Interesting article from the Fayetteville Observer:
College football preview: Wake Forest DB Devin Gaulden embraces fresh start
By Stephen Schramm - Staff writer | Updated 11 hours ago
WINSTON-SALEM - When Wake Forest defensive back Devin Gaulden went through his first practice with his new team, he'd only been in town a few days. He hadn't begun unpacking his stuff and he didn't know his way around campus.
But those were just small details. The Miramar, Florida, native wasn't worried about how he'd adjust to his new, unfamiliar surroundings.
"I'm 22 going off to college this time, not 18," Gaulden said. "It's a little bit smoother, a little bit easier for me to focus on what I'm here for."
Wake Forest football: Season preview
Gaulden spent four seasons at Wisconsin before transferring to Wake Forest in the offseason. And while in Madison, he crammed in more than his fair share of tough luck and perseverance.
As a result, he brings with him the kind of valuable experience his young comrades in the Wake Forest secondary need.
"That's what kind of drew me here," Gaulden said. "I feel like we have a lot of talent here, it's just young."
The bumpy journey that's given Gaulden his perspective began before the start of his freshman year at Wisconsin. In preseason workouts, Gaulden said he was pushing himself hard. When his right leg began to ache, he thought it was shin splints.
One day, it got so bad he went to the training staff to ask for ice. Instead, the trainers opted to take a closer look at the leg. What they eventually found was that Gaulden had fractured his tibia.
After the leg healed, he played in six games for the Badgers. The next season, Gaulden was ready to play a larger role, but while making a tackle in the fourth game against UTEP, he felt his left knee buckle. He put a brace on it and kept playing, but he said it felt unstable.
It turned out that he'd torn his ACL. He needed surgery, meaning his season was done.
But it got worse. He needed two more surgeries after staph infections complicated things. And while he was rehabbing, he tore the patella tendon in the knee three times.
The run of injuries ended up wiping out his junior season.
"It was tough," Gaulden said. "For a time, every time I went to the doctor, I thought it was bad news."
In all of this, Gaulden was able to find an upside. He said that it strengthened his faith. Whether or not the knee gives way again, he said, isn't in his hands. He just has to trust that everything will work out.
He said it also gave him a renewed appreciation for the mental side of the game.
Without being able to play, he said he spent more time watching what coaches did and what they expect out of their players. He said he became a much smarter player because he had no other choice.
"Coming back from those physical limitations, physical setbacks, I had to make sure I was sharper mentally," Gaulden said. "So when I got back, me not knowing what was going on was the last thing that was going to keep me off the field."
The preparation paid off last season as Gaulden played in all of the Badgers' 14 games.
He said that despite the close friends he made while in Madison, the idea of transferring took root last spring. He had one season left and he was ready to play a larger role.
Wake Forest was one of the schools he looked at coming out of high school. He remembered that he liked the vibe. As the offseason wore on, he made the choice that it would be where his college career finished.
Now, if he could just figure out his way around campus.
"I'm still low-key getting lost sometimes," Gaulden said. "Everywhere I go, I've got to have someone walk with me."
Staff writer Stephen Schramm can be reached at
schramms@fayobserver.com or at 486-3536.
Devin Gaulden
Class . Graduate student
Height . 5-10
Weight . 190
2014-15 (at Wisconsin)
Games . 14
Tackles . 9
Pass breakups . 2