Wake Forest's Jake Dickert Dives Into His Coaching Journey, New Opportunity, & Fearless Style
“Culture, as we talk about it, is an organism,” Dickert explained to me. “It’s living, breathing, dying every day, and I think the first thing a great leader does is listen."
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Hey friends,
Wake Forest is set to enter a new era under head coach Jake Dickert, and in this episode of “Next Up,” the hungry 41-year-old opens up about the challenges and opportunities that come with leading a Power Four program.
From his first team meeting to cultivating culture throughout spring ball, Dickert shares what it takes to win in today’s revamped college football landscape.
During our 45-minute conversation, Dickert discusses the unconventional path that led him to Winston-Salem, the lessons he has learned from adversity, and why he believes Wake Forest has the resources and drive to compete at the highest level.
Without further ado, let’s dive into my three favorite takeaways from an insightful conversation with Dickert.
1️⃣ Don’t See Obstacles, See Opportunity
Since the 2017 campaign, newly hired Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert had resided out west, spending three years as a defensive position coach at Wyoming before becoming the program’s defensive coordinator.
From there, he found a longer-term home on the Palouse, churning out a five-year stint with Washington State.
Dickert took over as the Cougars’ head coach in 2022 and led the program to a solid 21-18 record marked by two bowl game appearances during a stark transitional period as an athletic department throughout conference realignment.
Even with Washington State’s ever-evolving trajectory, Dickert felt it was time for a change, marking an exciting new opportunity 19 years into his coaching career.
“It was really like, ‘OK, I love Washington State, it’s a place I want to be,’ and [then] you get that phone call, right?” Dickert explained. “… It was just a new opportunity to be in this region of the country that was really too good to pass up. Everyone I continue to meet, you can feel like this is the time.”
Dickert’s vision for sustained success directly aligns with athletic director John Currie’s mission, whom I interviewed two weeks ago.
Currie’s vision is to win national championships and ACC championships by leaning into all facets of NIL and looming revenue-sharing opportunities — a goal Dickert thinks is possible to reach at Wake Forest.
“Some people see obstacles, [but] I see opportunity,” Dickert told me. “That’s what I think Wake Forest represented to me. I aligned with the people, [and] my family is more than willing to make the sacrifice to come here to chase our dreams, so here we are. We’re ready to create success.”
2️⃣ Culture Is An Organism
Dickert’s decision to take over Wake Forest’s program came on the heels of veteran head coach Dave Clawson’s retirement in mid-December, ending an 11-year run at the Demon Deacons’ helm.
Clawson said he “took a look at where the industry is right now and felt like it was time.” Despite stepping down, Clawson decided to remain with the university in an advisory role.
Even with Clawson’s decision, Wake Forest barely skipped a beat this offseason, as Dickert transitioned in for a coach who led the program to seven consecutive bowl games and two top-10 appearances.
“Culture, as we talk about it, is an organism,” Dickert explained to me. “It’s living, breathing, dying every day, and I think the first thing a great leader does is listen. I had conversations… over the phone for as long as it took, to get a feeling about the culture that I was walking into, and understand why it did create success and why it didn’t create success.”
Since Dickert arrived on campus, Wake Forest has continued to cement a solid transfer portal haul in the form of the nation’s 33rd-best class, ahead of programs like Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, and Penn State.
Despite the coaching change, only 16 players hit the portal to find fresh landing spots. On the other hand, Dickert has garnered 23 transfer commitments.
Dickert’s leadership style is firmly dictated by his players. This spring, he’s beginning to learn more about his team by putting them in “trusting environments.”
“Instead of just coming in and dictating [culture], let’s hear from the players,” Dickert said. “Let’s see it from their perspective, and then it’s like, ‘OK, we got a process that we believe in, let’s start to cultivate that.’”
“The biggest thing we’ve done, since day one, is show tell them the truth, show them who we are, [and] make them be in situations [where] they have to share who they are,” he continued.
3️⃣ Be Bulletproof
In Dickert’s three years as Washington State’s head coach, he won seven one-score contests through a distinct and effective game-management style.
When the ball is finally kicked off and it’s time to play on Saturdays, Dickert’s mantra for his players and staff is simple: “Be bulletproof.”
Under his leadership, Wake Forest will be analytical and aggressive, according to their fiery leader.
“We have a book,” Dickert said, which is utilized in key down-and-distance scenarios. “We’re very aggressive to it, but we’ve kind of set our own parameters. We call it being bulletproof.”
To be bulletproof, Dickert calls for his players to “respond, not react.” This past season, quarterback John Mateer and the Cougars’ offense did just that on a consistent basis.
While Mateer transferred to Oklahoma, not Wake Forest, Dickert’s style will remain the same. Washington State finished sixth nationally in scoring last season, generating 36.6 points per game behind 442 yards of offense per outing.
When adversity strikes, Dickert’s teams respond by leaning on their preparation, trust in one another, and aggression.
“I think that as long as your team is bulletproof, you’ve put them in situations [where] they’re ready to respond,” Dickert added.
To watch my complete conversation with Dickert, click here.
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Shoutout to Connor Krause for helping to write this newsletter and putting it together!
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