Football
Lineburg, Wayne
Wayne Lineburg
- Title:
- Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends
- Email:
- linebuwe@wfu.edu
- Phone:
- 336-758-5799
Wayne Lineburg is set to enter his eighth season on the Deacons coaching staff as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in 2024.
Lineburg, who has coached in the Atlantic Coast Conference longer than anyone else on the Demon Deacons offensive staff, has overseen the development of a talent group of tight ends that have contributed mightily to Wake Forest’s record-breaking offense. The Deacons have set nearly 400 school records including marks for points scored, points per game, total offensive yards, first downs and passing yards over the past five seasons. Also, the Deacs were the only football program in the ACC to average at least 30 points per game each year during that aforementioned six-year span. That run ranks as the fourth longest in ACC history.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Wake Forest’s 199 touchdown passes are the most of any school in the ACC and that total ranks 12th nationally during that span. Additionally during that span, the Deacs 362 total touchdowns are the third-most in the ACC behind Clemson and North Carolina while ranking 20th nationally.
Specifically in 2021, Wake Forest scored a program-best 574 points and averaged a school-record 41.0 ppg. That point total ranks 43rd in modern FBS history and the fourth-most in ACC history. Additionally, Wake Forest became just the 20th ACC team in the college football modern era (Post-WWII) to cross over the milestone of 500 points scored in a single season. Individually, the Deacons topped 35 points in a game 12 times during the 2021 campaign. In the College Football Playoff Era, Wake Forest is one of seven teams (2014 Oregon, 2018 Alabama, 2018 Oklahoma, 2019 Alabama, 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama) to accomplish that feat.
In 2022, Demon Deacons tight ends combined for 33 receptions, 369 receiving yards and five touchdown catches. QB Sam Hartman ended his Demon Deacons career as the ACC leader in career passing touchdowns (110) in part because of the positive role that Lineburg’s tight ends play in Wake Forest’s offense.
Back in 2021, Lineburg coached tight ends Brandon Chapman and Blake Whiteheart to a combined 27 catches for 270 yards and six touchdowns. Chapman was a two-time captain and Whiteheart was a captain in 2022. Three years ago in 2019, Lineburg led Jack Fruendenthal to an All-ACC season as he caught 34 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns in his final year in Winston-Salem.
From 2018-21, Lineburg tutored placekicker Nick Sciba to a record-setting career. The Clover, S.C. native set an NCAA record with a 89.9 career field goal percentage (80-of-89) mark. That tally came with a minimum 1.2 FGM per game and 30 made in a career.
Additionally, Sciba’s 80 made field goals were tied for 10th in NCAA history and his 431 career points ranked 16th among kickers all time in NCAA history and that total ranked 22nd overall among all players. Those two marks ranked second (80 field goals made) and third (431 points scored) in Atlantic Coast Conference history, respectively. Additionally, they are Wake Forest records.
During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Sciba set the NCAA record by converting 32 consecutive field goals. He garnered first team All-ACC honors in 2019 and 2021 and third team accolades in 2020.
In 2022, redshirt freshman Matthew Dennis led the Demon Deacons in scoring with 92 points as he went 12-for-14 on field goal attempts and 56-for-57 on extra points.
Lineburg's scheme and guidance has led Wake Forest to kick return touchdowns in two of the last three seasons. Donavon Greene’s 96 yard return to the end zone against Campbell on Oct. 2, 2020 was Wake Forest's first kick return touchdown in 13 years.
A 1996 graduate of Virginia, Lineburg was a four-year quarterback for the Cavaliers and played on three bowl teams.
He started his coaching career in 1996 as an assistant coach at William & Mary before returning to Virginia in 1998 as a graduate assistant coach. He rejoined William & Mary as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator in 2000 before joining Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson’s staff at Richmond in 2004.
Lineburg was named the wide receiver coach at Virginia in 2007 and moved to running backs coach in 2009. He returned to Richmond in 2010 for a four-year stint in several positions including offensive coordinator, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator while also coaching, at different times, quarterbacks and running backs. In 2011, Lineburg served as the interim head coach at Richmond.
In 2014, he was hired at Connecticut where he served as special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach in his first season before taking over the quarterbacks the last two seasons.
Lineburg’s father, Norman, was the long-time coach at Radford (Va.) High School and is a member of the Virginia High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Wayne was an all-district quarterback while playing high school football for his father.
