Five Questions With Wake Forest Offensive Coordinator Warren Ruggiero

The Wake Forest Football offense set a program record in 2020, averaging 36 points a game — and it returns every starter for the 2021 campaign. Despite that, there's still a ton of opportunities for improvement, most notably at getting reliable depth and production from the outside receivers and finding the right running back to roll this season aside Christian Beal-Smith.

Deacon Sports Xtra recently caught up with Wake Forest offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero to get a pulse of where the offense stands following a competitive spring camp.

How would you characterize what you guys accomplished for those 15 practices?
Ruggiero: "I think when you're talking about spring football it's a time where you're definitely trying to get everyone reps, and get everyone improved at an equal rate, if that makes sense. In the fall you really start to hone in on your top eight, maybe your top eight lineman, your top five receivers. The reps really start to get pushed towards the guys that are going to be on the field, the majority of them, and get skewed that way. And in spring the reps are equally distributed among everyone and there's a lot of competition, there's guys that are getting reps with the first group that have never done that.

"Guys getting reps with the second group that have never done that, getting their chance to be with that group, number one, but going against better caliber players than maybe they have at this point in their career on the other side of the ball. So kind of seeing where they're at going against better players, and running the intricacies of our offense rather than just basic stuff. So you're looking to see if they can progress and compete for positions and more playing time. With that we will hopefully come some success with that, and some depth.

"There's a lot of competition at a lot of different spots. We had a lot of competition up front on the O-line, we had a lot of competition at receiver, we had a lot of competition at running back, a lot of competition at quarterback, and really got a ton of younger tight ends some work to get them more playable. It's really not about just putting the first offense out there and trying to get them working all the time together, it's getting everybody a chance to get in there with the first offense and second offense and seeing how they do."

What do you want your offensive players to get accomplished before fall camp begins?
Ruggiero: "I think the number one thing we're pushing toward as a team for sure, and the offense it's definitely a big deal, is just getting our overall strength back. With missing all the time throughout the pandemic of being in the weight room, and the conditioning aspect also, that was a big negative for us last year, so having the whole offseason, the whole summer, in the weight room to get our guys back to being a strong, tough, physical team, that's a huge goal right now. They're going to be in the weight room non stop.

"And there'll certainly be some football time where we get to meet with them and so forth, and do some football stuff, and keep them fresh, and go through the spring and start to clean up some of the mistakes and things they need to get better at from there. I would say the number one overall goal is to just continue to get our strength back, and to be a strong, physical football team."

There's a ton of experienced offensive linemen returning, but is developing depth this season important for the future?
Ruggiero: "Yes, we've got quite a few seniors, we're very old on the offensive line right now, going into this season, so you would like some guys to be able to get out there and get some game experience. Those guys are kind of that next wave of players, you're talking about DeVonte Gordon, George Sell, (Spencer) Clapp, (Luke) Petitbon, (CJ) Elmonus, all those guys that haven't really played a ton to this point that are going to need to be the future for us on the O-line. And the one guy that is not necessarily the future, but one guy that we're hoping to get in that rotation, too, is Terrance Davis. He's only got one year left, but he of course has been injured and had surgery and been out this spring, but he's another guy who we're hoping will be back in the fold for training camp, and be healthy, and contribute in some way."

Despite setting a program record for scoring, what ways do you believe your unit could have been better in 2020?
Ruggiero: "I do think that we were definitely more of a workmanlike team, I would say. We were way more drive-oriented and we did a great job in the red zone. That was really how we did it. We didn't do it through as many big plays as we've done in the past. Explosive pass plays were a lot of the ways we found the end zone in previous years. It was because we were more efficient in the red zone, we were first in the ACC in the red zone. That was really how we did it. To answer your question, it would be nice to have a little bit of both: efficiency in the red zone, but also some more explosive plays, scoring from further out a little more at times. Changing field position just a little more than we have. Certainly we did it at times, but if you're going to be great, if we're going to have a special season, you're not going to do that without having and producing more big plays than we did last year."

What does it mean for the offense to try to move from good to great? As is the mantra for the program this season.
Ruggiero: "There's no magical formula, but part of it, one is going to have to be depth, where we keep guys fresh. They're not going to wear down at certain times of the season because they've taken too many reps. Because we haven't been able to split those reps with somebody else. So that's certainly a big one that we weren't even close to accomplishing last year where it was just razor-thin throughout. I think that's got a chance to happen, and if that happens, and any offense that's going to play great, that has the pieces in place.

"Let's say you feel good about your experience, you have players that you feel are good enough, that are going to work hard, and are dependable. You get it all in there, and then the bottom line x-factor to being great after you have all those things in there is you've got to play great at quarterback. Any team that's going to win the ACC is going to have an All-ACC quarterback beside those other ten pieces. So you've got those ten pieces playing efficiently with experience and having depth and splitting time, and then your x-factor has got to be the quarterback to come in and really make some special plays when you need him."

Wake Forest Athletics

Five Questions With Wake Forest Offensive Coordinator Warren Ruggiero

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