WINSTON-SALEM – To the untrained eye, Demond Claiborne never has a bad day on the football field.

The Wake Forest running back creates plenty of explosive and exciting plays for himself. But he’s also the first to congratulate — often running 30ish yards down the sideline to do so — another running back for a long run. Claiborne is louder than most coaches — Dave Cohen still holds that crown — and has a distinguishable, infectious laugh.

After a fall camp practice last week, he was catching punts from a JUGS machine while wearing boxing gloves. When he was finished, he picked up a few pointers on boxing form from safeties coach James Adams.

“I’m an angry guy sometimes, so you know, putting on the gloves and having that as a way to get those emotions out is definitely something I’m trying to learn,” Claiborne told Deacons Illustrated.

The 5-9, 200-pounder hides those bad times well, at least during practices.

Not that he has many of them.

Claiborne has been the most electric running back on the roster seemingly since he stepped foot on campus. Now entering his junior season, he’s in line to be a starter for the first time.

Early in his career and into last year’s fall camp, pass-blocking qualified as Claiborne’s Achilles heel. It’s typically the steepest learning curve for running backs in college; they’re asked to do little of it in most high school offenses.

The Aylett, Va., native turned the corner in his pass protection last year and he now counts it as a strength in his game.

Part of his growth — and channeling that anger — has meant improvement as a blocker.

“As a freshman, if I had a bad period, it probably would’ve carried over to the rest of the practice,” Claiborne said. “Now, because I’m growing, if I have a bad period or a bad moment, I try to finish the practice strong. Whether that’s being mentally sharp or just being physically dominant on the field.”

As history illustrates, Claiborne being a starter is hardly a guarantee of 20-plus carries per game at Wake Forest.

Coach Dave Clawson and offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero prefer to have at least two playable running backs. It keeps them fresh during games and over the course of a season. The list of programs that will heap the lion’s share of touches on a running back is running thin; Michigan won the national championship last season with its backup running back garnering 149 touches (119 carries and 30 catches) in 15 games.

It’s why Wake Forest has had at least two players eclipse 500 rushing yards in each of the last eight seasons and why only one of them — Cade Carney in 2018 — has reached the 1,000-yard mark. The highest carries per game clip of the last 10 seasons was Christian Beal-Smith’s 15.8 in 2020.

While there’s plenty of reason to think Claiborne will celebrate often, it’s notable that he celebrates his teammates’ big plays more than his own.

“I get happy when I bust a run but when the other running backs in the room bust a run, especially when it was coached the previous practice and then they executed it on the field, it juices me up,” Claiborne said. “Because everything we’re being taught is coming up out here, showing it on film.

“Ty Clark having a great camp so far, Kennedy (Fauntleroy), Tate Carney, those are my guys. When those guys break runs, I’m super excited for them.”

It’s Claiborne’s growth and explosiveness that makes you think he could join Cade Carney with a 1,000-yard season.