Coach Dickert Announces Football Scouting & Recruiting Staff
3/7/2025 12:15:00 PM | Football
Wake Forest Football has 10 dedicated staff members across two departments to assist in scouting and recruiting.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest Athletics and head coach Jake Dickert have announced 10 staff members dedicated to recruiting and scouting for the Demon Deacons football program.
"Building a championship-caliber football program starts with elite scouting and recruiting, and I'm thrilled to have such a talented and experienced group leading the way for Wake Forest," Coach Dickert said. "These men and women bring a wealth of knowledge, deep connections, and a relentless work ethic that will help us identify and develop the next generation of Demon Deacons."
This group is led by previously announced General Manager, Rob Schlaeger.
Russ Kiselhorst, Assistant General Manager
Russ Kieselhorst will enter his seventh year on the staff in 2025 and will serve as the Assistant General Manager on Coach Jake Dickert's staff. Previously on Coach Dave Clawson's staff, he was Wake Forest's Senior Director of Player Personnel (2023-24), Director of Player Personnel (2020-22) and Recruiting Assistant (2019).
Kieselhorst joined the Demon Deacons after five seasons at Marshall. He began in 2014 as a recruiting intern before being promoted to the Director of High School Relations in 2015. In 2017 Kieselhorst added the title of Director of Player Personnel.
At Marshall, he oversaw all aspects of the recruiting office and assisted the Herd recruit some of the top C-USA recruiting classes, win a conference championship and post four bowl victories over his five years.
The 2014 graduate of Wisconsin-Parkside earned a B.S. in sport management. He is a native of Manitowoc, Wisc.
Cory Martin, Executive Director of Scouting
Cory Martin enters his fourth season on the Wake Forest football staff in 2025 as he was named the Executive Director of Scouting on Coach Jake Dickert's staff. Previously, he served two seasons (2023-24) as the Director of Player Personnel / Offense and one campaign (2022) as a Recruiting/Personnel Assistant.
Prior to his arrival in Winston-Salem. Martin spent seven years (2015-21) at New Mexico State where he coached the Aggie wide receivers and served as the program's recruiting coordinator. Martin oversaw the development of some of New Mexico State's most accomplished pass catchers, including OJ Clark and Jaleel Scott, during his coaching tenure in Las Cruces.
Clark finished his Aggie career ranked third on the team's all-time receptions list with 201 and eighth on the all-time receiving yards leaderboard with 1,804. The Wichita Falls, Texas, native is one of just three NM State receivers to eclipse 200 career receptions (A.J. Harris - 269, Chris Williams - 246).
Scott, a junior-college product, quickly developed into the Aggies' top receiving threat under Martin's coaching. He posted 99 receptions for 1,362 yards (13.8 avg.) and 14 touchdowns during his two seasons in Las Cruces, earning All-Sun Belt First Team honors after ranking first in the conference in receiving touchdowns (9) and second in receiving yards (1,079) in 2017.
Scott, meanwhile, was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft, becoming the first Aggie chosen in the draft since the Jacksonville Jaguars took defensive back Jeremy Harris in the seventh round (208th overall) in 2013. The wideout was the highest Aggie selected in the draft since defensive back Davon House was picked up by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Martin was part of the coaching staff that guided the Aggies to history in 2017, as NM State snapped its 57-year bowl drought with a trip to the 2017 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl. The Aggies defeated Utah State, 26-20, in overtime to put the finishing touches on the historic campaign.
During the 2017 season, Martin coached the explosive NM State wide receivers unit to one of the best offensive outputs in program history. The Aggies' aerial attack saw 10 student-athletes make double-digit receptions and 10 student-athletes haul in a touchdown pass on the year.
In 2016, nine NM State wide receivers recorded double-digit catches for the season under Martin's tutelage. Clark caught a team-leading 34 passes while Scott and wideout Johnathan Boone shared the team lead in touchdown receptions with four.
