Wake Forest Athletics
Serigne One of the Key Building Blocks to Program’s Success
6/30/2023 12:32:00 PM | Football
“After I walked around the campus, it was clear that Wake Forest was the place for me.” - Cam Serigne
After an impressive performance in fall practices during his redshirt season in 2013, Wake Forest tight end Cam Serigne was excited about the opportunities promised to him for the following season. The offense was evolving and his position was going to be given a chance to produce — and he was the guy they entrusted moving forward.
Then there was a coaching change, as Dave Clawson was hired to take over the program in mid-December.
"I had just had a great fall season," Serigne said. "I was told the ball was going to the tight end more often. There was all this exciting stuff and then all the sudden they're gone and you're starting from square one.
"When coach Clawson came in, he made it clear the culture had to be completely rebuilt, and rightly so. There were many folks who left after that first spring."
Spring training camp, starting with the Awakening — a series of team-based conditioning contests stretching over several days — took on a heightened sense of importance, with players looking to make a good impression with the new staff and Clawson working to install a new culture in the program.
"Those were the gladiator days," Serigne said. "We had to earn our right to be respected all over again. That spring of 2014 was earning your way. Everyone was evaluated from square one. We were all equal. They wanted us to get after it.
"The workouts were intense and the Awakening was a battleground where everyone was working to prove themselves."
When Clawson met with the team he told them right away that they were going to build Wake Forest into a winning program and they would be competing for championships — an admonition that earned eye rolls from some members of the team and excitement from others.
"It starts now and it's going to be hard for everyone until we get there," Clawson told the players, according to Serigne. "You don't know me, but we're going to get to know each other really well, but you need to trust me. If you follow this plan, we will become a winning program here."
It was a much-needed message for a program that had struggled in recent years.
"It was difficult and we lost some people along the way, but we ended up in a much-better spot," Serigne said. "It worked. A lot of the young guys, that was exactly what we wanted. We came in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and ready to go. We came here to win games. We didn't come here to lose all the time."
As it turned out. Serigne worked his way quickly into the rotation under the new staff, earning a first-string spot at tight end as a redshirt freshman in 2014. Developing an uncanny connection with quarterback John Wolford, he ended up graduating as the all-time greatest receiving tight end in ACC history, finishing his career with 174 receptions for 2,074 yards and 21 touchdowns.
He almost didn't even come to Wake Forest as an undersized tight end prospect from Briar Woods (Ashburn, VA) High School.
"I had some mid-major offers and was just waiting for the Division-1 offer that I wanted," Serigne said. "My dad convinced me to go to a Wake Forest camp. I didn't want to go. I ended up getting offered halfway through the camp after proving myself in one-on-ones.
"After I walked around the campus, it was clear that Wake Forest was the place for me. I never looked back. I felt like it was a place that represented everything I was about. It was the right place for me. Great academics and great football, with incredible people. I thought it was perfect."
After a couple years in the Carolina Panthers organization, Serigne put his Wake Forest degree to work with a private equity firm and was inspired to start his own business.
"After I stopped playing football, I got a job in private equity," he explained. "I got to work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and it was really inspiring. About three years ago, I left and started my own company."
He started vQuip out of his basement and has built it to an expanding business with 34 people, including a trio of former Demon Deacons — fellow tight ends Devin Pike and Jack Freudenthal along with Kendall Fischlein from men's soccer.
"We started off with three of us in the basement," Serigne said. "We have an office near Bank of America in Charlotte. We've just been growing the business. It's a lot of fun and reminds me a lot of football. We have a pretty cool Wake Forest undertone to the entire company. It's rewarding and challenging, just like football."
His father and brother also work with the company, and Serigne lives in Charlotte along with his wife Maddie (formerly Maddie Brock), who played soccer at Wake Forest as well. vQuip's mission is to make specialty insurance markets safer, easier and more accessible.
"We work in unique vacation markets — boats, jet skis, power sports equipment, just anything you can do as a vacation activity," Serigne said. "Those fun types of experiences are often risky. There started to be a ton of claims and carries were pulling out of those markets. We built a software platform to make those industries safer and fun, while opening up new insurance opportunities for those businesses."
