Wake Forest Athletics
Deacs Ready to Take First Steps Toward 2021 Season
8/4/2021 6:15:00 PM | Football
Coach Clawson and members of the Wake Forest football team take part in local media day ahead of the start of fall camp.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- On the eve of the opening practice of preseason camp, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson and members of the program spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon inside the Sutton Sports Performance Center.
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) August 4, 2021
Talking season
Fall camp pic.twitter.com/43NoTTpR45
Fresh off their fifth-straight bowl appearance last season, the Deacs head into the 2021 campaign with 54 lettermen returning, highlighted by 22 starters who are slated to be back in action this fall.
National Recognition
The annual preseason watch lists has been flooded with Wake Forest representatives. Nine Demon Deacons have landed on a total of 10 national preseason watch lists.
Additionally, the Demon Deacons are the only ACC school to have a player on the John Mackey, Doak Walker, Biletnikoff and Paul Hornung Award Watch Lists this season.
Wake Forest on National Watch Lists
Young Wide Receiver & Offensive Tackles Looking to Step Up
The Deacs will count on the development of a number of young players after a pair of preseason injuries to Donavon Greene and Je'Vionte' Nash.
On the offensive line, Coach Clawson highlighted a number of younger offensive lineman that will be added to the experienced trio of Zach Tom, DeVonte Gordon and Spencer Clapp.
"I'm really excited about some of the young tackles we have in our program," Coach Clawson said. "CJ Elmonus was a really good get and holy cow, he has put his foot on the gas in terms of his development, his strength numbers and his weight. Christian Forbes and Zack Vaughn are guys that when we first got here, their second and third year they were going to be starters. All of those guys redshirted a year ago, who had a normal offseason and have made these really good gains. Between getting Spencer Clapp back and Devonte Gordon's progress in addition to those three young tackles, we will be more than fine."
Other #BeefBoys to look out for are Terrance Davis, Luke Petitbon and George Sell.
On the outside, the Demon Deacons have a plethora of options from young guys ready to step up to veterans who are ready to be more involved in the Deacs dynamic offense. One such veteran is Donald Stewart. The 6-4 receiver transferred to Wake Forest in 2020 after a four-year career at Stanford.
"The one person I was really happy with the development with was Donald Stewart," Coach Clawson said. "He is starting to look like what we thought we were getting a year ago. COVID last year hurt his development, and the lack of practice. Now, he's been in our program for a year. He understands the offense. He's playing faster."
"Jahmal Banks had a great spring, and he is just getting better every week, his numbers in the weight room. A.T. Perry started the whole spring, and he's had a good summer. We are going to miss Donovan absolutely. Donovan is a very talented young man, but from a numbers standpoint and guys, we feel are playable, we're still probably in as good a shape as we ever been.
JAHMAL
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) May 23, 2021@jahmalb21
pic.twitter.com/zGNsWDjiKN
"You have Taylor Morin back too. He can play outside or inside. Ke'Shawn Williams had a great spring. We're not empty there at all. You hate for them to lose good players but, we have other guys that are more than capable of getting the job done."
Heads up play by
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) December 12, 2020. 3rd TD of the season for @taylormorin20.
: @accnetwork #GoDeacs
Focusing On The Bigger Picture
Wake Forest's season opener against Old Dominion at Truist Field is just 30 days away. The Deacs, led by Clawson, head into preseason camp with a focus on maximizing their potential leading up to the Sept. 3 matchup in DEACTOWN.
"As head coach, it's more big picture stuff," Coach Clawson said. "Personnel things. Where are we strong? Where are we relatively weak? Where are the position battles?
"To me, it's more of the big picture. What's the best way to make sure our football team is ready to peak on September 3. I enjoy that. That's really a fun challenge of the job. Every team is different. Every team is unique. Every team takes on their own personality.
"In camp, one of your goals is always to forge a mental toughness and a grip that when those bad things happen, there's a mindset that hey, this is just another obstacle that we're going to overcome."
Defensive Backfield Depth
Heading into last season, depth in the defensive backfield was looked at as a concern. The outlook on the position group has drastically changed thanks to the combination of a number of key returners and a trio transfers.
"We really went into the last year strategically thinking that was the position that we're going to have to help a little bit," Coach Clawson said. "We're really good with predictive powers here. It probably turned out to be the best position on our team. Ja'Sir Taylor had a great year, Caelen Carson had a really solid freshman year and before Gavin Holmes got hurt he was on his way to being a really good nickel corner.
Lockdown
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) June 7, 2021@suppastar_ | #MixtapeMonday
"We've brought in a couple transfers that we think can help us there. I'm going into it saying, 'hey that we're in pretty good shape there'. Nasir is back, who is an All-ACC player when he's healthy. We have Traveon Redd, who had a really good year last year as a sixth-year senior.
"We have Nick Andersen, who was an All-ACC player as a true freshman. You have AJ Williams, Chelen Garnes, who did great things as well as Malik Mustapha, Zion Keith and JJ Roberts. We're not going to live and die with one player, you always want your best players in there like Nasir. When he's healthy, he is one of our best players. To start the year, we have depth there and we have some flexibility. We'll be able to do some different things and I'm really hoping that'll make us better on special teams."
The Demon Deacons also welcome a group of new additions to the backend of the defense. The three new players in Malik Mustapha, KJ Trujillo and Isaiah Wingfield bring a wealth of starting experience from their previous stops and will add to the competition this fall camp.
"Malik Mustapha had a great first year at Richmond," said Coach Clawson. "The head coach at Richmond, Russ Huesman, has been a good friend of mine and just raved about him. KJ Trujillo started as a true freshman at Colorado. They had a scheme shift and he fits a little better with what we do. Isaiah Wingfield, as a Harvard graduate, was an All-Ivy League player that Ryan Crawford coached there."
Mustapha appeared in four games and tallied 17 tackles (13 solo) in 2021. Trujillo appeared in 12 games across two seasons for Colorado, making seven starts. The Buena Park, Calif. native tallied 24 total tackles, six pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, one sack and one interception during his time with the Buffaloes. Wingfield earned his conference accolades after a junior season filled with 40 tackles, five pass breakups, 1.5 sacks and an interception.
Masterson Makes a Move & Trio Looks to Bolster Linebacker Depth
After spending time at safety during his first two seasons and adding some weight this offseason, Luke Masterson will move to his most natural position and join Ryan Smenda Jr. at linebacker. Clawson held the duo in high regard.
The Swiss Army Knife of the @WakeFB defense, Luke Masterson brings versatility to the Deacs as he looks to have a standout senior season.
— Wake Forest Sports (@DemonDeacons) March 7, 2020
: https://t.co/Oo0tldqceS#GoDeacs pic.twitter.com/GQYiS9wjpr
"You got Smenda and Masterson. I'll take that one, two any day," said Coach Clawson. "That's certainly, to me, the best we've been at that position since Marquel Lee and Brandon Chubb."
The man in the middle of it all
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) June 21, 2021️#MixtapeMonday | @ryansmenda
In addition to the pair, Clawson also dove into the development of Chase Jones, Jaylen Hudson and Quincy Bryant, who all will look to make an impact at the linebacker position as well as on special teams.
There are players that are developing that didn't play a year ago. Chase Jones is really starting to come on. He's an ascending player for us who gets better with every rep. I'm really excited about Jaylen Hudson. He's doing some very exciting things. Quincy Bryant, we moved from safety to linebacker after he got big. There are other guys that are coming and it's important they grow and become playable."