Martin worked with the outside receivers during the 2015 campaign - his first season on the Aggie coaching staff. Seven student-athletes posted double-digit catches, led by wideout Teldrick Morgan's 44 receptions for 543 yards and four touchdowns. Eight Aggies caught touchdowns on the year, and wide receiver Jordan Bergstrom led the team in touchdown receptions with seven.
Martin arrived at NM State after working as the wide receivers coach at FCS powerhouse San Diego for two years.
In 2014, Martin, who also served as San Diego's recruiting coordinator, led wide receiver Brandon White to 57 receptions for 828 yards and nine touchdowns. White earned All-Pioneer Football League First Team recognition, and wideout Reggie Bell was named to the All-PFL Second Team.
During his first season with the Toreros in 2013, Martin guided Bell to 65 receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards and helped White to 47 catches and 12 touchdowns. Three of Martin's wide receivers earned All-PFL honors, including Bell (First Team), Sam Hoekstra (Second Team) and White (Honorable Mention).
Before his stint at San Diego, Martin was an offensive graduate assistant at Boston College in 2012, joining the staff as a video and special teams graduate assistant before he was named an offensive graduate assistant. Martin served as a volunteer assistant coach on the NM State staff in 2011, where he worked with the offensive and recruiting coordinators as well as with the team's wide receivers.
Martin, a 2011 graduate of Kent State, earned his bachelor's degree in sport administration. He is married to the former Carissa Grebner.
Kyle Kuykendall, Director of Scouting
Kyle Kuykendall joined Coach Jake Dickert's staff in Winston-Salem in January 2025 as the Director of Scouting. He previously worked with Dickert and the staff at Washington State for two years where he got his professional start. In 2024, Kuykendall served as the Cougars Lead Scout and NFL Liaison. With that, he joined the staff in Pullman, Wash. in 2023 as a Transfer Scout.
Kuykendall, who graduated from Texas A&M in May 2022 with a degree in sport management, served in the Aggies football recruiting department as a player personnel intern for the 2022 season.
Cole Nowak, Lead Scout - Defense
Cole Nowak returned to Wake Forest football in 2025 as lead scout - defense. He joined Coach Jake Dickert's staff following one year (2024) as a football recruiting coordinator at Nebraska. Prior to Nebraska, Nowak served as recruiting and player personnel assistant for Wake Forest during the 2023 season. He served as a recruiting assistant for Western Michigan during the 2022 season before serving on the Deacons' staff. Nowak earned his bachelor's degree from Temple in 2022.
Katie Bason, Director of Player Personnel
Katie Bason enters her third year on the football staff at Wake Forest University in 2025. Her role on Coach Jake Dickert's staff is as the Demon Deacons Director of Player Personnel. Previously, she spent the 2024 season as the director of recruiting operations and roster management and the 2023 campaign as the director of football recruiting operations.
Bason came to Winston-Salem after spending the 2022 season as an Assistant AD / Chief of Staff at FIU where she managed all day-to-day operational and logistical components for the Panthers football program. Her duties included, but were not limited to, being the liaison to the compliance office, maintaining teamworks and CARA calendars and serving as the point of contact for all current and future player families.
Before spending the 2022 season at FIU, Bason served as the director of player development and operations at Ole Miss in 2020 and 2021. Her myriad of duties during her time in Oxford included creating a program to help the student-athletes successfully transition from high school to college from an academic and social / emotional perspective. Additionally, she organized small and large group leadership opportunities through community service events and she assisted in all on-campus recruiting tasks. She was also in Oxford, Miss. for the 2019 season where she served as the Rebels Assistant Director for On-Campus Recruiting.
She went to Ole Miss after spending six seasons at the University of Colorado, Boulder as the Buffaloes' Director of Football Academics. In that role, Bason led the CU Summer Bridge Program, established individual academic plans for all student-athletes and served as the primary junior college academic evaluator.
