Some bold predictions on the next five years of Wake Forest football
Wake Forest took a big step last year when it made it to the Military Bowl and defeated nationally ranked Temple 34-26.
Here are five predictions that will occur over the next five years to Wake Forest football. These will continue to elevate the program and push it towards a sustained level of success that has not been seen before in Winston-Salem.
1. Wake Forest will defeat a top ten team
In order to take the next step, Wake Forest has to show that it can win, even occasionally, against top ten opponents in Florida State, Clemson, and Louisville. Those three teams have been in and out of the top ten the past few years, with FSU and Clemson winning National Championships. The Atlantic Division of the ACC is the hardest in football right now, and Wake Forest will get over the hump and get a huge victory over a top ten team.
2. The Deacs will land a 5 star recruit
Wake Forest has never landed a 5-star recruit in the history of recruiting. Clawson has clearly shown that he is not afraid to go after the big fish and compete with the best teams in the country on the recruiting trail. While this one may be a stretch, I think Clawson will land a 5-star recruit in the next five years.
3. Dave Clawson will still be the Wake Forest head coach in five years
This is probably the biggest thing that Wake Forest needs to happen to sustain this success. Dave Clawson knows how to build a team that can maintain itself year over year. He has done it at every level so far, and he is currently doing it at Wake Forest. Although he just signed a contract extension, it doesn’t always mean a coach is staying. The Deacs need to hold onto Clawson.
4. Wake will end a season ranked
While being part of the “top 25” is a completely subjective accomplishment, it is very important to continue to pop up on the bottom line of ESPN and have your games shown/talked about each week. I believe that Wake Forest will end at least one of the next five seasons ranked. This will help bolster recruiting momentum and show that Wake Forest can also be a player in the ACC.
5. The Deacs will make a bowl at least 4/5 years
Wake Forest made the first bowl since the 2011 Music City Bowl in Nashville. The next step is to continue to make bowl games and get the extra exposure and practices that come with making the bowl. It is vitally important to get as many practices and workouts as possible, and making a bowl provides an entire extra month of those. In addition to the tangible benefit of more time on the field, the exposure and ability to point to “X consecutive bowl games made” is a very important one to have on a resumé when it comes to recruiting.
Well there you have it. Five (bold?) predictions about the future of Wake Forest football over the next five years. What do you guys think the most likely of these five are if only one were to occur? Look forward to hearing your thoughts!
