Part of Jake Dickert’s task at Wake Forest this Spring is doing some blending. There needs to be a meshing of transfer portal players and the returning Wake talent. All 21 of the portal players announced their movement to Wake after Dickert was named head coach, so they are his. And he has to blend those players with the Wake players who chose to stay another year. Then there are the high school recruits, some of whom are his and some of whom are committed to Wake under previous head coach Dave Clawson. And Dickert is working the Wake Forest blender all while he is so new at the job, he is still trying to find his own way around town.
When we met with Dickert at the beginning of Spring camp last week, he talked about the work that goes into the blending. “I kind of look at it as a positive,” he said. “I like to say we’re all new.”
The Blender at Wake Forest
Players Mixing and Matching
Veteran Wake defensive lineman B.J. Williams said it is that newness that has the attention of the players. “We’re just excited to be out here with something different, something new. It’s all fresh to everybody, so everybody’s excited,” he said. “Everybody’s willing to learn something new.”
Williams said there has been a bonding with some of the transfers who followed Dickert from Washington State. “We were all like, it’s something new so we might as well embrace it and have some fun with it.” He said the WAZZU transfers were lending insights as to how Dickert runs his practices.
Wake has more transfers than in any season prior to 2025. Williams called seeing the infusion of new talent, “Pretty fun. You always want to see how other guys play.” He added, “The last couple of years, you kind of know the guys you are with. So, having to adapt to new players kind of makes you a better player.”
Hazen’s Perspective
Linebacker Dylan Hazen enters his fifth year at Wake Forest. He started every game last season, after starting in 11 games in 2023. With an entirely new coaching staff, including on the defensive side of the ball, the learning curve is high for guys like Hazen who, while undergoing previous staff changes at Wake, have still had a certain level of consistency. Now, it is a new world.
“I’m a big note-taker,” Hazen said. “So sometimes I go rewrite my notes,” he said as he explained how he learns new things. “It’s like for classes, I’ll write my notes in class,” he said. “And then when a test comes, that’s when I go back and rewrite everything.” He said he is in the midst of organizing all the notes he has for the new football schemes.
Hazen put into context what it is like to get transfers from other schools and put them into the Wake Forest world. “We’ve got a lot of new guys, a lot of new perspectives, a lot of new personalities,” he said. “But I feel like we already have an established culture.” He gave credit to Clawson’s 11-year tenure for establishing that. “We have a really good culture here and I feel like we’re accepting of other people coming in.” He opined that the blending works when everyone is accepting the new challenges ahead. “I feel like we’re going to be a really close team.”
Part of what has Hazen enjoying the new world at Wake is the defense from new coordinator Scottie Hazleton. Dickert had told us a few weeks ago that the Deacs’ defense was going to be more aggressive. Hazen said he is seeing that already. “If you see a gap, they want you to shoot it, to shoot the gap,” he explained. “They want us downhill. They want us to be aggressive. And they want us to be challenging routes.”
Veteran receiver Micah Mays, Jr., let us in on another Dickert secret when it comes to team bonding: bowling. There has been an ongoing bowling competition since Dickert got here. Mays said defensive back Zamari Stevenson is the best bowler among the bowlers, recalling that he bowled 150 once. He said Dickert is the best bowler overall in the football program and that he brings a level of competitiveness even to the off-field bonding times.
Main Image: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
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