Bason began her career in college athletics with a three-year stint (2010-12) as the football learning specialist at San Jose State University.
Prior to her career in intercollegiate athletics, Bason was a high school teacher at Myers Park in Charlotte (2005-07), East Mecklenburg (2007-08) and Paisley IB Magnet School in Winston-Salem (2008-10).
A 2005 Wake Forest graduate with a B.A. in secondary education, Bason earned her M.A. in education policy from the University of Colorado in 2016. While she was an undergraduate student at Wake Forest, Bason served as a student manager for the men's basketball program under legendary coach, Skip Prosser.
Ty Gatson, Director of Recruiting
Ty Gatson joined the Demon Deacons football staff as the Director of Recruiting ahead of the 2025 season. He came to Winston-Salem following a one-year stint (2024) at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff as its tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.
Gatson joined the Golden Lions after a two-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers. He held the role of scouting assistant with the San Francisco 49ers Front Office for the past two seasons, where he assisted the front office and coaching staff with player acquisitions, transactions, advanced game plan scouting, and evaluating potential college and free agent prospects.
Prior to his time in the Bay Area, Gatson spent the 2021 season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. During this time, he was tasked with coordinating official and unofficial visits of prospective student-athletes, overseeing the football recruiting department's social media and marketing plan, and organizing recruiting information for the Minnesota football staff.
Before working for Minnesota, Gatson served as the Offensive Line Graduate Assistant at the University of Texas at San Antonio for the 2020 season, coaching the offensive line and assisting with recruiting operations. He was also the Associate Director of Player Personnel for the 2019 season at the University of Arkansas, following his role as a graduate assistant coaching the offensive line in 2018. He began his career at Southern Methodist University, working as an Offensive Assistant with the tight ends.
Gatson's college football career began from 2013 to 2016 at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, where he started 18 games and was a guard for the 2016 MEAC Championship team, which earned the school's first Celebration Bowl appearance.
Joel Diaz-Romero, Assistant Director of Recruiting
Joel Diaz-Romero came to Winston-Salem to join Coach Jake Dickert's inaugural football staff in 2025 and he serves in the role as an Assistant Director of Recruiting. He previously worked with Dickert in Pullman, Wash. as he spent five years on the Cougars staff. Most recently in 2024, Diaz-Romero served as the Director of Recruiting.
With that, his first full-time role came ahead of the 2023 season when he was named an offensive high school scout.
Before the aforementioned 2023 season, Diaz-Romero was a student assistant for Cougar Football, assisting primarily on the offensive side of the ball. In addition to assisting with running backs, Diaz-Romero helped with scout team coordination, gameday signal and charting responsibilities, as well as film breakdown and opponent scouting reports.
Diaz-Romero earned his degree in sport management from Washington State in Spring 2023.
Ladaria Jackson, On-Campus Recruiting Coordinator
Ladaria Jackson will enter her fourth season on the Wake Forest football staff and will continue in her role as the Deacs on-campus recruiting coordinator. She has served in that role for the past two seasons (2023-24) and originally came to Wake Forest for the 2022 season as a recruiting intern.
Jackson came to Winston-Salem after serving in two different roles at UNC Charlotte. She was a media relations intern and a student recruiting assistant. Jackson earned her bachelor of arts in communication studies & public relations from UNC Charlotte in May 2022.
Rian McCarthy, Coordinator of Creative Content
Rian McCarthy joined the Demon Deacons staff in May 2024 as a coordinator of creative content and will continue to serve in that role on Coach Jake Dickert's staff.
A Durham College graduate in April 2024, Rian comes to Wake Forest with a degree in graphic design and has served as a remote intern for Wake Forest's recruiting staff for two years prior to being hired.
His previous experience includes graphic design work for the Kingston Frontenacs Hockey Club. Additionally, he has done freelance work for Queens University, Arkansas, Buffalo, Northwestern, Georgia State and the Maxx MGMT Sports Marketing Agency.
