Under Dave Clawson, Wake Forest went from being at the bottom of the ACC to consistently making bowl games. He really turned the program around, with the highlight being their amazing 2021 season, where they finished 11-3. That season proved just how solid the foundation Clawson built was. But when the whole NIL thing took off, even he couldn’t keep up and decided to step down in 2024, handing the reins over to Jake Dickert. His resignation statement was a pretty clear sign that college football was shifting, and coaches who couldn’t adapt to the new NIL landscape just wouldn’t fit in anymore.
“I did not want to do this; in my perfect world, I’d be having this press conference in three or four years. But I just looked at kind of where the industry is right now, and I just felt like it was time,” said an emotional Clawson at his last press brief for Wake Forest. But truly, Wake Forest needed the change to be that consistent bowl contender in the ACC.
After the disappointing 2023 and 2024 seasons in which the team finished 4-8, a change was needed, and Jake Dickert, who came from Washington State, took that challenge. Dickert’s team ranked 11th nationally in offense, led by their QB John Mateer and their offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, who has now joined Oklahoma along with John Mateer. So, this begs a question: Can Jake Dickert deliver without these two key people? And what would be the expectations for him?
Cam Lemons Debro, the 247 Sports’ Wake Forest Insider, sat with Bud Elliot on the June 21st episode of the ‘Cover 3 Podcast’ and gave a simple reply to Bud Elliot’s question. Elliot asked, “It’s year one, new coordinator, on both sides of the ball, a lot of new players. How do you define success for Wake Forest in 25?” Cam Lemons simply summarized the expectations in three words: ” make a bowl,” and later summarized why he thinks it is an achievable target.
“That was the standard Dave Clawson set; you need to make a bowl here at Wake Forest, and I think getting back to that when you haven’t the last two years is success, and I think anything past that is solid.” In terms of wins needed to achieve that? Cam Lemon set the expectations to be at least 7 wins to be in that sweet spot. “If you can make it back to six or probably seven, I think seven wins is probably where I want to put it at,” said Cam Lemons. But why is the bowl game so important?’
The standard truly was set by Dave Clawson as he achieved seven consecutive bowl games from 2016 to 2022. Although Clawson had a 5-3 Bowl record, in the eight total appearances he made, the consistency with which the team made Bowl games was remarkable.
For example, the team had a solid win against Rutgers, 38-10, in the 2021 Gator Bowl, and they also took down Missouri in the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl. But since they haven’t made it to a bowl game in the last two seasons, hitting that goal is even more important for Dickert. Luckily, he’s got a plan!
Jake Dickert lays out a plan for the 2025 season
Washington State was Jake Dickert’s first head coaching job, and in his three years he spent at the program, he compiled a 23-20 record. While this record may not look that attractive, under Jake Dickert at Washington State, with limited NIL resources, they achieved an 8-4 season last year. And that’s exactly what Wake Forest needs from the head coach: to navigate the NIL world and produce results. And he has a simple plan to do that.
“My number one priority will be building relationships with our current student-athletes and earning their trust. We will have a clear focus on retaining our current roster while adding valuable pieces that fit our program and Wake Forest University. Additionally, I am excited to immerse myself in this special community as throughout this process my belief that this is the perfect place for our family and our program only strengthened,” said Dickert in a statement.
Dickert has done some impressive things beyond just navigating the NIL world; he’s also a defensive whiz. While he was at Wyoming from 2017 to 2019, his defense forced a whopping 166 turnovers, landing them 10th among FBS schools. Plus, in 2018, they were ranked 17th in the country for total defense. Now, it’ll be interesting to see if he can bring that same defensive genius to Wake Forest as the head coach!
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