Smart Students, Skilled Players: Wake Forest Football

Read Time:3 Minute, 54 Second

With incoherent college football conference realignment leaving many college football fans feeling dismayed and confused, and the rush to the transfer portal by many players arousing hysteria like an impromptu college student post-victory field storming, and name, image, and likeness (NIL) temptations reeling in mountains full of money-hungry players, there’s been little oxygen left for one under-rated storyline: college students who play football who go to class and earn high grades.

You know, being disciplined and engaged students; wrestling mentally with physics, accounting, and psychology; marinating in classic works of literature; choosing a major area of study; sharpening their critical thinking skills; gaining a broad, mind-expanding, and life-elevating liberal arts education that will make them knowledgeable about things more consequential, ultimately, than blocking and tackling techniques; and launching them into valued and well-rounded professional careers and towards lives of profound significance contributing to world progress.

But there’s one place in college football where this notion of college football players being students is not being relegated to an afterthought but rather celebrated: Wake Forest University.

Head coach Dave Clawson, who will start his 10^th season at the helm with the opener against Elon University at Wake’s home field, is unbending in his belief that all his players go to close assiduously. He believes a college football player can excel academically and athletically. These two goals are complementary rather than in conflict, he insists.

Several players on this year’s team have been proving this. The quintessential example is junior wide receiver Taylor Morin. As a student at one of America’s most rigorous and competitive universities, what he’s done in his first three years grade-wise has been sterling.

Majoring in engineering, he holds a 3.9 grade point average and is a member of the school’s Math Honor Society. For three straight years, he’s been named to the All-ACC Academic Team. And in 2022 he earned placement in the 2022 Military Bowl 3M Science Technology Engineering and Math Scholar-Athlete Program. Had he not accepted his scholarship to Wake Forest, he would have studied and played football for Dartmouth College, an Ivy League intellectual powerhouse.

On the field, he’s impressive as well. Shifty and sure-handed as a receiver and punt returner, he’s caught 12 touchdowns over his three-year career – tied for 8^th in program history – and amassed 122 receptions including 47 last season.

Slew of Smart Students

Morin is one of a slew of Wake Forest football players who stand out in school on weekdays and during games on Saturdays. Junior running back Justice Ellison made the All-ACC Academic Team in 2022 while rambling for 707 yards, 4.2 yards per carry, and six touchdowns.

Senior center Michael Jurgens also earned All-ACC Academic Team honors. For his football talent, moreover, he made the 2022 Rimington Award List given to college football’s best center. A 4.0 student in high school, the wily veteran has an abundance of playing time already with Wake Forest competing in 34 games and involved with 2,541 snaps from center.

Another stellar student is junior running back Ke’Shawn Williams, who has been cracking the books and nailing good grades to get his name listed on the All-ACC Academic Team. He caught 39 passes for 553 yards in football and is one of the team’s best all-around athletes. As a high school basketball player, he averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

Smart defenders

The team’s defense also boasts a bevy of strong students. Defensive back Caelen Carson, a sophomore, also made the All-ACC Academic Team while racking up 22 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Dylan Hazen added his name to the All-ACC Academic Team while netting 31 total tackles last season.

At Wake Forest, football doesn’t supersede schoolwork. Both are high priorities. In preseason interviews about this upcoming season, coach Clawson mentioned several of his players told him they got offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to enter the transfer portal and join other college football teams. They told him they stayed because they value earning a Wake Forest academic degree more than the chance to make money now.

At this university flooded with high-caliber students, the term student-athlete is not just a nice phrase to use about a college football player. The label actually describes who they really are and what they do on campus: study in school and play winning football – year after year.

Over the course of a lifetime, no amount of media exposure or NIL money will ever compete with that.