In his role at Wake Forest, he assists in creative design materials for the football program and content-related recruiting efforts.
"Building a championship-caliber football program starts with elite scouting and recruiting, and I'm thrilled to have such a talented and experienced group leading the way for Wake Forest," Coach Dickert said. "These men and women bring a wealth of knowledge, deep connections, and a relentless work ethic that will help us identify and develop the next generation of Demon Deacons."
This group is led by previously announced General Manager, Rob Schlaeger.
Russ Kiselhorst, Assistant General Manager
Russ Kieselhorst will enter his seventh year on the staff in 2025 and will serve as the Assistant General Manager on Coach Jake Dickert's staff. Previously on Coach Dave Clawson's staff, he was Wake Forest's Senior Director of Player Personnel (2023-24), Director of Player Personnel (2020-22) and Recruiting Assistant (2019).
Kieselhorst joined the Demon Deacons after five seasons at Marshall. He began in 2014 as a recruiting intern before being promoted to the Director of High School Relations in 2015. In 2017 Kieselhorst added the title of Director of Player Personnel.
At Marshall, he oversaw all aspects of the recruiting office and assisted the Herd recruit some of the top C-USA recruiting classes, win a conference championship and post four bowl victories over his five years.
The 2014 graduate of Wisconsin-Parkside earned a B.S. in sport management. He is a native of Manitowoc, Wisc.
Cory Martin, Executive Director of Scouting
Cory Martin enters his fourth season on the Wake Forest football staff in 2025 as he was named the Executive Director of Scouting on Coach Jake Dickert's staff. Previously, he served two seasons (2023-24) as the Director of Player Personnel / Offense and one campaign (2022) as a Recruiting/Personnel Assistant.
Prior to his arrival in Winston-Salem. Martin spent seven years (2015-21) at New Mexico State where he coached the Aggie wide receivers and served as the program's recruiting coordinator. Martin oversaw the development of some of New Mexico State's most accomplished pass catchers, including OJ Clark and Jaleel Scott, during his coaching tenure in Las Cruces.
Clark finished his Aggie career ranked third on the team's all-time receptions list with 201 and eighth on the all-time receiving yards leaderboard with 1,804. The Wichita Falls, Texas, native is one of just three NM State receivers to eclipse 200 career receptions (A.J. Harris - 269, Chris Williams - 246).
Scott, a junior-college product, quickly developed into the Aggies' top receiving threat under Martin's coaching. He posted 99 receptions for 1,362 yards (13.8 avg.) and 14 touchdowns during his two seasons in Las Cruces, earning All-Sun Belt First Team honors after ranking first in the conference in receiving touchdowns (9) and second in receiving yards (1,079) in 2017.
Scott, meanwhile, was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft, becoming the first Aggie chosen in the draft since the Jacksonville Jaguars took defensive back Jeremy Harris in the seventh round (208th overall) in 2013. The wideout was the highest Aggie selected in the draft since defensive back Davon House was picked up by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Martin was part of the coaching staff that guided the Aggies to history in 2017, as NM State snapped its 57-year bowl drought with a trip to the 2017 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl. The Aggies defeated Utah State, 26-20, in overtime to put the finishing touches on the historic campaign.
During the 2017 season, Martin coached the explosive NM State wide receivers unit to one of the best offensive outputs in program history. The Aggies' aerial attack saw 10 student-athletes make double-digit receptions and 10 student-athletes haul in a touchdown pass on the year.
In 2016, nine NM State wide receivers recorded double-digit catches for the season under Martin's tutelage. Clark caught a team-leading 34 passes while Scott and wideout Johnathan Boone shared the team lead in touchdown receptions with four.
