Going to pin this thread for Class of 2023 updates, and start it off with a heads up about a FutureCast I just placed.

Hearing that DT Jason Hammond will committing tomorrow. He'd be the first Class of 2023 commit.

Wake Forest is going to need a new cornerbacks coach:

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I've got some thoughts here and I'm trying to pound out basketball previews, so instead of a story or column, just going to put them here ...

You might be inclined to think this is a good move for Wake Forest because of how inconsistent the cornerbacks play was this season. Obviously Gavin Holmes was a rollercoaster, JJ Roberts regressed, Caelen Carson couldn't stay on the field. WF got decent contributions from the grad transfers, Isaiah Wingfield and Jermal Martin Jr., though Brad Lambert coaches the nickels. And DaShawn Jones was a bright spot for his emergence in the second half.

I think this is a big loss for WF, though. It's not his fault Carson has dealt with injuries. Holmes probably was going to be what he's been for the past two seasons under any coach. I've always gotten the sense that Wake's players like Paul Williams. Ja'Sir Taylor's game vaulted to another level when he arrived and he's playing NFL games because of it. Carson played at an All-ACC level as a freshman after the COVID offseason because of Williams' tutelage. And everything about Antonio Robinson Jr., Wake's incoming 4-star CB, seemed to indicate that he and Williams were extremely close.

Probably goes without saying but I'll type it out anyway: It'll be interesting to see who Clawson hires as the replacement.

Wake Forest announced Bernard Gooden, a defensive lineman who's been with the program for two seasons, has been dismissed from the team.

It was a short news release, but within it: The redshirt sophomore defensive lineman failed to live up to the standards and expectations of being a Wake Forest football player.

That leaves a lot for interpretation and speculation, the latter of which I don't want to do much of. I did run his name through the Forsyth Co. Sheriff's dept. and he doesn't appear on any incident reports.

In the grand scheme of things for Wake's football team, it leaves a position group that already had some question marks with one less option. Gooden, if you'll recall, was their versatile DL who could play tackle in a pinch, and was rotating in at field end behind Rondell Bothroyd and Jasheen Davis last season. Losing the three DTs and Bothroyd opens the door for a lot of snaps, and Gooden was in line to get a decent amount of those.

The silver lining here is the timing. Instead of something like this happening in the summer or even spring practices, you're able to spread more reps to guys like Eli Hall, BJ Williams, Quincy Williams and Kerrington Lee.

Preview for tomorrow night's game.

Programming: I'll be there with full coverage.

A couple of unrelated news items from tonight:

Kevin Higgins steps down from on-field role.

2023 schedule released.

Here's the schedule if you don't feel like clicking:

8/31 (Thursday) – vs. Elon
9/9 – vs. Vanderbilt
9/16 – at Old Dominion
9/23 – vs. Georgia Tech
9/30 – Off
10/7 – at Clemson
10/14 – at Virginia Tech
10/21 – vs. Pittsburgh
10/28 – vs. Florida State
11/2 (Thursday) – at Duke
11/11 – vs. N.C. State
11/18 – at Notre Dame
11/25 – at Syracuse

Let's jump in with a surprising one ... Brett Griffis (younger brother of Mitch) is leaving after redshirting this season.

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I'd register the shock of this one around an 8 or 9 out of 10 and feel like that's close to how the staff feels, too. My gauge is that you figured Mitch Griffis would start for 2-3 years (he has 3 years of eligibility remaining after this one), and then hand the keys over to Brett. I'd heard some rave reviews of how good Brett looked on the scout team this season; think he's going to land at a P5 school.

What keeps it from being completely shocking is a random meeting with Mitch at a baseball game last season. I asked what it was like having his younger brother on the team with him and if he was leaning heavily on Mitch, to which he said Brett was pretty independent. It didn't have a negative connotation; more like, "he's always been his own person and I'm here to help him when he asks, but he's determined to find things out on his own."

