Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Complete Second Preseason Practice
7/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest went through a split practice Saturday morning at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex and McCreary Field House. The veteran players practiced from 7 am until 9 am with the freshmen hitting the field from 8:30 until 10 am.
The split practice was an opportunity for the coaching staff to install the base offense and defense, a series of plays with which the veterans were already very familiar.
"We tried to get some of the young kids more reps," said head coach Dave Clawson after practice. "Right now I think the tempo is good, not a lot of blown assignments. It's probably been a lot cleaner than the first four years. We still have to bring some guys along. There are some battles that are going to develop. Certainly tomorrow when we put on the shoulder pads and it becomes less grass basketball and more football. I think we have two good practices in the books."
Clawson explained that this early in the preseason, the staff is more concerned with the basics.
"You're more concerned with getting lined up, are the procedures right, do the guys know their assignments, are you aligned correctly," said Clawson. "Then we tried to steal some time with the younger kids. We brought the older kids out first then did special teams together. That's a way of seeing if we can get (defensive backs) Ja'Sir Taylor or Coby Davis ready or can (receivers) Waydale Jones or Sage Surratt get ready. Or (linebackers) Jake Simpson or DJ Taylor of Chase Monroe. You just focus on them and you notice those plays got a lot simpler. Those are Day One plays and we don't have to have that practice any more with the vets. We just want the kids to know the base offensive plays and the base defensive plays."
Redshirt freshman defensive end Carlos "Boogie" Basham has made an impression on the coaching staff.
"Boogie Basham is going to be in the mix," said Clawson. "At defensive end you have two proven commodities in Duke (Ejiofor) and Wendell (Dunn). Paris Black and Boogie and Zander Zimmer, Chris Calhoun (are also competing). Boogie in the spring took a big step forward and we are just hoping that will continue. He has a big ceiling. (We just need to figure out) how can we get him there."
Quarterback play is always a preseason topic. Clawson named Kendall Hinton the starter prior to the start of camp but senior John Wolford, with 33 career starts, remains solidly in the mix.
"I think we have two kids that we know can play and they can play at a winning level," said Clawson. "I think we have more help around the position than we've ever had. We've got to keep bringing Jamie (Newman) along and get a third ready. It's just two days in but it's a world of difference from three years ago.
"Any of those three would have been the runaway starter three years ago. And you've got competition at the position which you need. And we are going to continue to bring in competition. If you bring in good ones, they compete and they make each other great. John and Kendall have helped each other. I'm sure at times they wished the other one wasn't here but you need that. You have to have that at that position. A year ago we wound up playing our third guy. It's a long season, we play some of the best defensive lines in all of college football and those kids are going to get hit. I hope we have one guy and keep him healthy. The last three years that hasn't happened. If it happens, great, but we have to be prepared to play a number of those kids."
Clawson emphasized the importance of having multiple quarterbacks ready to take the field.
"You don't know how it's going to play out. I remember the one year (1982) that the Miami Dolphins went to the Super Bowl and David Woodley would start every game and if he played well, great. (His backup) Don Strock, how many times did he come in and win the game? You don't know how it's going to play out. We're lucky we have both of those kids. And I get excited when Jamie Newman looks good. He looks like everyone we play against. We play against those 6-4, 6-5 guys that can run and that's Jamie. Today we kept him out with the younger guys. Now he's teaching it to those guys and he's the leader and he's running the show. That helps his development.
"All three of them are really good kids. I think part of being QB is you have to be a little bit selfish, you have to think ‘I'm the man', you want it to be your team. If you don't have that quality, you're probably not a good quarterback. But those kids are smart enough to know that the other kids in the room are good, the other kids have talent and we haven't stayed healthy. So we're giving John and Kendall reps with the ones and we're giving John, Kendall and Jamie reps with the twos. We're preparing three kids."
For the better part of three seasons, Wolford and Hinton have competed for the starter's role through three spring practices and now, a third preseason camp.
"It's a credit to them, they really get along," said Clawson. "There's got to be a part inside of them where you don't want the other guy to throw a perfect post (route). They're great at hiding it if they feel that way."
The Deacons will hold practice No. 3 on Sunday afternoon at the Doc Martin Complex.