Martin worked with the outside receivers during the 2015 campaign - his first season on the Aggie coaching staff. Seven student-athletes posted double-digit catches, led by wideout Teldrick Morgan's 44 receptions for 543 yards and four touchdowns. Eight Aggies caught touchdowns on the year, and wide receiver Jordan Bergstrom led the team in touchdown receptions with seven.
Martin arrived at NM State after working as the wide receivers coach at FCS powerhouse San Diego for two years.
In 2014, Martin, who also served as San Diego's recruiting coordinator, led wide receiver Brandon White to 57 receptions for 828 yards and nine touchdowns. White earned All-Pioneer Football League First Team recognition, and wideout Reggie Bell was named to the All-PFL Second Team.
During his first season with the Toreros in 2013, Martin guided Bell to 65 receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards and helped White to 47 catches and 12 touchdowns. Three of Martin's wide receivers earned All-PFL honors, including Bell (First Team), Sam Hoekstra (Second Team) and White (Honorable Mention).
Before his stint at San Diego, Martin was an offensive graduate assistant at Boston College in 2012, joining the staff as a video and special teams graduate assistant before he was named an offensive graduate assistant. Martin served as a volunteer assistant coach on the NM State staff in 2011, where he worked with the offensive and recruiting coordinators as well as with the team's wide receivers.
Martin, a 2011 graduate of Kent State, earned his bachelor's degree in sport administration. He is married to the former Carissa Grebner.
Kyle Kuykendall, Director of Scouting
Kyle Kuykendall joined Coach Jake Dickert's staff in Winston-Salem in January 2025 as the Director of Scouting. He previously worked with Dickert and the staff at Washington State for two years where he got his professional start. In 2024, Kuykendall served as the Cougars Lead Scout and NFL Liaison. With that, he joined the staff in Pullman, Wash. in 2023 as a Transfer Scout.
Kuykendall, who graduated from Texas A&M in May 2022 with a degree in sport management, served in the Aggies football recruiting department as a player personnel intern for the 2022 season.
Cole Nowak, Lead Scout - Defense
Cole Nowak returned to Wake Forest football in 2025 as lead scout - defense. He joined Coach Jake Dickert's staff following one year (2024) as a football recruiting coordinator at Nebraska. Prior to Nebraska, Nowak served as recruiting and player personnel assistant for Wake Forest during the 2023 season. He served as a recruiting assistant for Western Michigan during the 2022 season before serving on the Deacons' staff. Nowak earned his bachelor's degree from Temple in 2022.
Katie Bason, Director of Player Personnel
Katie Bason enters her third year on the football staff at Wake Forest University in 2025. Her role on Coach Jake Dickert's staff is as the Demon Deacons Director of Player Personnel. Previously, she spent the 2024 season as the director of recruiting operations and roster management and the 2023 campaign as the director of football recruiting operations.
Bason came to Winston-Salem after spending the 2022 season as an Assistant AD / Chief of Staff at FIU where she managed all day-to-day operational and logistical components for the Panthers football program. Her duties included, but were not limited to, being the liaison to the compliance office, maintaining teamworks and CARA calendars and serving as the point of contact for all current and future player families.
Before spending the 2022 season at FIU, Bason served as the director of player development and operations at Ole Miss in 2020 and 2021. Her myriad of duties during her time in Oxford included creating a program to help the student-athletes successfully transition from high school to college from an academic and social / emotional perspective. Additionally, she organized small and large group leadership opportunities through community service events and she assisted in all on-campus recruiting tasks. She was also in Oxford, Miss. for the 2019 season where she served as the Rebels Assistant Director for On-Campus Recruiting.
She went to Ole Miss after spending six seasons at the University of Colorado, Boulder as the Buffaloes' Director of Football Academics. In that role, Bason led the CU Summer Bridge Program, established individual academic plans for all student-athletes and served as the primary junior college academic evaluator.
Bason began her career in college athletics with a three-year stint (2010-12) as the football learning specialist at San Jose State University.
