Notebook: Wake Forest at ACC Kickoff

CHARLOTTE – All three Wake Forest players at ACC Kickoff were fifth-year players with two seasons of eligibility remaining, the product of having played one season under the four-game maximum and because the 2020 season doesn’t count against eligibility.

Quarterback Sam Hartman has made his intentions clear that this will be his final season as a Deacon barring something unforeseen; defensive end Rondelll Bothroyd feels the same way, while center Michael Jurgens is undecided.

“That’s the goal, I want to play really well this year and try to go to the NFL,” Bothroyd said. “I don’t really want to do another year of college football.”

That’s understandable, especially for a lineman. Bothroyd has endured one catastrophic injury and underwent surgery for another injury after last season; he’s looking to move forward and chase NFL dreams if all goes according to plan this season.

“Six years is a long time and if you have an opportunity to make money, there’s no way you turn that down unless there’s more money to be made,” Bothroyd said.

Jurgens’ future is a little further removed from his focus at this point.

“I’m not really thinking about it yet,” Jurgens said. “I think by the end of the year, that decision becomes – hopefully it’s not a hard decision, hopefully the right decision is apparent.”

Jurgens has started 21 of 23 games in the last two seasons at Wake Forest and was named to the Rimington Award watch list – given to the best center in college football – on Friday morning.

Here are a few other takeaways from Wake’s appearance at ACC Kickoff:

Of the three players Wake Forest brought to Charlotte, Hartman is the only one who went through spring practices.

Jurgens underwent surgery after the season to address a shoulder injury; Bothroyd also underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum that he’s played with for two years.

You read that correctly: Bothroyd came off of the torn ACL to end the 2019 season only to play the last two years – including a breakout season last year – with a torn labrum.

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad,” Bothroyd said. “They were just fixing it … fix it before it becomes an issue.”

Bothroyd led the Deacons with eight sacks and 16½ tackles for loss last season, and was fourth on the team in total tackles (63).

Jurgens said he’s been going through drills all summer, but added that his body has changed over the last couple of years at Wake Forest.

“It’s just an ongoing process,” he said. “With anything as you get older, maybe 100% is a lot different than it was two years ago. That’s a big part, as you get older, changing your game. It’s not go-go-go, it’s learning how to listen to your body and manage that.”

There are four new coaches in the ACC, all in the Coastal Division (Duke, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech). But among the other 10 teams, seven of them either have a new offensive coordinator or appointed one after not having one last year (cough, Louisville).

That leaves Wake Forest, N.C. State and UNC as the only teams in the ACC with the same offensive coordinator – something Jurgens noted.

“You look around the league, just the number of staffing changes,” Jurgens said.

And then he brought up the luxury of consistency with Wake’s offensive staff.

The Deacons have not had a new assistant coach hired on offense since Wayne Lineburg joined the staff as tight ends coach/special teams coordinator ahead of the 2017 season.

“The fact that Sam and I have had the exact same offensive staff our entire five years here is just unheard of,” Jurgens said.

Four coaches in the ACC have been in the league since Jurgens arrived at Wake Forest: Dave Clawson, Dabo Swinney at Clemson, Dave Doeren at N.C. State, and Pat Narduzzi at Pittsburgh.

Hartman was not – I repeat: NOT – wearing a fedora.

Wake’s quarterback donned a flat cap in an homage to the BBC show “Peaky Blinders,” which is a British crime drama set in early 1900s England.

It wasn’t the flashiest piece of attire at ACC Kickoff – that was probably Malik Cunningham’s suit – but it was a nice touch for Wake’s fifth-year quarterback.

“Big ‘Peaky Blinders’ fan. It's a Peaky cap, not a fedora,” Hartman said. “Tommy Shelby (the main character), I like the show and I like his attitude and his mentality.”

And for one last time: It is not a fedora. Some lessons are best learned by making a mistake on Twitter.