Also, as far as what WF looks like at QB moving forward: Mitch Griffis is the heir apparent. Santino Marucci moved back to QB in fall camp and stayed there throughout the season. Michael Kern still has eligibility -- though I'd keep an eye on him transferring, too. And the incoming class has one QB, Charlie Gilliam.

Everything about Sam Hartman's past 2-3 months (really going back to the spring) have indicated he's done with college football. Maybe I've had a misread and he's been done with Wake Forest -- we'll see if he winds up transferring for NIL money -- but until he makes a similar announcement, that's my take.

Preview for tomorrow's game.

Programming note: I'll be there with full coverage.

I've got a couple of thoughts on Billy Packer I wanted to pass along and it'll be easier to just jot them down in a message board post than writing a My Take or something:

I talked to Billy once that I can remember, and it was unfortunately tied into another death in the Wake Forest community. This was when Len Chappell died in 2018 -- he and Packer arrived at Wake Forest in the same year and were the catalysts of Wake's run to the 1962 Final Four.
I remember leaving the office the day we learned about Chappell's passing, and getting the call on the way home, working on our story that night. I was given a few phone numbers of people to contact and Packer's was one of them -- he didn't pick up, though. Left a message. I was able to get some good insight from Dave Budd, wrote a story that was fine, figured that was as good as we were going to do.
A couple of days later, Billy calls. He was apologetic about missing the call -- can't remember specifics, think he might have been out of town -- and we wound up talking about his teammate for a while. That's how this story came about, with him convincing me Len Chappell could've been great in any era. And also about screwing with frat members.
That's stuck with me because I grew up (I'm 33, btw) hearing about what an opinionated curmudgeon Billy Packer was. I'm not sure anybody would dispute the man had his opinions. But he had a different side that was probably obscured by 30-some years as a broadcaster who never shied away from voicing his opinions, no matter how unpopular.

*****

This next one is ... well, the man had no filter.
In the spring of 2019, again for the Journal, I covered Earl "The Pearl" Monroe receiving the Ann Lewallen Spencer Sports Connector Award, presented by the National Sports Media Association, at Forsyth Country Club.
(sidenote: The Pearl remains my dad's favorite player ever, and an autographed piece of notepad paper I gave to him remains the only autograph I've ever sought from somebody I've interviewed.)
Billy Packer was one of three men to speak on behalf of Monroe that night. I can remember him waxing poetic about Monroe's ball-handling and command on the court. It was clear he held him in high regard.
I cannot unhear Packer also dropping a "n****r" in the middle of his speech.
It's important to note: He was quoting someone else. It was a story about some guys Packer knew not wanting to play a pickup game against Monroe and other Winston-Salem State players because they were Black.
Packer -- as he later stood up for Wake's Charlie Davis -- basically said, "if playing those guys makes you better basketball players, who gives a shit what color their skin is?" That's easy to look favorably upon now; given the timing of it being the 60s, it deserves respect.

*****

So, those are my two Billy Packer stories. Figured I'd share; I'd be happy to hear any that yall have.

The ACC football schedule gets released Monday night.

So here's a primer with what we know thus far (so you're not caught off guard by anything Monday night).

Preview for tomorrow night's game.

Programming: I've got an unavoidable dinner date at 6 that I'm hoping won't keep me from missing too much of the game. I'll have remote coverage to follow.

Preview for tomorrow afternoon.

Programming: I won't be there, but will have full coverage from a freelancer (David Kehrli, worked at the Burlington Times-News after I did).

Preview for tomorrow night's game.

Programming: I'll be there with full coverage. Looking forward to a high-level game. If you're there, swing by the press row (Section 113) to say hi!

Preview for tomorrow night's game.

Programming: Obviously won't be shipping up to Boston, so I'll have remote coverage as best I can.

Conor, do you know what is going on with Jewel Spear. Lady Deacs won without her, but that won't happen much. Any info here?

No preview (yet), but here's a little story on the roll Damari Monsanto has been on since his one-game benching.

Preview for tomorrow afternoon's game.

