As Wake Forest starts Spring camp next week there is a lot of newness around the program. There is a new head coach for the first time in 12 years. There is an entirely new coaching staff. And there are plenty of new players thanks to transfer portal allowances and the presumption of revenue sharing on the horizon. And then there is the Wake Forest quarterback room which is mostly new.
It’s been a few years since the Demon Deacons returned an established starter at quarterback. In 2003, Mitch Griffis was dubbed in the Spring camp as the starter to replace Sam Hartman. He had a couple of starts under his belt at that point was far from a proven entity. The experiment did not even come close to success.
In 2024, then-head coach Dave Clawson went to the portal looking for answers. Griffis had transferred and his lone returner with any real game experience was Michael Kern. Clawson came up with Hank Bachmeier who had been a multi-year starter at Boise State and then again at Louisiana. There was the pretense of a quarterback competition in Spring camp, but the job really belonged to Bachmeier from the start based on his experience. His individual stats were a mixed bag. The team performance was just as bad as the previous year with another 4-8 finish.
The New Wake Forest Quarterback Room
Enter the new world order in Winston-Salem. Head coach Jake Dickert lured an unprecedented 22 players from the portal to Wake Forest. Among them were quarterbacks Robby Ashford and Deshawn Purdie. Those two get added to high school signees Elijah Oehlke and Steele Pizzella. All have been enrolled in school since January and will be available for Spring camp. Awaiting them is redshirt freshman Jeremy Hecklinski who got in a handful of snaps at Wake in 2024. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Mizell took two snaps in the season opener last year. Redshirt freshman Nick Rubino did not play last season.
That is seven quarterbacks looking to get in work in the Spring. Last year it was a two person “contest” with Bachmeier and Kern.
The offense is also going to be new. While the slow mesh accounted for about 25% of the play calls last season, it will account for 0% going forward. Dickert intends for the offense to have what he called, “the play action pass game with quick RPOs.” Essentially, if you need a category for it, it was what some will refer to as a power spread offense. But it is a scheme that is going to rely first and foremost on running back Demond Claiborne. “That run game is going to be diverse. It’s going to be attacking. It’s going to get on the perimeter. And it is going to go downhill,” Dickert told us a few weeks ago.
So, then what kind of talent did he bring in as quarterback to compete with Hecklinski? “It was the number one thing that we had to attack,” Dickert said, referring to his recruiting efforts. “The quarterback position needed a more competitive upgrade. We went right after it.”
He told us it was about having a big enough roster at the position that he could fulfill the here and now needs, and have players who could develop over time, “That the people can buy into for the immediate and the long term.”
He referred to Hecklinski as, “Obviously a great young talent and a tremendous ball player.” Most of the rest of the players in the room are still getting acquainted to their new lives.
Ashford is used to working in new locations. Wake Forest will be his fourth school. He spent two years at Oregon without playing. He then transferred to Auburn for two seasons and spent last year as the backup at South Carolina. This will be his last year of eligibility. “What a unique athlete,” Dickert said. “What a unique challenge for a defense with the type of skill sets he has.”
Purdie transferred from UNC Charlotte. He threw 200 passes in 2024, completing half of them for 1,802 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. Dickert said Purdie is, “Full of raw talent and size.”
Dickert expects the players to get better because of the open competition. He said, “That is the exact same thing I expect here at Wake Forest, is these guys raising each other up. No one’s allowed to have a down day, because you better be competing at everything we do.”
The Demon Deacons open Spring camp on the morning of Tuesday, March 18th. The Spring training period will conclude on April 18th with something that leans more toward a fan fest than a traditional open scrimmage.
Main Image: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
