Wake Forest Athletics
Hemphill Coordinating Through COVID and Extended ACC Slate
10/29/2020 12:30:00 PM | Football, Les Johns
“This has been a really fun season. The players appreciate it more and we appreciate it more.” - Lyle Hemphill
With so much uncertainty surrounding collegiate athletics, the Wake Forest Football team has relished every minute they've spent on the field together this season, with much of the offseason spent together unsure of if there would even be an actual season at the end of camp.
We're now eight weeks into the season and the Demon Deacons are riding a three-game winning streak heading into Syracuse on Saturday. That's turned appreciation into excitement at the Doc Martin Practice Facility and inside McCreary Field House.
"You can't imagine," Wake Forest defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill said in a virtual press conference last week. "Three months ago, we weren't playing football — it's not happening. Two months ago, it's not happening. I don't care what happens, I'm just so excited to play football, and so are our kids.
"I don't even know if they care who they're playing. I don't think anybody cares. Just the fact that we get to go play football. That really excites everybody. This has been a really fun season. The players appreciate it more and we appreciate it more. It's been a lot of fun. It's never been a struggle to get these guys to play. This is the first time in 20 years coaching. There's always that one practice where it's a struggle to get them to go, and we haven't had that. It's a great opportunity."
With seven returning defensive lineman who earned starts a season ago, featuring consensus All-ACC defensive end Carlos "Boogie" Basham, the Deacs have been formidable up front. Additionally, there's a group of six talented linebackers fighting for playing time, providing more talent and depth in that position group than the staff is accustomed.
"I'm pretty excited," Hemphill said about the Wake Forest defensive unit. "It's hard to see. I'm a little more reserved. I think we're really good up front. I know we're good at the second level, and I know we're young on the back end, but I know we're talented. I think we can be really good. I hope we can be really good. We have to do the little things right."
With the team sent home from spring camp after just five practices because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hemphill kept in frequent contact with the defense through virtual meetings. He was impressed with the work ethic and results during the time away from Winston-Salem.
"I know we had a long time off there, but you can tell they put the work in while they were home," Hemphill said. "Obviously, not physically as much as they could do if they were here, but mentally we were in Zoom meetings all the time. They really showed up. You could tell they wanted to get better. We were further along than I would have ever thought.
"We were Zoom meeting with these kids three-to-four times a week, and that showed up. I thought it really carried over into fall camp. Then we had those 12 walkthroughs. That stuff to me is huge. It really made up for missing 10 spring practices. I'm pleased with where we're at right now."
While the front seven is experienced, there's a ton of questions in the secondary. Top of mind is replacing two graduated cornerbacks in Essang Bassey and Amari Henderson who both started all 13 games in 2019.
So far this season, the likes of Caelen Carson and Nick Andersen have been promising young bright spots in the secondary. Andersen, a true freshman safety, earned three National Defensive Player of the Week honors after an 11-tackle, three interception game in the win over No. 19 Virginia Tech.
To compensate for the youth on the backend, Hemphill leans on the leadership and depth of the defensive often.
"We need fresh guys on the defensive line, no doubt about that," Hemphill said. "Then we need guys on the second line at linebacker who know what they're doing. They have to play fast and do some more of the communication. We're playing some young guys in the back end. It's critical that we play a lot of fresh guys on the defensive line and that we rotate at linebacker and not have any dropoff."
The Demon Deacon defense was 16th in the nation a year ago in third down defense, allowing conversions on just 31.8 percent of attempts. To be great in 2020, Hemphill wants to see that continue to progress throughout the remainder of the season.
"We have to tackle well on first and second down," he said. "We have to leverage the ball on first and second down, then we have to be great on third down. That's kind of our mantra. I think we're doing those things well right now."
We're now eight weeks into the season and the Demon Deacons are riding a three-game winning streak heading into Syracuse on Saturday. That's turned appreciation into excitement at the Doc Martin Practice Facility and inside McCreary Field House.
"You can't imagine," Wake Forest defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill said in a virtual press conference last week. "Three months ago, we weren't playing football — it's not happening. Two months ago, it's not happening. I don't care what happens, I'm just so excited to play football, and so are our kids.
"I don't even know if they care who they're playing. I don't think anybody cares. Just the fact that we get to go play football. That really excites everybody. This has been a really fun season. The players appreciate it more and we appreciate it more. It's been a lot of fun. It's never been a struggle to get these guys to play. This is the first time in 20 years coaching. There's always that one practice where it's a struggle to get them to go, and we haven't had that. It's a great opportunity."
With seven returning defensive lineman who earned starts a season ago, featuring consensus All-ACC defensive end Carlos "Boogie" Basham, the Deacs have been formidable up front. Additionally, there's a group of six talented linebackers fighting for playing time, providing more talent and depth in that position group than the staff is accustomed.
"I'm pretty excited," Hemphill said about the Wake Forest defensive unit. "It's hard to see. I'm a little more reserved. I think we're really good up front. I know we're good at the second level, and I know we're young on the back end, but I know we're talented. I think we can be really good. I hope we can be really good. We have to do the little things right."
With the team sent home from spring camp after just five practices because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hemphill kept in frequent contact with the defense through virtual meetings. He was impressed with the work ethic and results during the time away from Winston-Salem.
"I know we had a long time off there, but you can tell they put the work in while they were home," Hemphill said. "Obviously, not physically as much as they could do if they were here, but mentally we were in Zoom meetings all the time. They really showed up. You could tell they wanted to get better. We were further along than I would have ever thought.
"We were Zoom meeting with these kids three-to-four times a week, and that showed up. I thought it really carried over into fall camp. Then we had those 12 walkthroughs. That stuff to me is huge. It really made up for missing 10 spring practices. I'm pleased with where we're at right now."
While the front seven is experienced, there's a ton of questions in the secondary. Top of mind is replacing two graduated cornerbacks in Essang Bassey and Amari Henderson who both started all 13 games in 2019.
So far this season, the likes of Caelen Carson and Nick Andersen have been promising young bright spots in the secondary. Andersen, a true freshman safety, earned three National Defensive Player of the Week honors after an 11-tackle, three interception game in the win over No. 19 Virginia Tech.
To compensate for the youth on the backend, Hemphill leans on the leadership and depth of the defensive often.
"We need fresh guys on the defensive line, no doubt about that," Hemphill said. "Then we need guys on the second line at linebacker who know what they're doing. They have to play fast and do some more of the communication. We're playing some young guys in the back end. It's critical that we play a lot of fresh guys on the defensive line and that we rotate at linebacker and not have any dropoff."
The Demon Deacon defense was 16th in the nation a year ago in third down defense, allowing conversions on just 31.8 percent of attempts. To be great in 2020, Hemphill wants to see that continue to progress throughout the remainder of the season.
"We have to tackle well on first and second down," he said. "We have to leverage the ball on first and second down, then we have to be great on third down. That's kind of our mantra. I think we're doing those things well right now."
Players Mentioned
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