With new coaches and teams looking for bounce-back seasons, Kennesaw State and Wake Forest have plenty in common going into their opener Friday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Jake Dickert has taken charge at Wake Forest, moving across the country from Washington State. Jerry Mack is the new coach at Kennesaw State.
Both teams had losing records in 2024 and will go with well-traveled quarterbacks as the season begins.
Dickert’s assignment follows Dave Clawson’s 11 seasons as Wake Forest’s head coach before Clawson resigned. The Demon Deacons are coming off back-to-back 4-8 seasons.
“I think since Day 1 the guys have really embraced the change,” Dickert said.
Robby Ashford — formerly of Oregon, Auburn and South Carolina — will start at quarterback for Wake in the opener, but the Demon Deacons will rely heavily on running back Demond Claiborne, who had 1,049 rushing yards, 254 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns last year.
Ashford completed 23 of 32 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns last season for South Carolina, with no interceptions. He ran for 227 yards and two scores on 41 carries.
“It isn’t going to be one player; it’s going to be us as a collective,” Dickert said.
Kennesaw State is turning to Dexter Williams II as its starting quarterback, making his debut with the team and after stops at Indiana and Georgia Southern.
“He has played and he has been in college before,” Mack said of Williams, who passed for 248 yards and three touchdowns at Georgia Southern last year. “… He has led teams to victory. He just has a lot of experience, being on the field. He understands what it’s supposed to look like.”
Another area to watch for Kennesaw State will be Davis Bryson, who started 11 games at quarterback last year and has shifted to receiver.
“I love myself with the ball in space,” Bryson said. “That’s what I pride myself on.”
The Owls, who went 2-10 last year in their first FBS season, will have plenty of questions going into the opener, especially along the offensive line.
“Whenever you get so many men in a room that have never played together, come from all different backgrounds … has been really a challenge,” Mack said.
Mack most recently was running backs coach with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Until he was hired by Kennesaw State in December, his only previous job as a head coach came from 2014-17 at North Carolina Central, where his teams won three Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships.
