Wake Forest Athletics
Hazen Loving the New Energy of Wake Forest Football
6/17/2025 7:56:00 AM | Football
“The strength staff, the new coaching staff—they were all about energy, all about bringing energy, making the most of the day.” - Dylan Hazen
While the Wake Forest offense traditionally moved the ball and put up a ton of points, the Demon Deacon defense was lacking, leading to multiple changes at defensive coordinator.
Wake Forest linebacker Dylan Hazen, a fifth-year redshirt senior, is experiencing his third defensive coordinator following Dickert's hire of Scottie Hazelton.
"They're similar but have minor tweaks," Hazen said about the differences in systems during his tenure. "There are only so many defensive schemes you can run. It's cool to see the overlap between the defenses and understand that similar concepts are just called differently. It's just different terminology—you have to learn the vocabulary, essentially relearning the language. Obviously, there will be minor tweaks here and there that you have to learn. But running plays are pretty simple. The offense can only run so many plays.
"Unless we're doing something crazy, it's not a foreign language. It was really cool to see the overlap between learning new defenses. I've liked all three; each has its pros and cons. Right now, we're still in a learning phase, making mistakes, but we're learning a lot in the process. I'm excited about how we progressed through spring ball."
After finishing third on the team with 84 tackles, Hazen leads a linebacker room that returns a trio of talented and productive linebackers, including fellow redshirt senior Quincy Bryant and junior Aiden Hall.
"It's great having familiar players in the room," Hazen said. "Those connections are already established, so we don't have to rebuild them. Frank (Cusano), from Washington State, has been an amazing addition, but having those familiar players to lean on is invaluable. When we have questions, we're comfortable asking them. We know that if someone doesn't know the answer, someone else likely does.
"We can easily consult our teammates. Especially with a whole new staff, defense, scheme, and procedures, those established connections make the transition much smoother."
Change came fast for the Demon Deacons, who had to figure out a new staff, a bevy of transfers and true freshmen on the roster and new terminology on both sides off the ball — all while navigating the Spring Semester academically.
"I'm a big note-taker," Hazen said with a smile. "Sometimes I'll write notes in class without fully paying attention, then rewrite them before a test. I do the same with football. I'm currently organizing my notes; they're messy initially, but I reorganize them to improve clarity. That, along with walkthroughs and practice—where we make mistakes and learn from them—is how I learn the new scheme.
"The defense is simpler in its pre-snap procedures; we don't have much to do. We set the front, understand blitzes, and then focus on reading the offense. Post-snap, it's about eye discipline and knowing where to be to support my teammates."
While Dickert inherited a strong team culture, he definitely put his stamp on the program immediately with the focus on energy and team-building. That effort wasn't lost on Hazen.
"I like it a lot," he said. "We have many new players, perspectives, and personalities, but we already have a strong established culture, thanks to the previous administration and coaching staff. We're all very accepting of new players. The new strength staff, Coach Dickert and his team, are focused on culture and leadership. This, combined with welcoming new players and embracing challenges, fosters new connections and friendships.
"I believe we'll be a very close team by the start of fall camp. Coach Dickert emphasizes integration between offense and defense, leading to constant interaction and competition, which I'm excited about."
Hazelton along with his position coaches have taught an attacking style of defense, wanting the Deacs to play instinctually to force turnovers and make stops.
"They want us to play football," Hazen said. "They don't want us to hang back, although we will hang back depending on the defense. We don't have the entire defense or all our blitzes in yet; we only have our base defenses. But they want us to play football. If you see a gap, shoot it. If you're a front-side linebacker, overlap a bit. They want us downhill and aggressive, challenging routes.
Spring Camp featured more celebrating from both sides of the ball, several post-practice off-the-wall competitions and infectious energy throughout the two-hour workouts. Aside from one mid-camp practice, Dickert was pleased with the energy the Deacs displayed during Spring Camp.
"It's exciting because that's a big thing about Coach Dickert — he's big on energy," Hazen said. "And when everyone came in—the strength staff, the new coaching staff—they were all about energy, all about bringing energy, making the most of the day. The way that they structure practice, the way that they're constructing this and showing us the way is helping us because when we do the big—well, it's a little bit in the middle of the feeling logo—that's all about energy. He wants the most amount of energy. He wants us to start fast.
