{"id":86606,"date":"2026-04-10T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=86606"},"modified":"2026-04-09T23:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:44:34","slug":"86606-safety-in-numbers-at-wake-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/04\/10\/86606-safety-in-numbers-at-wake-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety in Numbers at Wake Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The secondary position at Wake Forest is like the entire Demon Deacon team in a microcosm. It may be like a lot of teams in the current college football environment. Get a mix of veterans<\/a>. Add some guys from the portal who you expect and need immediate impact. And use Spring camp to develop some younger players for depth, and you have yourself a position room. Add in some critical guys working their way back from injuries, and you have a Wake Forest position room.<\/p>\n

Safety in Numbers at Wake Forest<\/h2>\n

Safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Freddie Banks said this week that, more than halfway through Spring camp, the progress has been very strong. And his players need every day left to get better. \u201cWe have a long way to go until we have to play a game, so that\u2019s kind of on our mind,\u201d Banks said. \u201cBut we\u2019re getting better every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The safety position was a bright spot for the Deacs in 2025. The group, led by sixth-year senior Nick Anderson, had a dramatic turnaround from the year before. But a new year comes with new expectations and new ways to get there. Banks said last year is in the rear-view mirror. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to start over. You\u2019ve got to start over with the fundamentals, technique, and our communication. You\u2019ve got to start over,\u201d he said. \u201cLast year was last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Progress Looks Like<\/h3>\n

Banks said the position group is ahead of where it was at the same time last year<\/a>. That seems to be a theme that is being repeated throughout the coaching staff, from head coach Jake Dickert on down.<\/p>\n

Versatility in the secondary is key. That gets us immediately to Myles Turpin. He is having a good Spring camp. But Banks says his ability to play different positions is making a big impact. \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019d do without him,\u201d Banks said. \u201cHe\u2019s playing nickel, he\u2019s playing free [safety], he\u2019s playing strong [safety]. One of the smartest dudes I\u2019ve ever coached.\u201d Banks added, \u201cHe\u2019s going to play reps for us at all three positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time Well Spent<\/h3>\n

More is going to be expected of Braylon Johnson as well. He will be in his second season at Wake Forest after two years at Virginia Tech. He had 44 tackles last year while seeing playing time in all 13 Wake Forest games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll want him to take a big step in his man coverage,\u201d Banks said of Johnson. As he did with Turpin, Banks referred to Johnson\u2019s ability to pick things up quickly. \u201cHe\u2019s super smart. So whatever we tell him, he\u2019s applied it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a Leadership Role<\/h3>\n

Johnson said one of the roles he is looking to take on as well is that of off-the-field leader. He said the coaches always have more than plenty to say. So he tends to check in with his teammates about how they are doing outside of the football facility. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s like how are you doing outside of this? How\u2019s your girlfriend? How\u2019s your family? You know, a lot of guys are away from home. So, what is that you need help with outside of school?\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said in terms of taking on the role of leader, he prefers to focus on the mental aspect of things. While going into his fourth year of college football, Johnson will be a grad student already. With most of his grad school classes being online, he said it gives him the time to check in on his teammates.<\/p>\n

He also has the time to spend a moment, when asked, about what might have been. He has no regrets about his two years at VA Tech. But he said he sees a difference at Wake Forest. \u201cWhen I got here last Fall, I didn\u2019t really understand it. But now I do. The culture\u2019s different. It\u2019s not the same at Wake Forest. It\u2019s different. Coach Dickert always talks about it,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI wish I were here every day to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Return of Davaughn<\/h2>\n

The last week-and-a-half of Spring camp is going to see something else change with the safeties. That would be the return of Davaughn Patterson.<\/a> The senior has been working his way back from off-season surgery. About a week ago, he started taking part in the practices that were in helmets\/jerseys\/shorts. Now he is starting to take on some contact drills.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith me being out, a lot of the other guys, they had to step up. They had to be put in this position where the rest of the team is depending on them,\u201d Patterson said this week. His assessment from watching from the sidelines is that some of the younger players have made big strides by being forced into action. \u201cThis time and space of me being away has given them room to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Dickert and defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton have talked this Spring about veteran players who have been injured (like Patterson and like linebacker Aiden Hall), helping coach up some of the other players at their positions. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the main things we take pride in here at Wake, is, especially on the defense, just bonding with our guys and getting to know them,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cThat definitely helps us when it\u2019s time to go out on the field or in a meeting room when it\u2019s time to push them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hazelton said last week that he has even let Hall and Patterson call some of the defensive plays during camp. \u201cIt was definitely fun for me. The play I called worked,\u201d Patterson said with a laugh. And Hall\u2019s play call? \u201cI don\u2019t think Aiden\u2019s call worked. But mine worked, so I\u2019m good. I walked up to everybody and told them good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Image: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The secondary position at Wake Forest is like the entire Demon Deacon team in a microcosm. It may be like a lot of teams in the current college football environment. Get a mix of veterans. Add some guys from the portal who you expect and need immediate impact. And use Spring camp to develop some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":86617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2,35643],"tags":[36036,35074,9582,35906],"class_list":["post-86606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acc","category-featured","category-wake-forest-demon-deacons","tag-braylon-johnson","tag-freddie-banks","tag-jake-dickert","tag-scottie-hazelton"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86606"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86620,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86606\/revisions\/86620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}