Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert, speaking to the media, March 18th, 2025. Photo Credit: Wake Forest Athletics
In advance of Friday’s season opener for Owls football, Sports Editor Kai Millette sat down one-on-one with Cameron Lemons Debro of Demon Deacon Digest and the Inside the Forest Podcast to preview the matchup. (Answers have been shortened for brevity and clarity)
Kai Millette: Wake Forest breaks in a brand new coaching staff, led by head coach Jake Dickert this year. What’s the reception been like from the fan base and how’s the first off-season gone?
Cameron Lemons Debro: Everything we continue to hear about from players, to fans that meet him, to coaches, recruits, it’s just that there’s a different energy around the program. It wasn’t anything about last year or the year before of, [former coach Dave] Clawson being a morgue or anything, but it’s just that he’s a younger guy, he’s, I believe, in his 40s, he’s someone that is just all he knows is this era of college football. The reception’s been kind of positive, well, mostly positive, and so far, it’s been a success.
KM: I know [Dickert’s] a defensive-minded guy, you guys bring in a whole new coaching staff. I haven’t looked at the names, but what schematic changes are you guys expecting on either side of the ball?
CLB: Complete difference on the offensive side of the ball. Everyone loves to talk about the slow mesh with Wake Forest. Slow mesh is dead, it is no longer there, and instead is a power spread offense, which… if I know Kennesaw State’s running the veer-and-shoot, I equate them, kind of, not brothers, but cousins. [Wake Forest] wants to establish things up front, run the ball with Demond Claiborne, more bubble screens, things of that nature. On defense. Same, but different. Scottie Hazelton comes in as defensive coordinator. What Scotty’s kind of done is something similar to what we’ve seen in the past, is, you know, you’re gonna run a lot of Cover 3, but it’s gonna be Cover 3 out of Tampa 2. They want to say, we’re going to keep everything in front of us and you’re gonna be the person to make the mistake there.
KM: Robby Ashford was named the starting quarterback a few days ago. Was this expected coming out of camp, and what would you like to see from him on Friday?
CLB: Him and Deshawn Purdie were in a quarterback battle, and I think kind of towards the end, Ashford started getting a little more of a grip on the first quarterback reps, and [Wake Forest] started saying, okay, you know, I think this is where that’s gonna lead to. In terms of what I want to see from him, just taking control of the football, just taking care of it. The big part about him is, can you hit these layups? Can you keep the ball, you know, moving? What I need you to do is get the ball to number one, Demond Claiborne and keep guys on schedule?
KM: You’ve mentioned Demond Claiborne, and for good reason. Talk about what makes him so good and what kind of year you think he might be poised for with some of these schematic changes.
CLB: The big thing everyone wants to talk about with him is the speed — but the big thing about him isn’t so much the speed, it’s the balance. He’s never down, his feet are always moving. That four of five yard run, all of a sudden, it’s now 10, it’s now 12. They want him to break the single season rushing record for Wake Forest, [even] in a 6 or 7‑win season.
KM: Talk to me about the rest of the offense. What other standouts can you tell us about, and who can we expect to maybe be Ashford’s top target, or top favorite 2‑3 targets?
CLB: Yeah, a couple targets I’m looking at on the outside, two wide receivers in Carlos Hernandez — [he’s] about 6’6,” he’s also gonna return kicks and punts as well. They brought him over from Washington State. I think that’s someone that they’re really coveting. Micah Mays on the outside is someone I’m always looking forward to. He was a four-star recruit. They legitimately beat out a Miami for him. You know, he’s from around that Palm Beach area, but, you know, that was the Clawson regime, and he’s stuck around for the last couple of years, and you can start see in him ascend more and more. And at tight end, it’s been really fun watching Eni Falayi, which is, one, a very fun name, but two, a fun story, where he started his career off at UMass, then dropped down to Utah Tech, and last year at Utah Tech, you were like, okay, what’s… what’s going on here? Why is Wake Forest bringing up a dude from Utah Tech? You know, he only caught 30 balls for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns, and you’re like, okay, this is just gonna be a depth guy? But then you realize, he sprained his MCL in the first game of the year, missed about 2 months of that. Then once he started getting healthy against a pretty good Central Arkansas team, they were ranked in the FCS, put up 10-105 and a touchdown.
KM: Really appreciate you joining us. One last thing for you. What do you expect to go down on Friday, and can we get a score prediction?
CLB: I do think Kennesaw State kind of comes out in the first quarter, maybe first quarter and a half or so, and says, you know, that veer-and-shoot’s gonna get you. There’s always nerves, it’s always fast. When you’re playing that fast, it’s going to get somebody. I have this one, Wake 35-14. I think at a certain point, Wake just kind of leans on them a little more. This is one where I think just the body types just kind of just don’t add up, and I think, kind of around the third quarter, things start kind of getting leaned on a little more.
