Wake Forest Hopes 2023 was Rock Bottom and Better Days are Ahead

It has only been three years on the calendar, but it feels like an eternity to Wake Forest football fans since Sam Hartman led the Demon Deacons to an Atlantic Division title and a spot in the ACC Championship game. However, life in college football changes quicker than a cutback at the line from an elite running back. Wake Forest followed that 7-1 conference record with a 3-5 record in 2022. If that wasn’t bad enough, 2023 saw them finish at the bottom of the ACC standings with a single win against the Pitt Panthers versus seven defeats. When a team bottoms out like the Deacons did, a program can expect significant changes.

While Head Coach Dave Clawson did not make any changes to his coaching staff, he was forced to watch as 14 players of varying impact hit the transfer portal. Departing for hopefully greener pastures were his #1 and #3 quarterbacks, Mitch Griffis and Santino Marucci, who transferred to Marshal and New Mexico State, respectively. Griffis had a stat line of 124-207 for 1,553 yards with nine TDs and seven INTs. Marucci appeared in three games going 12-21 for 151 yards with a TD and two INTs. 

The personnel losses did not occur only behind center. Their second leading rusher, Justice Ellison, left for Indiana. Wake Forest needs to find a way to replace his 120 rushes and 548 yards in 2024. Perhaps most damaging was losing top receiver Jamal Banks to Nebraska and #4 receiver Wesley Grimes to in-state rival NC State. Each player found the end zone four times. Banks accomplished the feat in 59 receptions for 653 yards. Grimes had 20 catches for 339 yards in addition to his touchdowns.

The losses on the defensive side of the ball were mostly limited to backups and graduate transfers. Wake Forest did lose one productive defender who was wooed to a national power. DB DaShaun Jones used the portal to join the Alabama Crimson Tide. Jones was an effective defender against both the run and the pass, registering 37 tackles, 1.5 for loss, three interceptions, and two pass break ups. The fact that he was coveted by Alabama indicates his potential to impact games and how big a loss his departure creates.

With the number of departures that the Deacons suffered, opportunities to fill the voids is created. When a program has players depart via the transfer portal, the easiest remedy is to make use of the portal as well. Wake Forest did not match the number of outgoing players from the 2023 roster, but the incoming players have laid claim to top spots on the depth chart. Clawson has already named former Louisiana Tech QB Hank Bachmeier as his starter. Bachmeier is not considered much of an NFL Draft prospect, currently #713 overall in nflmockdatabase.com rankings, but he is an intelligent player capable of running Wake Forest Slow Mesh RPO system effectively. OT Kaegen Trost was brought in from Indiana State to keep Bachmeier upright and to open holes for the backfield. Defensive Coordinator Brad Lambert plucked two starters from the portal. CB Capone Blue comes over from Kent State and LB Branson Combs matriculated from Southern Illinois. The two have already assumed starting spots in advance of the 2024 season.

Having a terrible record can work both ways when it comes to recruiting. Losing teams can more readily offer significant early playing time to recruits. When a team finishes 4-8, it is easy to displace incumbent starters. The downside is that losing will probably be the norm for the bulk of a recruit’s time Winston-Salem, NC. Clawson had difficulty navigating that duality with recruits focusing on the latter instead of the former. His 2024 recruiting class ranked 52nd nationally according to 247sports.com.

 In conference rankings, the Deacons had the 11th best conference class behind ACC newcomers Stanford, among others. The class featured only one four star recruit and 20 three star recruits. It comes as no surprise that a team coming off a dismal record and significant roster turnover is not going to feature elite draft prospects. That is true for Wake Forest who have only three players in the nflmockdatabase.com Top 1,000 ranked players. In addition to Bachmeier, Edge Jasheen Davis, #234, and WR Donovan Green, #703, made the cut. It will take pronounced improved play from the team’s juniors and seniors to have more than one or two players selected next April in Green Bay, WI. 

The following Wake Forest players have been named to pre-season award watch lists:

P Ivan Morin – Guy

RB Demond Claiborne – Walker

OL Luke Petitbon – Rimmington

WR Donovan Greene – Comeback Player of the Year, Senior Bowl

DL Jasheen Davis – Bednarik, Senior Bowl

The following Wake Forest players have been named to the Senior Bowl watch list:

LB Branson Combs, WR Taylor Morin

Wake Forest fans are enduring a rough patch. The men’s basketball team struggled to a 21-14 / 11-9 record and continued a streak of not playing in March Madness since 2017. The highly touted baseball team had three players selected in the top 10 of the MLB Draft in July but could not win a regional tournament that it hosted. As disappointing as those results were, the performance of the football team surpassed them in terms of sour feelings. The 2024 season does not look any more promising. Barring a major change in the winds of fortune, the Deacons look to linger near the bottom of the conference. The view to the top will be even more distant with the additions of The Cal Bears, the SMU Ponies, and the Stanford Cardinal, who are all positioned to finish above Wake Forest. But college football is a fickle entity and there is always hope. Until the ball gets kicked off.