Looking Ahead to the Spring
Just got finished with a recap to the 2010 Wake Forest football season, a piece that was so long I can already hear my boss bellyaching even before I call him to tell him it’s done. We’ve been told in this brave new age of journalism we have to write shorter and more succinctly, but it’s hard teaching a dog as old as me new tricks. Thankfully, whatever doesn’t make the Journal—either in the print or on-line edition—can be retrieved from the cutting room floor and be served up here.
So if you’re not one to check out the Journal, you should make an exception tomorrow morning. Coach Jim Grobe talked at length last week during the final gathering to eat chicken and talk football about where he felt the program was and where it was headed. I don’t want to give away the whole story, lest I give my boss something else to be mad at me about, but in the interest of promotion I’ll pass along a few tidbits.
Tanner Price is the guy at quarterback. That much became clear when Grobe said that Ted Stachitas, the redshirt sophomore who began the season at quarterback, had recovered from a broken bone in his back. I asked Grobe if he would play Stachitas against Vanderbilt just to get him back on the field one last time before spring practice and Grobe said, in effect, the issue had been settled. Obviously Price could lose the position with a bad spring, but it’s just as obvious that it’s his job to lose.
The 3-4 defense the Deacons settled on over the last half of the season opened the eyes of the staff, and made them realize it better suited the talent on hand. So look for the young defensive linemen like Nikita Whitlock, John Gallagher, Zach Thompson, Kevin Smith, Frank Souza and Ramon Booi to man the three inside positions while Kyle Wilber, Tristan Dorty, Joey Ehrmann and Gelo Orange play standing up outside. Another candidate for playing time at outside linebacker should be Zachary Allen, who has already gained from 190 pounds to 240 pounds over the course of his redshirt freshman season.
Grobe is confident enough in his depth that he plans to move Justin Jackson, who missed his redshirt freshman season recovering from a torn knee ligament, to inside linebacker to compete against Mike Olson, Scott Betros and Riley Haynes.
And he said that cornerbacks Kevin Johnson and A.J. Marshall and safeties Duran Lowe and Daniel Mack improved by leaps and bounds throughout a rough freshman season, which should set up some keen competition with older players such as Josh Bush, Kenny Okoro and Cyhl Quarles in the spring. And he wouldn’t be stunned to see Merrill Noel, another freshman cornerback who was redshirted this season, carve out some playing time as well.
Given the constraints of a daily paper in modern times, there were issues the story did not address. One was the offensive line, which endured at least the third straight disappointing season. Grobe said that Garrick Williams showed enough at center to start the spring as the starter there. He also said he’s excited to get a long look at Daniel Blitch, Antonio Ford, Dylan Heartsill and Colin Summers, physically impressive freshmen who were redshirted this season.
And I would be remiss (and I’d never want to be that) by not mentioning the performance of sophomore kicker Jimmy Newman, who set a Wake Forest record by making his final 12 field-goal attempts of the season. I grumbled when Newman missed his first try of the season, a 43-yarder against Presbyterian, but he showed me good by making the next 12 and converting all 31 of his PATs. And given that Newman has two more seasons, the Deacons look as solid there as they’ve been since the glory days of Sam Swank.
Grobe said he’s still in the market for a stronger leg for kickoffs and a punter.