Coaches love their themes. In year one of the Jake Dickert era at Wake Forest, it was “Built in the Dark.” Now, as we enter the start of Spring camp, Dickert says it is about “Lights Out,” referring to the expected effort of the players. Dickert met with the media on Wednesday as Wake gets prepared to start Spring camp on Friday morning. And yes, we asked about the connective tissue from having to build things in the dark because the lights were out. It didn’t get the chuckle we had hoped for.
“Built in the Dark” to “Lights Out”
In the current state of college football, where every year requires a significant roster rebuild, Dickert has some very specific goals for the current team and the coming season. The first is to forget last year’s 9-4 season. It was a nice debut season in Winston-Salem for the coach. And the results were widely unexpected. “The things that you did to create success for yourself last year will no longer apply,” Dickert said in explaining what he has been telling individual players. “You’ve got to create a new standard of the way you do things.”
Dickert called Spring the greatest learning environment in football. He said he is not asking players to be perfect. He is expecting the mistakes. Just not the same ones repeated time and time again. “Fail, learn, grow,” is the way he described it. He said the test for the team is to see if the team mentality is tough enough to withstand that.
Finding a New Focus
“I think the biggest thing for us is what is our identity,” he said. Dickert said going back and reviewing the films from last year convinced him that it took too long into the season to forge a unique identity. He said part of getting to that level sooner in his mind is staying in high development throughout the Spring. “By no means will this thing be soft,” he said. “These kids are 18 to 23 [years of age], and this is a physical-ass game. We’ve got to see and find who can do what this game demands at a high, high level.
Part of what will get a lot of attention during camp is the quarterback position. Wake Forest lost two experienced players and brought in one. Robby Ashford exhausted his eligibility, and Deshawn Purdie transferred to Liberty University. The Wake Forest staff brought in Gio Lopez, the transfer from North Carolina.
The Quarterback Question
Lopez was the starter in all 11 games for the Tar Heels in 2025. He completed 65% of his passes for 1,747 yards with 10 passing touchdowns and five interceptions. He rushed for another 133 yards with three touchdowns on the ground. In UNC’s 28-12 loss to Wake Forest last season, he was 21 of 36 passing for 201 yards and no touchdowns.
He is also the only quarterback on the roster with any significant game experience. Redshirt freshman Steele Pizzella had one passing attempt last year for the Demon Deacons.
Dickert said he was pleased with the integration of the transfer quarterback and has high hopes for the redshirt freshman. He said he was impressed with Lopez’s willingness “to step in front of a group that he doesn’t know yet and command it. It’s been phenomenal.” And of Pizzella, Dickert said, “Steele Pizzella is one of the smartest humans I have ever been around.” He said Pizzella has been “incredible in every phase.”
He said even with the experience level being below what it was last year, he has high expectations because of the assistant coach commanding the position room. “Coach [Dan] Enos is one of the best quarterback coaches in the country.”
Keeping Up With the Jonses
Part of what every school goes through now is how much rebuilding of the roster they can do with whatever financial resources they have. Every athletic department can spend up to $20.5 million in revenue sharing. But that is a total for the entire athletic department. How much is spent on football is an individual school’s decision. The recent change is that as players sign their contracts with a school, most are signing away their rights to their name, image, and likeness to the school. In theory, that gives the school the ability to create marketing opportunities for the players and add that revenue to the money on top of what they are getting from the revenue sharing in order to go around the spending cap.
But Wake Forest is not Miami. With a small donor/business/NIL base, the financial boost is limited. “We’ll always be fighting the resources monster,” Dickert acknowledged. “I have a certain set of deals. And my job is to maximize that every day. And then not complain about it. We are where we are. Yeah, we’re in the bottom third of the ACC in football compensation. I feel comfortable saying that. So what.” Dickert said the key beyond the money is selling the Wake Forest experience, both from an academic and community standpoint.
Selling the Product
He was asked how you sell that to a fan base that has had to disabuse itself of the concept of knowing the players over several years. “Don’t be comfortable. What we did last wasn’t easy. To do it again without reinvesting just doesn’t happen.” He said it was why the Mayo Bowl win over Mississippi State meant that much more to the long-time season ticket holders, the people who hate the new world order of college sports, and the new fans.
The winning does help. Dickert said Wake was in recruiting battles both for high school players and transfers from the portal that they would not have been in competition for previously. Winning and bringing in larger crowds do wonders for roster rebuilding.
Main Image: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