Who would have thought this type of business would be a breeding group for Wake Forest tight ends?
"We know how to work hard, be gritty in the trenches and be uncomfortable," Serigne said. "We're a gritty group, which is a good background to work in our business."
Then there was a coaching change, as Dave Clawson was hired to take over the program in mid-December.
"I had just had a great fall season," Serigne said. "I was told the ball was going to the tight end more often. There was all this exciting stuff and then all the sudden they're gone and you're starting from square one.
"When coach Clawson came in, he made it clear the culture had to be completely rebuilt, and rightly so. There were many folks who left after that first spring."
Spring training camp, starting with the Awakening — a series of team-based conditioning contests stretching over several days — took on a heightened sense of importance, with players looking to make a good impression with the new staff and Clawson working to install a new culture in the program.
"Those were the gladiator days," Serigne said. "We had to earn our right to be respected all over again. That spring of 2014 was earning your way. Everyone was evaluated from square one. We were all equal. They wanted us to get after it.
"The workouts were intense and the Awakening was a battleground where everyone was working to prove themselves."
When Clawson met with the team he told them right away that they were going to build Wake Forest into a winning program and they would be competing for championships — an admonition that earned eye rolls from some members of the team and excitement from others.
"It starts now and it's going to be hard for everyone until we get there," Clawson told the players, according to Serigne. "You don't know me, but we're going to get to know each other really well, but you need to trust me. If you follow this plan, we will become a winning program here."
It was a much-needed message for a program that had struggled in recent years.
"It was difficult and we lost some people along the way, but we ended up in a much-better spot," Serigne said. "It worked. A lot of the young guys, that was exactly what we wanted. We came in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and ready to go. We came here to win games. We didn't come here to lose all the time."
As it turned out. Serigne worked his way quickly into the rotation under the new staff, earning a first-string spot at tight end as a redshirt freshman in 2014. Developing an uncanny connection with quarterback John Wolford, he ended up graduating as the all-time greatest receiving tight end in ACC history, finishing his career with 174 receptions for 2,074 yards and 21 touchdowns.
He almost didn't even come to Wake Forest as an undersized tight end prospect from Briar Woods (Ashburn, VA) High School.
"I had some mid-major offers and was just waiting for the Division-1 offer that I wanted," Serigne said. "My dad convinced me to go to a Wake Forest camp. I didn't want to go. I ended up getting offered halfway through the camp after proving myself in one-on-ones.
"After I walked around the campus, it was clear that Wake Forest was the place for me. I never looked back. I felt like it was a place that represented everything I was about. It was the right place for me. Great academics and great football, with incredible people. I thought it was perfect."
After a couple years in the Carolina Panthers organization, Serigne put his Wake Forest degree to work with a private equity firm and was inspired to start his own business.
"After I stopped playing football, I got a job in private equity," he explained. "I got to work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and it was really inspiring. About three years ago, I left and started my own company."
He started vQuip out of his basement and has built it to an expanding business with 34 people, including a trio of former Demon Deacons — fellow tight ends Devin Pike and Jack Freudenthal along with Kendall Fischlein from men's soccer.
"We started off with three of us in the basement," Serigne said. "We have an office near Bank of America in Charlotte. We've just been growing the business. It's a lot of fun and reminds me a lot of football. We have a pretty cool Wake Forest undertone to the entire company. It's rewarding and challenging, just like football."
His father and brother also work with the company, and Serigne lives in Charlotte along with his wife Maddie (formerly Maddie Brock), who played soccer at Wake Forest as well. vQuip's mission is to make specialty insurance markets safer, easier and more accessible.
"We work in unique vacation markets — boats, jet skis, power sports equipment, just anything you can do as a vacation activity," Serigne said. "Those fun types of experiences are often risky. There started to be a ton of claims and carries were pulling out of those markets. We built a software platform to make those industries safer and fun, while opening up new insurance opportunities for those businesses."
Who would have thought this type of business would be a breeding group for Wake Forest tight ends?
"We know how to work hard, be gritty in the trenches and be uncomfortable," Serigne said. "We're a gritty group, which is a good background to work in our business."
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