
 
I hope to see a few more wrinkles and diversity in the offense this year. One thing I would like to see is a little more throwing to the backs and TE. Some deception and fakes added in would be nice. Don't think the Wildcat should be a heavily used option.
 
I don't think our TEs are big pass catchers. When we had Cam Serigne, he caught a bunch of passes.
 
Pilchard said:
Update on the current location of former Deacs/coaches:

Chris Barclay: RB Coach Purdue
Josh Gattis: OC Michigan (big year for him; if Big Blue offense struggles again, he will be gone)
Brad White: DC Kentucky
Warren Belin: LB Coach Howard

Brad Lambert: DC Purdue (1st year)
Dean Hood: HC (Murray State)
Clark Lea: HC Vandy
Mike Elko: DC (Texas A&M)
Steve Russ: LB Coach Washington Football Team
Adam Scheier: Rutgers Special Teams Coach (Rutgers had the one of the top special teams in the nation last year)
Tim Duffie DB Coach OK State
Ray McCartney: DL Davidson
Derrick Jackson: DC Northern Illinois


Elrod's conspirators:

Lonnie Galloway Assistant HC and WR Coach UNC
Jay Bateman DC UNC

Grobe assistants still on Calhoun's staff at AF:

Lobo: OL Coach
Brian Knorr: LB Coach
Jonathan Himebach TE Coach

Clawson's retention rate for his coaching staff is off the charts as the following coaches were hired with Clawson back in 2013-4:

OC Warren Ruggiero
WF/Assistant HC Kevin Higgins
DL Dave Cohen
RB John Hunter
OL Nick Tabacca

DC Lyle Hemphill: 5th season on the staff
Special Teams Coordinator: 5th season on the staff
LB Coach Greg Jones 6th season staff; 2nd as LB coach
CB Paul Williams: 2nd season on staff
Click to expand...

Diron Reynolds (former DE 89-94) is DL coach at Stanford
 
PhDeac said:
I don't think our TEs are big pass catchers. When we had Cam Serigne, he caught a bunch of passes.
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I can't remember if I've worked this into a story or not, covering 18 practices in 21 days makes everything a bit of a blur right now.

Here's Clawson after the first scrimmage -- I asked specifically if he's looking for more production from tight ends:

A lot of Cam’s production – first of all, Cam was a much better receiver than a blocker, so we spread him out more and played really more like a receiver than a blocker.

Both Chap and Blake are a little more stout at the point of attack. They’re tight ends, they’re not receivers who became tight ends.

But part of it is we’re in more formations that utilize those guys as blockers, so right away they’re not going to have as many opportunities.

When Cam was here we weren’t as good at receiver. Since Cam left, we’ve had a bunch of receivers who are now in the NFL and I think we’re playing with some guys who I think will be, too.

We used to call a lot of plays for Cam because he was, in some ways, the feature guy. Especially when Greg Dortch went down the one year. We don’t feel we need to force it to the tight end, but certainly, it’s an option.

But it’s just – you’re always going to try to get the ball to your best players. Back then it was Cam and now, our tight ends are good, but I don’t know if they’re head and shoulders better than the other perimeter players we’re playing with.

**********

Now, as far as throwing to running backs ... I've made it clear that I think they need to use them more in the passing game. It's been explained to me before that they need RBs to pass block a lot, hence they're not used as receivers. But from what I've seen, they've got 4 -- maybe 5, if Quinton Cooley is healthy -- playable ACC running backs. To me, they've gotta put that skill to use.
 
Way too early bowl projections from Mark Slobach and Kyle Bonagura from ESPN:

Sclobach doesn't have Wake going to any bowl (moron)
Bonagura has Wake vs UCLA in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on 12/31 at 12:30PM
 
Brendan207 said:
Way too early bowl projections from Mark Slobach and Kyle Bonagura from ESPN:

Sclobach doesn't have Wake going to any bowl (moron)
Bonagura has Wake vs UCLA in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on 12/31 at 12:30PM
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UCLA in the Sun Bowl would be a fun matchup.
 
