Wake Forest Athletics
GOLD RUSH: View from the Top
5/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
This article was originally published in the May edition of Gold Rush.
By Stan Cotten
I'm writing this version of my now and again column with one eye on my laptop and the other on my television screen. I mean, it's Sunday at the Masters...what else can I do? And as an aside to my main topic, I sure wish I were watching Bill Haas and Webb Simpson heading to Amen Corner battling for a first green jacket. It was like that on Thursday. But Thursday is not Sunday at Augusta. Not even close.
But since both former Deacon greats will have to wait at least another year to enhance their wardrobe, I'll move to something else - football. This is the last time I'll write about Dave Clawson's Deacons until late summer when the numbers swell just a bit from an incoming freshman class before fall 2015 arrives, Clawson's second as head coach.
Tommy Elrod and I had the pleasure of calling the Deacs' end of spring practice Black and White game on ESPN3. We also had the luxury of working from the network television booth which, on the seventh floor, is a level higher than our network radio booth and perched right on the 50-yard line instead of our radio home on about the 20-yard line or so.
Our radio booth is a good seat. The television booth is a great seat. And what I heard from Tommy, on more than one occasion, and what I saw on our HD video monitor matched.
"Teachable moment," is what Tommy kept saying. And that's exactly what Dave Clawson did time after time following the end of a play - take the opportunity to talk to his players about what he just saw. To suggest. To correct.
To coach.
Clawson could have taken the day off...coasted and let his assistants do all of the work. We would have loved having him in the booth, goodness knows we needed help trying to herd all of the cats, keep track of players playing for both sides. And those redshirt freshmen. I think there were 100 of those!
But Clawson stayed close to the action. On the field just behind the offense taking the opportunity between plays to coach his team, giving immediate instruction to and getting flash reaction from those who will don the Old Gold and Black in four and half months when Elon comes calling in early September.
It'll be another young team. Very young. The senior class will have but six members, the smallest since World War II. That's a long time. That's pre-Bill Faircloth.
But Clawson says that even though his second team will be younger than the first, it will be more talented. We got a glimpse of some of the youngest in true freshmen Kendall Hinton and Tabari Hines, both of whom enrolled in January and are getting invaluable time with the big boys. Hinton is a quarterback from Durham Southern who is used to winning. He has good mobility and has the ability to hurt defenses with his quickness and escapability. His arm is sneaky strong, and he'll help supply the competition for incumbent starter John Wolford.
Hines is from Florence, S.C., a speedy wide receiver recruited to pad the stable and give Wolford some choices. He was back on punt returns in the Spring Game, proving his versatility and validating what Clawson and his staff saw in him in high school where he scored 46 touchdowns - 15 of which came via kick returns, interception returns or fumble returns. He's an athlete. And he is welcome.
And not only did we get peeks from high above of young talent, we also saw some of the old heads doing their thing. Junior safety Ryan Janvion was all over the lot. With Kevin Johnson and Bud Noel graduated, Janvion will be the secondary's leader. He led Wake a season ago with 115 tackles and has 210 for his career - on pace for 400 which would join him with just four others in Deacon history, a group including former consensus All-America Bill Armstrong.
Junior Steve Donatell will add depth at tight end, but his best play in the Spring Game may just have been running down speedster John Armstrong on a kick return and completely enveloping his smaller teammate from behind with a Batman like swoop and spread eagle of a tackle. Impressive. Jared Crump will catch a lot balls again for the Deacs. He did so yesterday, a tall target who gets open and is easy for Wolford to see. Cam Serigne caught more passes as a freshman than any Deacon tight end ever in one season. He could be a Hall of Famer in due time. He was held out some this spring but played yesterday and, even though not a true "old head," the third-year sophomore from Ashburn, Va., plays like one. And then there's Wolford, a veteran not in years yet but in plays made and hits taken. He just keeps getting up and moving on. To say this is his team might be a stretch, but Wolford has earned the respect of his teammates. And he will fight you.
And finally the kicking game should be solid. Alex Kinal drilled his first punt nearly 60 yards and will, again, be a weapon. And kicker Mike Weaver drilled three field goals before slightly pulling a fourth. His first season kicking was a record setting one. Fine there.
So bring on autumn. From where I sit, the football Deacons are trending positively. And Jordan Spieth wears about a 40 regular.