Prior to her career in intercollegiate athletics, Bason was a high school teacher at Myers Park in Charlotte (2005-07), East Mecklenburg (2007-08) and Paisley IB Magnet School in Winston-Salem (2008-10).
A 2005 Wake Forest graduate with a B.A. in secondary education, Bason earned her M.A. in education policy from the University of Colorado in 2016. While she was an undergraduate student at Wake Forest, Bason served as a student manager for the men's basketball program under legendary coach, Skip Prosser.
Ty Gatson, Director of Recruiting
Ty Gatson joined the Demon Deacons football staff as the Director of Recruiting ahead of the 2025 season. He came to Winston-Salem following a one-year stint (2024) at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff as its tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.
Gatson joined the Golden Lions after a two-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers. He held the role of scouting assistant with the San Francisco 49ers Front Office for the past two seasons, where he assisted the front office and coaching staff with player acquisitions, transactions, advanced game plan scouting, and evaluating potential college and free agent prospects.
Prior to his time in the Bay Area, Gatson spent the 2021 season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. During this time, he was tasked with coordinating official and unofficial visits of prospective student-athletes, overseeing the football recruiting department's social media and marketing plan, and organizing recruiting information for the Minnesota football staff.
Before working for Minnesota, Gatson served as the Offensive Line Graduate Assistant at the University of Texas at San Antonio for the 2020 season, coaching the offensive line and assisting with recruiting operations. He was also the Associate Director of Player Personnel for the 2019 season at the University of Arkansas, following his role as a graduate assistant coaching the offensive line in 2018. He began his career at Southern Methodist University, working as an Offensive Assistant with the tight ends.
Gatson's college football career began from 2013 to 2016 at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, where he started 18 games and was a guard for the 2016 MEAC Championship team, which earned the school's first Celebration Bowl appearance.
Joel Diaz-Romero, Assistant Director of Recruiting
Joel Diaz-Romero came to Winston-Salem to join Coach Jake Dickert's inaugural football staff in 2025 and he serves in the role as an Assistant Director of Recruiting. He previously worked with Dickert in Pullman, Wash. as he spent five years on the Cougars staff. Most recently in 2024, Diaz-Romero served as the Director of Recruiting.
With that, his first full-time role came ahead of the 2023 season when he was named an offensive high school scout.
Before the aforementioned 2023 season, Diaz-Romero was a student assistant for Cougar Football, assisting primarily on the offensive side of the ball. In addition to assisting with running backs, Diaz-Romero helped with scout team coordination, gameday signal and charting responsibilities, as well as film breakdown and opponent scouting reports.
Diaz-Romero earned his degree in sport management from Washington State in Spring 2023.
Ladaria Jackson, On-Campus Recruiting Coordinator
Ladaria Jackson will enter her fourth season on the Wake Forest football staff and will continue in her role as the Deacs on-campus recruiting coordinator. She has served in that role for the past two seasons (2023-24) and originally came to Wake Forest for the 2022 season as a recruiting intern.
Jackson came to Winston-Salem after serving in two different roles at UNC Charlotte. She was a media relations intern and a student recruiting assistant. Jackson earned her bachelor of arts in communication studies & public relations from UNC Charlotte in May 2022.
Rian McCarthy, Coordinator of Creative Content
Rian McCarthy joined the Demon Deacons staff in May 2024 as a coordinator of creative content and will continue to serve in that role on Coach Jake Dickert's staff.
A Durham College graduate in April 2024, Rian comes to Wake Forest with a degree in graphic design and has served as a remote intern for Wake Forest's recruiting staff for two years prior to being hired.
His previous experience includes graphic design work for the Kingston Frontenacs Hockey Club. Additionally, he has done freelance work for Queens University, Arkansas, Buffalo, Northwestern, Georgia State and the Maxx MGMT Sports Marketing Agency.
In his role at Wake Forest, he assists in creative design materials for the football program and content-related recruiting efforts.
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