Lineburg’s brother, Robert, is the athletic director at Radford University, his brother Mark is the superintendent of schools in Halifax County, Va. and his brother Paul is the principal at Northside Middle School in Roanoke, Va. Wayne’s cousin, Mike Young, is the head basketball coach at Virginia Tech.
Lineburg and his wife Tracey have two daughters, Addyson and Alexis.
Wake Forest (2014-Present)
Postseason History
NFL Players (Round Drafted)
Lineburg, who has coached in the Atlantic Coast Conference longer than anyone else on the Demon Deacons offensive staff, has overseen the development of a talent group of tight ends that have contributed mightily to Wake Forest’s record-breaking offense. The Deacons have set nearly 400 school records including marks for points scored, points per game, total offensive yards, first downs and passing yards over the past five seasons. Also, the Deacs were the only football program in the ACC to average at least 30 points per game each year during that aforementioned six-year span. That run ranks as the fourth longest in ACC history.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Wake Forest’s 199 touchdown passes are the most of any school in the ACC and that total ranks 12th nationally during that span. Additionally during that span, the Deacs 362 total touchdowns are the third-most in the ACC behind Clemson and North Carolina while ranking 20th nationally.
Specifically in 2021, Wake Forest scored a program-best 574 points and averaged a school-record 41.0 ppg. That point total ranks 43rd in modern FBS history and the fourth-most in ACC history. Additionally, Wake Forest became just the 20th ACC team in the college football modern era (Post-WWII) to cross over the milestone of 500 points scored in a single season. Individually, the Deacons topped 35 points in a game 12 times during the 2021 campaign. In the College Football Playoff Era, Wake Forest is one of seven teams (2014 Oregon, 2018 Alabama, 2018 Oklahoma, 2019 Alabama, 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama) to accomplish that feat.
In 2022, Demon Deacons tight ends combined for 33 receptions, 369 receiving yards and five touchdown catches. QB Sam Hartman ended his Demon Deacons career as the ACC leader in career passing touchdowns (110) in part because of the positive role that Lineburg’s tight ends play in Wake Forest’s offense.
Back in 2021, Lineburg coached tight ends Brandon Chapman and Blake Whiteheart to a combined 27 catches for 270 yards and six touchdowns. Chapman was a two-time captain and Whiteheart was a captain in 2022. Three years ago in 2019, Lineburg led Jack Fruendenthal to an All-ACC season as he caught 34 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns in his final year in Winston-Salem.
From 2018-21, Lineburg tutored placekicker Nick Sciba to a record-setting career. The Clover, S.C. native set an NCAA record with a 89.9 career field goal percentage (80-of-89) mark. That tally came with a minimum 1.2 FGM per game and 30 made in a career.
Additionally, Sciba’s 80 made field goals were tied for 10th in NCAA history and his 431 career points ranked 16th among kickers all time in NCAA history and that total ranked 22nd overall among all players. Those two marks ranked second (80 field goals made) and third (431 points scored) in Atlantic Coast Conference history, respectively. Additionally, they are Wake Forest records.
During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Sciba set the NCAA record by converting 32 consecutive field goals. He garnered first team All-ACC honors in 2019 and 2021 and third team accolades in 2020.
In 2022, redshirt freshman Matthew Dennis led the Demon Deacons in scoring with 92 points as he went 12-for-14 on field goal attempts and 56-for-57 on extra points.
Lineburg's scheme and guidance has led Wake Forest to kick return touchdowns in two of the last three seasons. Donavon Greene’s 96 yard return to the end zone against Campbell on Oct. 2, 2020 was Wake Forest's first kick return touchdown in 13 years.
A 1996 graduate of Virginia, Lineburg was a four-year quarterback for the Cavaliers and played on three bowl teams.
He started his coaching career in 1996 as an assistant coach at William & Mary before returning to Virginia in 1998 as a graduate assistant coach. He rejoined William & Mary as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator in 2000 before joining Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson’s staff at Richmond in 2004.
Lineburg was named the wide receiver coach at Virginia in 2007 and moved to running backs coach in 2009. He returned to Richmond in 2010 for a four-year stint in several positions including offensive coordinator, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator while also coaching, at different times, quarterbacks and running backs. In 2011, Lineburg served as the interim head coach at Richmond.
In 2014, he was hired at Connecticut where he served as special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach in his first season before taking over the quarterbacks the last two seasons.
