Wake Forest Installing Puzzle Pieces

As the Wake Forest offense continues to move puzzle pieces around to find the right picture, they have two weeks left in Spring camp to move the installation process along. Even with new players blending in at receiver, offensive line, and, of course, quarterback, the process of putting the big picture together is moving along better than some might have expected.

Wake Forest Installing Puzzle Pieces

Quarterback coach Dan Enos said yesterday, “I would say with the install, we are way further ahead [than the same time last year]. That’s really not a knock on the two guys who were here last year [quarterbacks Deshawn Purdie and Robby Ashford].” Enos said last year’s process was impacted by the fact that everyone was still finding their way. “We were all new last year. So you had coaches who were learning. All the players were learning.”

Even with the presumed starting quarterback, Gio Lopez, being new to Wake Forest, he is not new to the offense. He played under Wake’s offensive coordinator Rob Ezell when the two were at South Alabama in 2024. “Even though he’s been in the offense, you’re constantly adding and subtracting and multiplying. So there’s been some things that he has not been very familiar with that we’re doing that’s been great,” Enos said.

He added that having Steele Pizzella back for a second year has helped the entire quarterback position with installing the offense. “You have two guys that are very comfortable within the system. They are past basic math. They’re past Algebra I. They’re into the Algebra II/Calculus range.”

Finding A Way

The Offensive Line Pieces

Part of putting the puzzle pieces together is on the offensive line. The build around returning veterans like George Steih, means melding in some talent from the transfer portal. Head coach Jake Dickert brought in five offensive linemen from the portal and signed one freshman lineman from the recruiting class.

Will Way is going to be a redshirt junior in the upcoming season after transferring from Weber State. He played in 11 games last season for the Wildcats, his third season at Weber State.

Adjusting to a New Line

The Wildcats beat McNeese State, Butler, Portland State, and Northern Arizona. They got beaten badly in their marquee FBS-level games against James Madison and Arizona early in the season.

Way said some of the adjustment in coming to Wake in getting up to the speed of having bigger games each week. “My biggest thing that I wanted to work on was speed. Obviously, it’s a different level moving up from FCS to Power Four,” he said on Tuesday.

He said that adjustment determined his off-season workouts. “I just had a bigger intent. I knew I would be on a bigger stage, and I knew I would have a bigger role.” He said there was also the adjustment to the mental approach. “Big fish, little pond type of deal [at Weber State] and then moving here,” he said.

Way said offensive line coach Jared Kaster has been interchanging a lot of players on the line for depth purposes. Way said it is easier to get used to the same players on both sides of you every snap. But there is more work that goes into developing an entire unit. “It’s nice to get repetitions with everybody, so that I am not just used to one person.”

Adjusting to a New World

There was also the day-to-day change. The things you get at a Wake Forest-level school are far different from those at Weber State. “We have all this stuff that I was introduced to that I didn’t have access to before,” he said. “So, at first when I walked in, my eyes were probably like gumball-size, like a kid in a candy store.”

He said he took pictures of all the workout facilities to send back to his mom and dad in Tucson, AZ.  Way is a particular fan of the sleep pods. “I get in there and can take a good nap before some of my classes.”

The bigger adjustment is life in Arizona and then Utah to life in Winston-Salem. He said the North Carolina humidity is new for him. But when NC got a dousing of snow, he laughed at the reactions from his new neighbors, friends, and teammates. Having played in Ogden, Utah, he was used to snow. “I went to Walmart just to get some paper towels for my apartment. And the shelves are bare, and I was like, ‘What are we doing?’

Last week, defensive back transfer Deuce Blades, having grown up in South Florida, said it was the first time he had seen snow, and his car was stuck in the parking lot for three days. Way brought his Utah preparedness with him. “I have a GMC [truck] so I was picking up guys, giving them rides.”