We've been predicted to the Sun Bowl for years it seems, gotta happen at some point
 
BarcaDeac said:
We've been predicted to the Sun Bowl for years it seems, gotta happen at some point
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I was disappointed to notice / learn that the ACC no longer has a tie in with the Music City Bowl. Nashville is an absolute blast. On a weird side note 4 of the ACC's bowl tie ins are on fields where MLB baseball teams play.

Of course I'd love to see us have another miracle season and somehow go to the ACC Championship game with 1 or 2 losses like we did in 2006... and somehow end up in the CFP or the Peach Bowl which I'd attend. Realistically I'm not going to be traveling anywhere too far in December to see the Deacs unless we're playing for a 'ship so I guess I'd vote Fenway Bowl for my top choice. Holiday Bowl would be a great trip too but no chance I'd be going cross country (although Wake vs USC would be amazing).


Here is a full list of our bowl tie-ins per the ACC website
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (St Petersburg in at the Trop in where the Tampa Bay Rays play) - Thurs., Dec. 23, 2021 7 p.m. ESPN ACC vs. SEC or AAC
Military Bowl Presented by Peraton (Annapolis MD at Navy's Home Field) - Mon., Dec. 27, 2021 2:30 p.m. ESPN ACC vs. AAC
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Tues., Dec. 28, 2021 Noon ESPN ACC vs. SEC or AAC
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dallas area) Tues., Dec. 28, 2021 3:15 p.m. ESPN ACC vs. SEC or AAC
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl (in San Diego at Petco Park where the Padres Play) Tues., Dec. 28, 2021 8 p.m. FOX ACC vs. Pac-12
Fenway Bowl (in Boston at Fenway Park) Wed., Dec. 29, 2021 11 a.m. ESPN ACC vs. AAC
New Era Pinstripe Bowl (in NYC at Yankee Stadium) Wed., Dec. 29, 2021 2:15 p.m. ESPN ACC vs. Big Ten
Cheez-It Bowl (Orlando) Wed., Dec. 29, 2021 5:45 p.m. ESPN ACC vs. Big 12
Duke�s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte) Thurs., Dec. 30, 2021 11:30 a.m. ESPN ACC vs. SEC*
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta) Thurs., Dec. 30, 2021 7 p.m. ESPN At-large vs. At-large
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) Fri., Dec. 31, 2021 11 a.m. ESPN ACC vs. SEC
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (El Paso) Fri., Dec. 31, 2021 12:30 p.m. CBS ACC vs. Pac-12
 
Last edited:
CONeill said:
I can't remember if I've worked this into a story or not, covering 18 practices in 21 days makes everything a bit of a blur right now.

Here's Clawson after the first scrimmage -- I asked specifically if he's looking for more production from tight ends:

A lot of Cam’s production – first of all, Cam was a much better receiver than a blocker, so we spread him out more and played really more like a receiver than a blocker.

Both Chap and Blake are a little more stout at the point of attack. They’re tight ends, they’re not receivers who became tight ends.

But part of it is we’re in more formations that utilize those guys as blockers, so right away they’re not going to have as many opportunities.

When Cam was here we weren’t as good at receiver. Since Cam left, we’ve had a bunch of receivers who are now in the NFL and I think we’re playing with some guys who I think will be, too.

We used to call a lot of plays for Cam because he was, in some ways, the feature guy. Especially when Greg Dortch went down the one year. We don’t feel we need to force it to the tight end, but certainly, it’s an option.

But it’s just – you’re always going to try to get the ball to your best players. Back then it was Cam and now, our tight ends are good, but I don’t know if they’re head and shoulders better than the other perimeter players we’re playing with.

**********

Now, as far as throwing to running backs ... I've made it clear that I think they need to use them more in the passing game. It's been explained to me before that they need RBs to pass block a lot, hence they're not used as receivers. But from what I've seen, they've got 4 -- maybe 5, if Quinton Cooley is healthy -- playable ACC running backs. To me, they've gotta put that skill to use.
Click to expand...

I get all that about the TEs, but when you have 3rd and 5, the tight end is a good option. And forces the D to account for the TE in coverage, which should open things up for other options.
 
Buttermaker said:
I get all that about the TEs, but when you have 3rd and 5, the tight end is a good option. And forces the D to account for the TE in coverage, which should open things up for other options.
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I don't disagree; Just putting out there what Clawson said when I asked specifically about TE usage.
 
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