Lineburg’s father, Norman, was the long-time coach at Radford (Va.) High School and is a member of the Virginia High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Wayne was an all-district quarterback while playing high school football for his father.
Lineburg’s brother, Robert, is the athletic director at Radford University, his brother Mark is the superintendent of schools in Halifax County, Va. and his brother Paul is the principal at Northside Middle School in Roanoke, Va. Wayne’s cousin, Mike Young, is the head basketball coach at Virginia Tech.
Lineburg and his wife Tracey have two daughters, Addyson and Alexis.
Wake Forest (2014-Present)
- From 2018-21, Lineburg tutored placekicker Nick Sciba to a record-setting career. The Clover, S.C. native set an NCAA record with a 89.9 career field goal percentage (80-of-89) mark. That tally came with a minimum 1.2 FGM per game and 30 made in a career.
- Additionally, Sciba’s 80 made field goals were tied for 10th in NCAA history and his 431 career points ranked 16th among kickers all time in NCAA history and that total ranked 22nd overall among all players. Those two marks ranked second (80 field goals made) and third (431 points scored) in Atlantic Coast Conference history, respectively. Additionally, they were both Wake Forest records.
- During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Sciba set the NCAA record as he converted 32 consecutive field goals. He garnered first team All-ACC honors in 2019 and 2021 and third team accolades in 2020.
- As special teams coordinator, Lineburg's scheme and guidance has led Wake Forest to kick return touchdowns in two of the last three seasons. Donavon Greene’s 96 yard return to the end zone against Campbell on Oct. 2, 2020 was Wake Forest's first kick return touchdown in 13 years.
- Ja’Sir Taylor recorded a 99-yd kick return touchdown against Old Dominion in the 2021 season opener that tied the longest kickoff return in program history and was tied for the second-longest play overall in program history.
- Demond Claiborne’s 96-yard kickoff return in the second quarter against Virginia Tech in 2023 tied the second-longest player in the Dave Clawson era along with Greene’s return in 2020.
- Lineburg worked with punter Dom Maggio who was named the second team All-ACC punter in 2019, averaging 46.8 yards per punt, and set school records for the most 50-yard punts and the most games with a 40-yard punting average in a career.
- Maggio ended his career as the FBS career-active leader with 12,703 total punt yards.
- Lineburg and the Deacs offensive staff has engineered an offense that has rewritten the record books at Wake Forest over the past six seasons.
- During that span, the Deacs have set nearly 400 school records including marks for points scored, points per game, total offensive yards, first downs and passing yards. Also, the Deacs are the only football program in the ACC to average at least 30 points per game each year since 2017.
- Since the start of the 2017 season, Wake Forest’s 185 touchdown receptions are the most of any school in the ACC and that total ranks tied for seventh nationally during that span. Additionally during that span, the Deacs 333 total touchdowns are the second-most in the ACC behind Clemson and rank 12th nationally.
- Wake Forest football’s mantra for the 2022 season was “MINDSET” as the Demon Deacons looked to follow up its historic year in 2021.
- The Deacs won eight games in a season for just the 10th time in the 115-year history of the program.
- With the win over Missouri on Friday and a victory in Week 2 at Vanderbilt, Wake Forest defeated two programs from the Southeastern Conference this fall for the first time since 2008, and just the second time in program history the Deacs accomplished this feat in a single season.
- The 2022 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl marked Wake Forest’s seventh-straight bowl appearance, a new school record.
- Additionally, the Demon Deacons’ streak is the second-longest active streak in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the 12th longest in the nation.
- Wake Forest finished the 2022 season averaging 36.1 points per game, helping the Deacs post its sixth-consecutive season of averaging 30 or more points a game. This is the longest active streak and the fourth longest in ACC history.
- Wake Forest threw for a team-record 43 touchdowns as a team.
- Overall in 2022, Demon Deacons tight ends combined for 33 receptions, 369 receiving yards and five touchdown catches. QB Sam Hartman ended his Demon Deacons career as the ACC leader in career passing touchdowns (110) in part because of the positive role that Lineburg’s tight ends play in Wake Forest’s offense.
- From a specialist standpoint, redshirt freshman Matthew Dennis led the Demon Deacons in scoring with 92 points as he went 12-for-14 on field goal attempts and 56-for-57 on extra points. Punter Ivan Mora tallied 40 punts and averaged 40.8 per boot. He placed 15 inside the 20-yard line and he tallied five punts of more than 50 yards.
