This time last year, Jake Dickert was spending his days and nights in a hotel room not too far from Winston-Salem. A week earlier, he was officially named the new head coach at Wake Forest. He was meeting with Demon Deacon players, trying to get a sense of who was staying and who would be going to school elsewhere. He was meeting with the recruits that his predecessor, Dave Clawson, had hooked in for the team. There were meetings with boosters, school administrators, and trying to get his geographical bearings straight as he moved from Pullman, Washington, 2,500+ miles southeast. Fast forward to this week. Dickert is getting ready to celebrate Christmas with his family as the Deacs take a few days off from their preparation for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl next week. Dickert met with members of the media on Tuesday before the Christmas break.
Q&A With Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert
The Vibe
If you think there is no mix of holiday festivities with preparing for a football game, well, you missed the Wake Forest practice on Tuesday. Defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton, white beard and all, was dressed as Santa during the workout. And by the end of the practice, there was Christmas music being piped through the sound system. What says intense football practice more than Bing Crosby singing White Christmas?
The Schedule
The team has had six practices in eight days in what Dickert referred to as “Bowl Camp.” They will have the rest of the week off for Christmas with their families, including any round-trip travel. They will then spend next week in practice specific to getting ready to play Mississippi State. There will also be a week of activities in Charlotte as part of Bowl Week.
The Week of Production
With some players having moved on for the portal in January or to prep for NFL workouts, there are some players farther down the depth chart who are getting a bigger look during these practices. “You get an opportunity through these bowl games to see a lot of different guys play,” Dickert said Tuesday. “I’m excited about that and see them springboard into next season.”
The Culture
Defensive back Nick Anderson made a statement last week in the interviews, where he said he missed times not being on the field working out. “Yeah, we’ll get to go home and see our biological family, but this is a really tight-knit family here.” Dickert was told about that comment on Tuesday. He was asked what it said about the culture within the program. Anderson’s comment clearly moved him. “I think you see it through the camaraderie. You see it in the hallways. I think they had an ugly Christmas sweater party this weekend. That’s probably the best team bonding you can possibly do,” Dickert said. “I’m proud of this team. Proud of the way they stayed together. Proud of their mentality to finish.”
What Changed?
Dickert is already the winningest first-year coach in Wake History. He was asked what it took to go from where the program was the last two seasons to this. He talked about the exit interviews he has done with every player to get a read on the room. “I love the seniors. Because at the end of the day, the seniors are going to tell you the truth because they don’t gotta come back and see you,” he said.
“It was a belief. I use that word a lot. But a belief that no matter what, we could go out there and win the football game. And we didn’t have to do it one way. And we’re going to be aggressive to it. We’re going to play our game. We’re going to mold people that way. And we’re going to talk that way. And we’re going to carry ourselves that way.”
Getting More Work
Freshman offensive lineman Jaishaun Offutt is someone who has stood out to Dickert, getting some extra snaps now. “I take it back to where he came with in the Summer to where he is now. He’s a completely different player. Fellow freshman offensive lineman Kadear Dembele is also making the coaches take note. “Kadear is going to play in this football game. Kadear is probably going to play 30 snaps. So excited about what he is able to do because that’s a guy we’re counting on next year to step up and play a bigger role.”
Staying Around Longer
This week, Wake Forest announced contract extensions for all of Dickert’s assistant coaches. He got his own extension a couple of weeks ago. “I’m really appreciative of our athletic administration, of our board of trustees, and their investment that they are making in our football program,” Dickert said. “My extension wasn’t just about me. It was about the infrastructure this program needs to maintain, and obviously become elite in the ACC.
College football is in a whirlwind of coaching changes. And as head coaches move, it offers the opportunity for assistants to either move up the ladder or to move to a new location with the head coach. “Keeping our coaches is really, really important to me. It’s important to the players. So to have the opportunity to do that and to do it in a quick order when everyone is kind of shuffling around, also shows the buy-in from them. They want to be here. They’re committed to building this thing with us together.”
Get Ready for the Chaos
January 2nd is the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. It is also the day the transfer portal window opens. Based on so many early announcements from players across the country, it’s safe to assume many will enter the portal with a “Do Not Contact” notation in their file. It means they already know where they are going next, as there has probably been illegal contact from schools in what is supposed to be a dead period.
“It’s crazy, the way our system is set up,” Dickert said. He acknowledged that, in order to be ready, with an acknowledgement that moving quickly on players is key, his staff has “Scouted nearly every player in college football.”
“We’ll have people up on the 3rd as fast as we can. By the end of the day, I’m going to get home around 2 am [after the bowl game], so I don’t know how early we’re going to start those visits on the 3rd. But we’re ready to attack.
The Big Plans
After more talk about the flaws in the current system, how they have had to change the transfer portal every year to try to find an answer, and how the system is gutting the G5 programs, Dickert was asked about the critical things for this week.
First, there was no acknowledgement that it was Hazelton in the Santa suit. “I thought it was Santa,” Dickert said with a laugh. “And I was not trying to be on the naughty list. I was trying to be good today.”
Is Christmas shopping done? He chuckled, looked at his watch for the day/date/time, and responded, “I’m that guy doing my best work under pressure.”
But the dinner plans? There is no gray area there. Dickert said he will be smoking a bone-in ribeye that has a peppercorn crust. “There’s not a restaurant in town that can match it. No offense,” he said. “it’s going to be elite.”
Off
Dickert said he and the coaching staff will be off for the four days this week. And he was serious about being off. He wants the players to spend time focusing on things other than Mississippi State. “Decompress and get away. I told them this morning, ‘When you leave this building, don’t think about Mississippi State for a while. Think about family and engage in the opportunity.” Unlike the last two seasons, there will be more football to come back to when Christmas is over.
Main Image: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
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