Year two of the Jake Dickert era begins at Wake Forest this week with the start of Spring camp. Can Dickert repeat the unexpected success of year one? Or does the yearly roster turnover that comes in the current stage of college football catch up to Dickert? What will the bar be for year two?
Dickert came in in December of 2024 to right the ship in 2025. After back-to-back 4-8 seasons by Dave Clawson, this was no ordinary overhaul. Having a career that put him in the pantheon of all-time great Wake Forest football coaches, Clawson was struggling with the new world order of Collectives, NIL, and the portal. The result in 2025 was a 9-4 record, including an impressive two-touchdown win over Mississippi State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
What Is Wake Forest’s Bar
Dickert Is Used To This
But Dickert grew up in this system. Yes, he had all of his formative years as an assistant for over 13 years at schools throughout the Midwest and in Pullman, WA, at Washington State. But his time as a head coach, first as an interim at WSU in 2021, and then as the full-time head coach in 2022-2024, and his one year at Wake Forest all came in the current chaos that is college football. It is the system he has always known as a head coach.
He is going to have to use the system again in order to duplicate last season’s success. Wake is without both of last year’s quarterbacks. The Deacs are also having to replace starting running back Demond Claiborne and a host of receivers. There is also some personnel work on the offensive line.
Who We Will See This Week
Spring camp starts with portal players for each of those position groups ready to go. There are also some returning players who will compete for playing time, particularly at running back.
But each year becomes a bit of a start over in terms of personnel. And then there is the schedule. Dickert is bringing in 24 transfers and 19 high school players who are early enrollees in time for Spring camp. There are another 11 recruits coming in the Summer.
A Much Tougher Schedule
There is also a drastic change in the schedule. With the ACC moving to nine conference games, Wake will only have three out-of-conference games. With a soft out-of-conference schedule in 2025, the Demon Deacons went 4-0 against the likes of Delaware, Oregon State, Kennesaw State, and Western Carolina.
The math tells you they went a very modest 4-4 in conference play, and added the bowl win in January.
And while the out-of-conference schedule is still light with games against Akron, Purdue, and Merrimack, the ACC schedule ramps up. Wake has games against College Football Playoff runner-up Miami, conference champion Duke, and conference runner-up Virginia. The Demon Deacons also have to go to Dallas and Atlanta to play SMU and Georgia Tech, respectively.
Expectations
Seven regular-season wins are now a must going forward. Eight regular-season wins and a second-tier bowl appearance should be a viable expectation this season.
But has Dickert completed the now-annual roster overhaul to get the program to that level on a consistent basis? We start to find out this Friday as Spring camp opens. Dickert is going to be very amped up. It is his natural default stance throughout his head coaching career. There will be 15 practices from March 20th to April 22nd to see if the optimism is warranted.
Main Image: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
