As Wake Forest has passed the halfway mark of the season, head coach Jake Dickert has some extra time to assess the performance of his team. The Demon Deacons have their second bye week of the season this week. That means some time off for the players and a lot of analysis for the coaches.
With the team sitting at 4-2, starting next week at home against SMU, the Deacs are going to have to grind through six straight weeks to get to the end of the season.
At the halfway point last season, Wake Forest was 2-4. The Deacs would even their record with wins over UConn and Stanford before dropping four straight games to finish at 4-8 for the second consecutive season.
Using the Time To Plan Ahead
Dickert said Thursday that even with the comparative success, there is still a lot of work going on during the bye week. “We can’t just pass time. We are already focused on SMU,” he said. “There’s much to clean up,” he added. “We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied.”
The players have gotten in workouts this week and will have had two days of competitive practice before having Saturday off. Sunday begins film study of SMU (the Mustangs play Clemson Saturday), and a regular game preparation week.
But that also means a lot of work during the bye week for the coaches. “We’ve got improvement plans for everybody in our organization,” Dickert said. We asked, and the answer is yes, that includes the coaching staff. While he wouldn’t get into specifics, “We’re still working through some of those,” he added that there is a lot of work to do on the red zone execution and third down conversions, as examples. “We need to put those guys in better situations to go out there and execute. That’s from a staff standpoint.” He went through a list of specifics that he is happy with, adding the caveat that there is room for improvement on all of them. “That falls on us as coaches to really create a vision and not just say, ‘Hey, we’ve got this extra time, let’s just hang out.’”
What’s Working?
If you’re looking for the elements Dickert is pleased with to any varying degree, you can look to pass protection, the defensive front, the defense as a whole, not giving up explosive plays, and kick the return team. For what it’s worth, the punt return unit was the one group still working after practice as we talked with Dickert. That tells you who wasn’t making the list of things that are going right.
One unit of the team that gets particular praise from Dickert is the defensive line. “I’m going to be honest,” he said. “We thought these guys were good. But some of these guys are playing above their talent level, and that’s just awesome to see. And they’re not done growing and getting better.” Dickert talked about the coaching they are getting from defensive coordinator Scottie Hazleton. “Way better than I ever did as a [defensive] coordinator of letting these guys go play some football, and the multiple defensive fronts is causing some people problems.”
Quarterback Question
Both Robbie Ashford and Deshawn Purdie have been active at practice this week. Dickert talked about Purdie’s game in the win over Oregon State. “Deshawn can be an elite deep ball thrower,” the coach said. “And I think he showed that. I loved his poise. I loved how he let the game come to him.”
With Ashford missing the Oregon State game with an injury, and with Purdie playing well in the win, the question becomes inevitable. Can someone lose their starting job due to an injury? Dickert shifted around, physically, when hearing the question. “We evaluate everything. I think it isn’t an injury thing. I think it’s just one of those things where guys step up and play and perform and we’ll always do what’s best for the team.”
He had said earlier that while Ashford was working out, there was a thought by the staff that they needed to get him to 100% before being able to do an equitable evaluation.
No Running Back Question
The coach said they are also trying to get running back Demond Claiborne back to 100%. They have been limiting his contact in practice, and Dickert said a couple of weeks ago that it was likely a plan that would continue long-term. But with multiple injuries on multiple parts of his body, is getting Claiborne back to 100% even realistic? “I think with the tailback position, you’re never really 100% during the season. But, we need to get him as close as we can each and every week,” Dickert said. The coach painted a picture of how close Claiborne has been coming on Saturday mornings. And then he goes out and takes the punishment that he does, and they have to limit him again in practice the next week.
The Measuring Stick
One thing Dickert is not impressed with is the four wins. Not that he isn’t happy for them. And he understands that Wake got only four wins in each of the last two seasons. But he says there is more to it than that. “Right now, we’re 4-2, and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, look at little Wake Forest. Look at what they’re doing. I’m so happy for them. Look at these guys. Go try hard, guys.’ Is that what we’re satisfied with? We’re a big-time football team. We’ve got big-time players.”
He emphasized that he never saw this as a transition year with the coaching change because that implies a sort of throwaway season. “The best program builders maximize the moments. That’s what I owe Nick Anderson and Demond and all those other seniors that are just working their tail off each and every day.” He said the accomplishments belong to the players. “I get way too much credit. These guys are coming out here, working their tail off. They believed in the coaching staff, and we’ve got to keep getting better.”
Time Spent
One place Dickert will not find himself this weekend is on the sidelines of his son’s youth football game. He had posted on social media about it during the previous bye week. “The season’s over. We’re prepping for a bowl game,” he said with a laugh. His son’s 10U team won their first game of the season last week, on the last weekend of the regular season. Dickert joked about the message of finishing strong that goes with that.
Main Image from Tony Siracusa
