What has changed at Wake Forest that makes this season different than recent years? Sure, the record is better. Everyone can see that. But there is something else, something you can sense but not touch. For those who have been Wake Forest fans through the decades, they have ridden through the ups and downs of the program. For those newer to the program, it likely feels like what anyone else goes through after a coaching change. But what has changed the tone and tenor at Wake Forest?
The Pledge
When Jake Dickert was introduced as the new head coach back in mid-December, he said all the things new coaches say at their introductory press conference. He talked about the history of the program and the desire to win right away. Dickert promised to put together a staff that would work hard every day. What else was he going to say?
But buried in the new coach-speak at the press conference was the commitment to not have this as a transition year into the new staff and new era of Wake Forest football. That is a lot easier to talk about in the current day and age of college football. The transfer portal allows us to have the occasional Curt Cignetti stories of a coach turning around a program in a short time frame.
But the particulars here are a little different. Cignetti took over an Indiana program that was a perennial bottom-feeder in the conference. Getting to the college football playoff is an extraordinary leap, when just improving by 50% year over year would have been good enough for most Hoosiers’ fans. You can’t fall off the floor. So up was the only direction, regardless of the degree of up.
The Change at the Top
Dickert, on the other hand, was replacing arguably the most successful coach in Wake Forest history in Dave Clawson. In his 11-year tenure at Wake, Clawson brought unprecedented postseason achievements to Wake. But to anyone who watched the day-to-day granular circumstances at Wake, it was no surprise to see him step down. Over the last few weeks of the 2024 season, Clawson was clearly spent emotionally, and probably mentally. His system of multi-year development of two and three-star players was being shoved aside in a college football system now dominated by the transfer portal, NIL opportunities, and what would later come, revenue-sharing. And he was about to half his second consecutive 4-8 season. The change was needed.
But change for the sake of change rarely works well. By bringing in Dickert, there was a new tone to the program. It’s not about slogans like “Built in the Dark.” Clawson had many slogans over his years also. A player like Nick Anderson, who has been at Wake for six years, probably has a dresser full of Wake Forest football slogan t-shirts. All coaches have slogans.
Change in Style
This change was more stark. Clawson was very professorial in his approach. He could bring up specific plays from eight years at the drop of a hat, much like some of Wake’s long-time fan base. Yes, he yelled at players like all coaches do. And yes, he had the same level of ego every successful coach has to have. But he was very measured in his approach.
Dickert looks, sounds, and acts like a football coach out of central casting. He is always animated in one direction or another. He’s hoping you’ll buy what he’s selling. That’s not to say he can’t match cerebral wits with Clawson or other coaches. But the style of getting there is dramatically different.
Clawson used to joke that the reason he played Division III football was that there was no Division IV. Dickert talks about his Division III playing days in anticipatory tones about his love for football, and he wants his players to love their experiences the same way.
More Than a Change in Style
That message, though, of there not being a transition year seemed to matter. That has struck a certain tone with players. The intent of the message, Dickert said recently, was not about wins and losses so much. It was more about not casting aside the careers of the seniors who were choosing to finish their careers at Wake. “That statement was about, ‘Guys, I’m not just here to say let’s wipe this season and let’s just build fresh,” Dickert said last week. “I respect those guys. Those guys are experienced players, and we’re going to build around them. They are going to be part of setting the foundation.”
Dickert said he went into the process hoping that the theme would set the tone for the approach to the season for the senior.
Player Buy-In
It worked for Anderson. Few players have seen as much and done as much in a lengthy college career at Wake as the sixth-year defensive back. “It was present in the first conversation I had with him,” Anderson said Saturday. “I’m really, really lucky to have this year with him and the whole staff.” Anderson acknowledged during the off-season that after meeting with Dickert, he, Quincy Bryant, and other seniors made a pact to return. He said during the Summer that it was not just about trying to finish better than they did the last two seasons. But he said it was due in large part to Dickert’s commitment to the here and now with his new team.
Dickert said holding to the plans and staying true to what they told players is part of the top-down emphasis that extends from him down to every level of his staff. “For everyone that touches a football player, here’s who we are. Here’s how we talk about it. Here’s what the standard of best means,” Dickert said. He added that he expects everyone on the staff, regardless of position, to carry that out. That included this year, that the season was not a transition just to get through.
When told what Anderson had said Saturday, Dickert said, “I’m really proud of that. I think it’s one of the best things they can ever tell me.”
There are many things that fall into going from 4-8 to 7-3. Dickert has had greater cooperation from the school in going after transfer players. And having the money from revenue-sharing made legal by the House v. NCAA settlement terms has helped. But it would be naïve to think the change in tone and tenor doesn’t matter. Clawson would have been in year 12, coming off back-to-back poor seasons. To many of the returning players, the message runs the risk of becoming white noise. In comes Dickert, 16 years younger than Clawson, and coach-speak slogans aside, committing to the moment seems to have made an impact.
Main Image: Grace Sorrells (Shot with Grace)