Programming note: I won't be there but will be remote-covering from home.

Previewing tomorrow night's WF-UNC game.

Programming note: I'll be there with full coverage.

Previewing tomorrow afternoon's game.

Programming note: I won't be there but we'll have a full story from Patrick Southern, a stringer who's helped in the past.

A happy Gasparilla Bowl day and more importantly, a happy Festivus to all who observe Frank Costanza's holiday.

Onto slightly more serious matters ...

Per usual, information on this board stays on this board, please.

Sam Hartman will be transferring to Notre Dame sometime after today's game, per a source.

Based on Dave Clawson's comments on a few occasions this month, it's seemed increasingly likely that Hartman wouldn't be headed to the NFL after the season, as had been the implication since the spring when Hartman originally said this would be his final season.

Here was a Clawson quote from Tuesday: "I think Sam wants to go to the NFL. He's been made aware that if he goes in the portal, there's going to be some very lucrative (NIL) opportunities for him. And it's from very specific schools. ... If Sam decides that's what he wants to do, I wish him all the best. This guy has done nothing but everything right for five years at Wake Forest. And I don't want to do anything to hurt him or what he's going to do.

"I think Sam wants to play really well in the bowl game. He wants to finish his Wake Forest career on a high and I'm sure he'll take some afterward and figure out what he wants to do. And whatever decision that is, whatever choice that is, we support him 100%. ... I told him, 'Whatever you do, Sam, there's no hard feelings.'"

Notre Dame's QB situation is: Tyler Buchner won the starting job in fall camp but suffered a season-ending injury in the second game. He was replaced by Drew Pyne, who was decent -- 2,021 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs, 108 yards and 2 TDs rushing -- but transferred to Arizona State.

It seems likely Hartman will be in a competition with Buchner for the starting role in 2023.

ND and Wake Forest play in South Bend next season (Oct. 28). ND's ACC road games next season are Duke (TBD), Clemson (Nov. 4), Louisville and N.C. State (both TBD) -- kinda crazy that of the 5 ACC games, the only one at ND is Wake Forest.

My two cents: I've said since about mid-October that I've never covered another player who's been more ready to be finished with college football than Hartman. From cutting off his own presser after the Clemson game to the disappearing act in post-games, it's been a sour and bitter feel to the end of the season. That word "sour" has been used by others around the program to describe his mood in the second half of the season; dour is another good word. So it's shocking on some levels that he's going to be in college again; and then on another level, maybe I had the wrong read on the situation and he was just finished with being at Wake Forest.

Previewing tomorrow night's game.

As a programming note: I'll be there with full coverage, though I'll be double-covering the game and spread a bit thin. Crazy week.

Firing up a thread to round up any and all Gasparilla Bowl thoughts.

Here's the initial selection story.

Just wrapped up a Zoom interview with Dave Clawson, will have at least one story up this morning ... need to decide if I'm going to make a separate story out of what he said about Sam Hartman or combine it. So stay tuned.

Also as a programming note: I've covered each of Wake's last six bowl games (four publications, which hadn't dawned on me until now) and this will be the end of the streak. 10.5 hours one way for a game that's two days before Christmas is a bridge too far, unfortunately. I'll have plenty of content in the next few weeks, and then remote coverage for the game. I'll probably apply for credentials anyway on the chance that inspiration strikes ... but for now, the plan is to cover remotely.

Wrote about how much of a hellscape roster management has become.

One of the few times it feels beneficial to be covering two schools.

Story on today's news that Roll The Quad has launched.

It's a new NIL collective that -- I think -- will have more success and sustainability than the other NIL moves done in Wake's interest.

There will be more information on this in the coming weeks.

Previewing tomorrow's game at Rutgers.

As a programming note ... I'm not headed to Piscataway, as you probably could've guessed.

Ironically found out last week that Spectrum added Big Ten Network to my cable package without my knowledge and that's probably one of the reasons my bill has increased recently. So ... I'll hold off on calling them until Monday so that I can watch tomorrow's game, haha.