- Wake Forest’s mantra in 2021 was, “Good to Great,” as Coach Clawson, Ruggiero and the staff looked to take the next step as a program.
- The 2021 Wake Forest football team capped off its historic season on New Year's Eve, defeating Big Ten foe Rutgers in the 77th annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl 38-10 inside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
- Behind a record-breaking offense, Wake Forest (11-3, 7-1 ACC) became just the second team in program history to win double-digit games and tied the program record with 11 victories while also setting a program record with seven conference victories and finished the home season with a perfect 6-0 mark. Wake Forest went 5-3 on the season in road or neutral site games for the first time since the 2018 season.
- Additionally with a perfect 6-0 mark this season, the Deacs recorded their first undefeated home record for the first time since 1979 and just the third time since Wake Forest’s 1970 ACC Championship team. Meanwhile, six home wins ties the program record that was set in 2019.
- Wake Forest was one of 10 Power-5 schools in 2021 to win 11 games.
- The Demon Deacons were also the first school in the conference to become bowl eligible with a perfect mark of 6-0 in 2021. The Deacs 8-0 start to the season was the best in school history in addition to having the longest winning streak in school history.
- Wake Forest topped 35 points in a game 12 times during the season. In the College Football Playoff Era, the Demon Deacons are one of seven teams (2014 Oregon, 2018 Alabama, 2018 Oklahoma, 2019 Alabama, 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama) to accomplish that feat.
- The Demon Deacons scored a combined 574 points during the 2021 season. Wake Forest became the first team in program history to cross over the 500-point mark. That point total ranks 43rd in FBS history and the fourth-most in ACC history. Additionally, Wake Forest became just the 20th ACC team in the college football modern era (Post-WWII) to cross over the milestone of 500 points scored in a single season.
- Wake Forest’s program record 574 points ranks seventh in ACC history for points scored in a single season.
- Wake Forest set a program record by averaging 41.0 points per game and Wake Forest is now the only school in the Atlantic Coast Conference to average at least 30 points per game over the past five seasons.
- The Demon Deacons set a program record for total yards with 6,550 yards of offense this fall. The average of 467.9 yards per game was also a new program record.
- Wake Forest reset its program mark for first downs with 354 in 2021.
- The Deacons air attack set a new program record by 555 yards, as Wake Forest passed for 4,303 yards during the season. Wake Forest set a new mark with an average of 307.4 ypg. through the air, which is the first such season in program lore with an average over 300 ypg.
- Individually in 2021, Lineburg coached tight ends Brandon Chapman and Blake Whitehart to a combined 27 catches for 270 yards and six touchdowns.
- Chapman was a two-time captain.
- The 2021 Wake Forest football team capped off its historic season on New Year's Eve, defeating Big Ten foe Rutgers in the 77th annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl 38-10 inside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
- In 2019, Lineburg led Jack Fruendenthal to an All-ACC season as he caught 34 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns in his final year in Winston-Salem.
- In 2018, Lineburg’s special teams units were highly successful.
- Kick returner Greg Dortch earned first team All-ACC honors as the return specialist and returned a pair of punts for touchdowns. As a team, the Deacons scored on three punt returns during the season including a blocked punt return for a score.
- Lineburg successfully integrated then-freshman Nick Sciba into the kicking game as the rookie was successful on all 50 PAT attempts and connected on 19 of 22 field goal attempts.
- Maggio averaged better than 40 yards per punt in 10 contests.
- Graduate transfer Darren Ford kicked off in his lone season as a Deacon and had more than 50 percent of his kickoffs go for touchbacks.
- In his first year, Lineburg oversaw the development of tight end Cam Serigne who earned first team All-ACC honors and set the conference record for receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches by a tight end in a career. In addition, placekicker Mike Weaver set the school season scoring record with 115 points and became the first Demon Deacon to lead the ACC in kick scoring.
- Spent three seasons at Connecticut where he served as special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2014, before taking over the quarterbacks in 2015-16.
- Lineburg worked with UConn quarterback Bryant Shirreffs in 2016 as he was seventh in school single-season history with 2,581 all-purpose yards and third in quarterback rushing yardage with 503.
- During his four-year stint he served in several roles, including offensive coordinator, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator while also coaching, at different times, quarterbacks and running backs.
- In 2011, Lineburg served as the interim head coach at Richmond.
