WINSTON-SALEM – There is new energy within the walls of Wake Forest’s football offices.

Emanating from there is the reason Wake’s spring football game will remain open to the public.

“I think it’s important — you’ll see out of me that I’m very open with a lot of things,” coach Jake Dickert told Deacons Illustrated last week. “We’ll have fall camp practices where the student body can come and watch. We’ll have open things.

“I don’t believe we’re the inventors of football.”

Wake’s spring game — dubbed a “Spring Showcase” — will be April 19. Details on the format and timing are still be worked out.

Dickert did opt to have a feature of the program air on ACC Network instead of a live broadcast of the spring showcase. If you’re not in Winston-Salem on April 19, you won’t be able to get a first glance at the new-look Deacons.

But there will be a time in which fans can see Wake Forest roughly five months before Dickert’s first season at Wake Forest kicks off.

That’s not the case for a few other programs. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said there won’t be a spring game because he didn’t want to “show off” players for other programs — hinting at the spring transfer portal, which runs from April 16-25. Dickert’s predecessor, Dave Clawson, made no secret about how much he disliked the spring portal window and referred to it as “so dirty.”

Reigning national champion Ohio State will also hold a Spring Showcase instead of a traditional game. Texas and Oklahoma will put players through combine-style drills instead of lining up for a scrimmage. Other coaches, like Florida State’s Mike Norvell, have recently said college football is trending away from holding spring games.

Dickert, though, needs to see how his revamped roster responds in certain situations, along with other reasons to open things up to fans in attendance.

“That’s the biggest thing we’re focused on right now is putting them in hard situations,” Dickert said. “We don’t know how they respond, who rises, who communicates, who tries to be all flashy and forgets how the hell he’s supposed to do things, right?

“I also want to create a new energy around our program. So, people need to experience it, they need to feel it, they need to understand it and be very student engaged.”

A team on Wake’s schedule every season, N.C. State, will close every spring practice. Coach Dave Doeren cited two new coordinators as the reason to keep things buttoned up.

Dickert figures the coaching staffs on Wake’s schedule are bound to have a general idea of how the Deacons will line up.

“I think they’re smart enough to know that at some point on defense, we’re going to play Cover-3. At some point on offense you’re going to see two tight ends out there running zone,” he said. “It’ll be a very vanilla base. But can our guys execute fundamentals?

“There’s a lot still to be gained from going out there and doing it.”

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