"Now, am I huffing and puffing during warmups? Yes, maybe. But I mean it's good because you get the blood flowing, you get everything going, you get the energy rolling. And I just kind of cruise through practice and kind of keep that energy level going. And that's also an emphasis from the strength staff that's been instilled in us throughout the winter as well. They've got energy. I love that the strength staff has energy, and that's carrying over to spring ball as well."
Wake Forest linebacker Dylan Hazen, a fifth-year redshirt senior, is experiencing his third defensive coordinator following Dickert's hire of Scottie Hazelton.
"They're similar but have minor tweaks," Hazen said about the differences in systems during his tenure. "There are only so many defensive schemes you can run. It's cool to see the overlap between the defenses and understand that similar concepts are just called differently. It's just different terminology—you have to learn the vocabulary, essentially relearning the language. Obviously, there will be minor tweaks here and there that you have to learn. But running plays are pretty simple. The offense can only run so many plays.
"Unless we're doing something crazy, it's not a foreign language. It was really cool to see the overlap between learning new defenses. I've liked all three; each has its pros and cons. Right now, we're still in a learning phase, making mistakes, but we're learning a lot in the process. I'm excited about how we progressed through spring ball."
After finishing third on the team with 84 tackles, Hazen leads a linebacker room that returns a trio of talented and productive linebackers, including fellow redshirt senior Quincy Bryant and junior Aiden Hall.
"It's great having familiar players in the room," Hazen said. "Those connections are already established, so we don't have to rebuild them. Frank (Cusano), from Washington State, has been an amazing addition, but having those familiar players to lean on is invaluable. When we have questions, we're comfortable asking them. We know that if someone doesn't know the answer, someone else likely does.
"We can easily consult our teammates. Especially with a whole new staff, defense, scheme, and procedures, those established connections make the transition much smoother."
Change came fast for the Demon Deacons, who had to figure out a new staff, a bevy of transfers and true freshmen on the roster and new terminology on both sides off the ball — all while navigating the Spring Semester academically.
"I'm a big note-taker," Hazen said with a smile. "Sometimes I'll write notes in class without fully paying attention, then rewrite them before a test. I do the same with football. I'm currently organizing my notes; they're messy initially, but I reorganize them to improve clarity. That, along with walkthroughs and practice—where we make mistakes and learn from them—is how I learn the new scheme.
"The defense is simpler in its pre-snap procedures; we don't have much to do. We set the front, understand blitzes, and then focus on reading the offense. Post-snap, it's about eye discipline and knowing where to be to support my teammates."
While Dickert inherited a strong team culture, he definitely put his stamp on the program immediately with the focus on energy and team-building. That effort wasn't lost on Hazen.
"I like it a lot," he said. "We have many new players, perspectives, and personalities, but we already have a strong established culture, thanks to the previous administration and coaching staff. We're all very accepting of new players. The new strength staff, Coach Dickert and his team, are focused on culture and leadership. This, combined with welcoming new players and embracing challenges, fosters new connections and friendships.
"I believe we'll be a very close team by the start of fall camp. Coach Dickert emphasizes integration between offense and defense, leading to constant interaction and competition, which I'm excited about."
Hazelton along with his position coaches have taught an attacking style of defense, wanting the Deacs to play instinctually to force turnovers and make stops.
"They want us to play football," Hazen said. "They don't want us to hang back, although we will hang back depending on the defense. We don't have the entire defense or all our blitzes in yet; we only have our base defenses. But they want us to play football. If you see a gap, shoot it. If you're a front-side linebacker, overlap a bit. They want us downhill and aggressive, challenging routes.
Spring Camp featured more celebrating from both sides of the ball, several post-practice off-the-wall competitions and infectious energy throughout the two-hour workouts. Aside from one mid-camp practice, Dickert was pleased with the energy the Deacs displayed during Spring Camp.
"It's exciting because that's a big thing about Coach Dickert — he's big on energy," Hazen said. "And when everyone came in—the strength staff, the new coaching staff—they were all about energy, all about bringing energy, making the most of the day. The way that they structure practice, the way that they're constructing this and showing us the way is helping us because when we do the big—well, it's a little bit in the middle of the feeling logo—that's all about energy. He wants the most amount of energy. He wants us to start fast.
"Now, am I huffing and puffing during warmups? Yes, maybe. But I mean it's good because you get the blood flowing, you get everything going, you get the energy rolling. And I just kind of cruise through practice and kind of keep that energy level going. And that's also an emphasis from the strength staff that's been instilled in us throughout the winter as well. They've got energy. I love that the strength staff has energy, and that's carrying over to spring ball as well."
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