- As the associate head coach at Richmond in 2013, Lineburg’s offense helped lead the Spiders to wins over two ranked teams while producing the 24th-ranked offense in the FCS. In 2012, the Spiders ranked 20th in the nation in passing offense and 21st in scoring offense while posting an 8-3 record and earning a share of the colonial Athletic Association title.
- Lineburg worked with the Cavaliers wide receivers in 2007-08, and running backs coach in 2009.
- Lineburg and Clawson coached together at Richmond during this stretch, as Lineburg served as the Spiders’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach. During their time together in Richmond, the Spiders set school records in total offense and touchdowns.
- In 2005, Richmond gained a school-record 4,957 yards of total offense and scored 44 touchdowns. The offensive unit averaged 381.3 yards per game and ranked 41st in the country that year. Lineburg's offense averaged more than 330 yards per game every year and had an 800-yard rusher each of those three seasons.
- Served as the Tribe’s running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.
- A 1996 graduate of UVA, Lineburg played quarterback on three bowl teams and was a member of the 1995 ACC championship team.
- Lineburg’s father, Norman, was the long-time coach at Radford (Va.) High School and is a member of the Virginia High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Wayne was an all-district quarterback while playing high school football for his father.
- Lineburg’s brother Robert is the athletic director at Radford University, his brother Mark is the superintendent of schools in Halifax County, Va. and his brother Paul is the principal at Northside Middle School in Roanoke, Va. Wayne’s cousin, Mike Young, is the head basketball coach at Virginia Tech.
- Lineburg and his wife Tracey have two daughters, Addyson and Alexis.
| Seasons | School/Team | Title/Position Coached |
| 2017-Present | Wake Forest | Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends |
| 2015-16 | UConn | Quarterbacks |
| 2014 | UConn | Special Teams Coordinator/Wide Receivers |
| 2010-13 | Richmond | Roles Served During Tenure: Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Quarterbacks Running Backs Interim HC (2011) |
| 2009 | UVA | Running Backs |
| 2007-08 | UVA | Wide Receivers |
| 2004-06 | Richmond | Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs |
| 2000-03 | William & Mary | Running Backs/Recruiting Coordinator |
| 1998-99 | UVA | Graduate Assistant |
| 1996-97 | William & Mary | Assistant Coach |
Postseason History
| Season | Bowl Game | Opponent | Result |
| 2022 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Wake Forest) | Missouri | W, 27-17 |
| 2021 | TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Wake Forest) | Rutgers | W, 38-10 |
| 2020 | Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Wake Forest) | Wisconsin | L, 42-28 |
| 2019 | Pinstripe Bowl (Wake Forest) | Michigan State | L, 27-21 |
| 2018 | Birmingham Bowl (Wake Forest) | Memphis | W, 31-34 |
| 2017 | Belk Bowl (Wake Forest) | Texas A&M | W, 51-52 |
| 2007 | Gator Bowl | Texas Tech | L, 31-28 |
| 2005 | Quarterfinals (Richmond) | Furman | L, 24-20 |
| 2005 | First Round (Richmond) | Hampton | W, 38-10 |
| 1999 | MicronPC Bowl (UVA) | Illinois | L, 63-21 |
| 1998 | Peach Bowl (UVA) | Georgia | L, 35-33 |
| 1996 | Quarterfinals (William & Mary) | Northern Iowa | L, 38-35 |
| 1996 | First Round (William & Mary) | Jackson State | W, 45-6 |
NFL Players (Round Drafted)
- TE Blake Whitheart (UDFA) - Wake Forest '23 - Arizona Cardinals
- K Nick Sciba (UDFA) - Wake Forest '22 - Pittsburgh Steelers
- P Dom Maggio (UDFA) - Wake Forest '20 - Baltimore Ravens
- WR Geremy Davis (6th) - UConn ‘15 - New York Giants
- RB Tim Hightower (5th) - Richmond ‘08 - Arizona Cardinals
- Education: 1996 – Bachelor’s from UVA; 1999 -- Master’s from UVA
- Wife: Tracey
- Children: Addyson, Alexis
Wake Forest Football 2025 Week Two Trailer
Friday, September 05
Football Media Availability (9/3/25)
Wednesday, September 03
Football Media Availability (9/2/25)
Tuesday, September 02
Coach Jake Dickert Weekly Press Conference (Sept. 1, 2025)
Monday, September 01
