Just because Wake Forest only has one quarterback on its roster who has started a college game doesn’t mean the starting job is automatically Robby Ashford’s.

In what was more confirmation than revelation, new coach Jake Dickert said the Deacons will have a competition to determine their starting quarterback.

Speaking Monday via Zoom, Dickert said there were three main goals in how his staff approached the transfer portal over the last few weeks.

“One, create competition at quarterback,” Dickert said. “We did that (by) bringing in Robby Ashford.”

It speaks to a larger scale of competition on a roster that’s infused with 29 mid-year enrollees, as the program shifts from 11 seasons with Dave Clawson as coach to Dickert, who took the job less than a month ago and is coming from Washington State.

“I see an open competition at every position,” Dickert said. “This isn’t unique to quarterback. The quarterback position will always have the spotlight on it, but just excited to work with everybody on our roster and that’s quarterback down to punter.”

Three of those 29 January enrollees are quarterbacks. Ashford is the transfer who has spent two seasons at Oregon, two at Auburn and one at South Carolina. He has one season of eligibility remaining and a degree from South Carolina, where he started one game this past season and played behind LaNorris Sellers. Most of Ashford’s starting experience comes from the 2022 season at Auburn, when he started nine games.

Otherwise, Wake’s QBs are devoid of college experience. None of the other five on Wake’s roster — redshirt sophomore Tyler Mizzell, redshirt freshmen Jeremy Hecklinski and Nick Rubino, and incoming freshmen Elijiah Oehlke and Steele Pizzella — has attempted a pass in a college game. Mizzell and Rubino joined the program as walk-ons.

Throwing each of those QBs into the mix of a competition and seeing who shakes out as the winner is the best way to elevate Wake’s roster, Dickert said.

“When you’re really competitive at the quarterback position, it really rises all other positions,” Dickert said. “So, that’s exactly what we’re looking for and I’m looking forward to working with all of those guys and really bringing out their best.”

Wake Forest had one competition for its starting QB role entering the last five seasons, and it was this past one. Michael Kern and Hank Bachmeier ended fall camp in such a dead heat that Kern started the season opener against N.C. A&T and, per pre-game plan, was replaced by Bachmeier during the first half. Bachmeier started every other game in Wake’s second consecutive 4-8 season.

South Alabama, where offensive coordinator Rob Ezell is coming from, averaged 34.4 points per game and 6.84 yards per play this past season. The national ranks of those marks were 19th and sixth, respectively.

The Jaguars put up those numbers with redshirt freshman quarterback Gio Lopez completing 66% of his passes for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns, with five interceptions, in 11 games. He also rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns.

Dickert, though, made sure to point out that Ezell’s power-spread offense isn’t reliant on having a running threat at QB.

“That’s what Coach Ezell kind of showed to me as we went through this process, it’s unique, it’s different,” Dickert said. “It can transform, whether you’ve got a runner or a thrower, right?

“So, we’re going to kind of have to navigate our personnel as we go through spring ball, the summer and obviously get into the season to really define what that looks like. But it’s very multiple, it’s very aggressive, it’s playing at our tempo and it’s taking the ball down the field.”